


Changing tides

by Stand_with_Ward_and_Queen



Series: Changing tides [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Characters watching Arrow, F/M, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Series, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-08-23 03:26:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 62
Words: 534,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8312227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stand_with_Ward_and_Queen/pseuds/Stand_with_Ward_and_Queen
Summary: AU future fic where Laurel, who leads the Justice League brings forward her past self, Diggle, Thea, Roy, and Tommy to watch the first two seasons of Arrow.





	1. Gathering

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea that is inspired on Anakinflair’s Past is prologue. Which I would highly recommend, great read. 
> 
> And before we get into it, I’d like to issue a warning. Any comments that are really degrading or hostile because: I am not focusing on a pairing you want, am supposedly bashing a character, you do not like the direction my story is going, or something like that will be deleted. Only warning. Okay? Okay.

Cast list:

Katie Cassidy as Dinah Laurel Lance

Colton Hayes as Roy Harper

Willa Holland as Thea Queen

Colin Donnell as Tommy Merlyn

David Ramsey as John Diggle

Katrina Law as Nyssa al Ghul

Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers/Zor-El

Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent/Kal-El

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne

The watchtower, 2028  
Morning

Dinah Laurel Lance-Queen sighed as she stared out the viewing deck at the earth. At age forty three, she wasn’t quite sure how her life had turned out like this. As she considered what was about to happen, she started thinking back to where it all began.

A few weeks after Oliver and Felicity had left town, a new group had come to town. The media called them The Ghosts and all Team Arrow knew about them was that they highly trained and had highly advanced military equipment. After a few months with no success against them, Thea and Laurel had sought out Oliver for help. With more than a little resistance on Diggle’s part, Oliver had rejoined the team as Green Arrow. 

After Thea began to suffer from the after-effects from the pit, Laurel had learned about it and had done something drastic. Laurel had dug up Sara’s body and traveled with Thea to Nanda Parbat and eventually convinced Malcolm to use the pit on Sara. Looking back, Laurel could see how her grief had clouded her judgement but what’s done is done. Sara came back…wrong since she had been dead longer and it took a little help from Oliver’s friend John Constantine to help her but Sara was restored to her old self. Laurel’s decision to keep Sara a secret had initially caused some strain between Oliver and Laurel but they able to move passed it.

Not long after, it was discovered Ray Palmer, who had been presumed dead, was alive but shrunk down to microscopic size and was in need of help as he was being held captive by Damien Darhk. They managed to rescue Ray but the ordeal had personal ramifications for Felicity. Throughout the ordeal, she had treated Oliver rather poorly and in ways that did not sit right with most of the team. After Ray was alright, Oliver had broken up with her, later confiding in Laurel that “As much as I love Felicity, I can’t deal with the high-school drama for the rest of my life.” 

It was discovered shortly after that Diggle’s brother, Andy, was discovered to be one of Darhk’s Ghosts. After freeing him from Darhk’s control, he was held prisoner by Team Arrow for a while until Diggle decided he was trust worthy. It wouldn’t be until months later that they learned how wrong they were.

“Momma?” 

Laurel turned around to see her daughter standing behind her. Laurel smiled at her little girl, who looked up at her with the innocence that a three year old should have. Although they also held the same look as her father, like they were judging what she would do next. 

“What is it Olivia?” Laurel asked warmly as she squatted down to her daughter’s level. 

“Why is everyone working so hard momma?” Olivia Queen inquired curiously, scrunching up her face in a way that was so like her father that it brought tears to Laurel’s eyes.

“Because we’re going to change the future honey.” Laurel told her softly.

Starling City, 2012  
Day

Laurel Lance had just walked out of her apartment, ready to go to work when she vanished in a flash of light.

Across town, Thea Queen was in her room, not at all ready to go to school. She was wondering about the party to go to tonight when she disappeared in a flash of light.

John Diggle was in his apartment, wondering what he was doing with his life when he vanished as well.

Tommy Merlyn was on his way to a car in his garage, thinking of all the ways to woo Laurel Lance when he vanished in a flash of light.

In The Glades, Roy Harper was getting ready for a gang meeting. Even though he believed he was doing the right thing, that he was making The Glades safer, Roy was beginning to feel apathetic about the whole thing. No sooner had he begun to think that then he vanished. 

The Watchtower, 2028  
Moments later

The group from the past groaned as they all appeared in a chamber. They all felt sick to their stomachs and Thea even dropped to her knees.

“Sorry about that, it should pass momentarily.”

The five of them looked up to see a rather handsome dark-haired man dressed in a blue costume with a red cape and a yellow and red symbol on his chest standing in front of them. He had a bright smile on his face and the females of the group relaxed a little while the men remained a little skeptical.

“Who are you? What do you want from us?” Diggle demanded as he stepped in front of the others protectively.

“Well, you can call me Kal. As for why you’re here…that’s a bit of a long story.” Kal told them as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“Simplify it for us.” Roy snapped. 

“Well, to make a very long, complicated story short, you’re in the future.” Kal told them bluntly and was met with silence.

“Okay…you’re officially insane.” Tommy told him rudely.

Kal simply smiled and took out a remote. He pointed it at a wall and pressed a button. The five time-travelers turned and watched as part of the wall opened to reveal a window. Outside the window was deep space and, just barely visible, was the small spec of planet Earth. The five stared at the window in shock as Kal watch amused.

“That proof enough for you?” Kal asked and they all nodded dumbstruck. 

“But why are we here?” Laurel managed and Kal sighed.

“Not long from where you come from, people far too dangerous to be dealt with by the law start to appear, leaving chaos in their wake. In order to combat them, heroes had to rise up to stop them.” Kal began but was interrupted.

“You mean vigilantes.” Laurel said pointedly but Kal shook his head.

“Some may call them vigilantes but they are heroes. But I won’t try to convince you, follow me.” Kal said as he led them out of the room.

The five reluctantly followed him out of the room. Kal led them down the hall and Tommy and Thea looked around in amazement at all the technology as Kal led them into a room. It looked surprisingly modern, well modern to them. There was a sofa next to a love seat that sat in front of a huge plasma screen.

“Um, you brought us here to watch TV?” Thea asked confused and Kal chuckled.

“In our time, Earth has had many heroes. But it all started with one, he was the first. You asked why you were brought here earlier. Each and every one of you are important to him. There are a list of recordings on here that will explain everything. I must warn that what you see will be hard for some of you to see but it is necessary,” Kal pulled out a remote and handed it to Diggle, “it works like a regular DVD player. Prepare yourself. This won’t be easy.”

Kal then turned and walked out of the room. As the automatic door shut behind him, the time travelers exchanged uneasy glances. Then Diggle shrugged and sat down on the love seat. Roy then sat down next to him while the other three took their places on the couch, Thea sitting between Laurel and Tommy respectively. Diggle then pointed at the flat screen and pressed start.


	2. Pilot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shocking secrets are revealed as the first recording is viewed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> athe transcript of the episode belongs to Anakinflair and is used with permission.

The Watchtower, 2028

 

Kal entered the control room and immediately spotted Laurel by the monitors. He walked up to her and saw she was watching the group intently.

 

“You okay?” Kal asked concerned.

 

“No but I’ll survive.” Laurel said as she eyed her past-self sitting with Thea and Tommy.

 

“So…it’s gonna be confusing with two Laurel’s here.” Kal said and she laughed.

 

“Dinah,” She said and he looked at her confused, “call me Dinah while they’re here.”

 

Kal nodded and they both watched the monitor.

 

In the viewing room, Diggle pressed the start button and the recording started.

 

_A figure runs through a dense forest, swinging from tree branches over fallen trees, jumping over other obstacles. As the forest thins out, the figure can clearly be made out as a man, wearing a green cloth hood. He scrambles up a sheer rock cliff face and, as he comes to the top, the face finally comes into view._

“Wow, that guy must have been there for a while.” Tommy remarked upon seeing all the hair.

 

Diggle and Roy nodded silently as Thea and Laurel peered curiously at the screen. They looked at each other and Laurel nodded, letting her know she felt it to. Even though they couldn’t put their finger on it, there was something familiar about the man.

 

  _Oliver peers over the top of the cliff to the bay, and spots a small fishing vessel. Moving quickly, he runs across the top of the cliff and back slightly into the woods, where a small bundle of supplies lay wrapped in a cloth. Rapidly he withdraws his bow, and an arrow whose tip was covered in tar. Using a flint, he lights the arrow head on fire. He knocked the arrow, drew back on the string and took a moment to aim. Then he let the arrow fly-_

_Into a pre-made signal on the beach, which explodes into a ball of fire._

“Cool.” Tommy breathed.

 

“He’s heavily trained, maybe more than Special Forces,” Diggle said and they looked over at him, “I’m ex-military. I think Kal forgot to introduce us. I’m John Diggle, but you can call me Diggle or Dig.”

 

“Laurel Lance.” Laurel said politely.

 

“I’m Tommy Merlyn and this is Thea Queen.” Tommy said as he gestured to himself and Thea, causing Roy to scoff.

 

“You got a problem?” Thea asked challengingly.

 

“Only problem I got is you two with the silver spoon in your mouths.” Roy said causing Thea and Tommy to glare at him.

 

“Hey, we weren’t brought here to fight.” Laurel reprimanded the three as she looked at them with a look that had them all sitting back, grumbling.

 

“I think you forgot to introduce yourself.” Diggle said pointedly as he looked at Roy.

 

“Roy Harper.” Roy made it clear that was all they were getting out of him.

 

 Diggle nodded and unpaused the recording.

 

_On the fishing boat, the two man crew notice the fireball and head towards shore to investigate. As they come onto the shore, they walk past a ragged looking mask on a post. It was half black and half orange, and an arrow was stuck through the right eye hole._

_"The name of the island they found me on is Lian Yu.”_

Laurel, Tommy, and Thea all sat up noticeably. Diggle and Roy looked over at them but they ignored them.

 

“It-it can’t be.” Thea muttered in shock as Tommy took her hand, shocked as well.

 

Laurel was torn between shock and hope. Shock because Oliver was alive and hope that this meant Sara could be alive as well.

 

_“It’s mandarin for purgatory. I've been stranded here for five years, I've dreamt of my rescue every cold black night since then. For five years, I have had only one thought, one goal: survive. Survive and one day return home."_

_Oliver fell to his knees in front of the two fisherman and slowly let down his hood. His face was filthy, his hair and beard matted with dirt and grime._

“Jesus Ollie.” Tommy breathed at the sight of his friend.

 

“You guys know him?” Roy asked as he looked over again.

 

“My brother,” Thea said as her voice cracked, “he’s my brother. I thought he was dead.”

 

Sensing her emotional distress, Tommy put an arm around her and she buried her head in his shoulder. At the nod from Tommy, Diggle unpaused the recording.

 

_Now on the boat, Oliver was bundled in a blanket, and one of the fisherman brought him some hot tea to warm him up._

_“The island held many dangers. To live, I had to make myself more than what I was, to forge myself into a weapon. I am returning not the boy who was shipwrecked but the man who will bring justice to those who have poisoned my city. My name is Oliver Queen."_

Roy sat forward eagerly, grinning. He thought this meant going after the rich, who poisoned The Glades.

 

Laurel felt a shiver go down her spine at Oliver’s words. She had never heard Oliver sound so convicted. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a little worry at what he meant.

 

Tommy, Thea, and Diggle eyed the screen wearily, wondering what Oliver meant by ‘justice.’

 

_The footage shifted to a news report._

_"Oliver Queen is alive." Marrett Green announced into the camera. "The Starling City resident was found by fishermen in the North China sea five days ago, five years after he was missing and was presumed dead following the accident at sea which claimed 'The Queen's Gambit.'" The screen changed from a picture of the yacht to file footage of Oliver staggering around drunkenly. "Queen was a regular tabloid presence and a fixture at the Starling City club scene. Shortly before his disappearance, he was acquitted of assault charges stemming from a highly publicized drunken altercation with paparazzi."_

“Rightfully acquitted.” Thea huffed.

 

“The paparazzi have always pushed the boundaries with Ollie, something like this was inevitable.” Laurel agreed even as the shock began to wear off and her anger at Oliver started to come to the center.

 

_“Queen is the son of Starling City billionaire Robert Queen, who was also on board but now officially confirmed as deceased."_

Thea let out a sob as she once again buried her face in Tommy’s shoulder. Diggle paused the recording as Tommy wrapped an arm around Thea and Laurel looked down in sadness. There was a moment of silence before Thea pulled back, wiping the tears from her face. At Tommy’s nod, Diggle unpaused the recording.

 

_"20 percent of his body is covered in scar tissue. Second-degree burns on his back and arms. X-rays show at least 12 fractures that never properly healed." Dr. Lamb was saying._

Thea put a hand to her face, trying not to cry. Tommy winced, only imagining what Oliver must have been through while Laurel felt her anger lessen a bit, replaced by concern and sympathy for what Oliver must have endured.

 

_"Has he said anything about what happened?" Moira asked, looking into Oliver's room and watching him as he looked out at the city. Oliver looked better now that he had had a shower and a shave; his hair was also neatly trimmed._

_"No. He's barely said anything." Dr. Lamb Replied. "Moira, I'd like you to prepare yourself. The Oliver you lost might not be the one they found."_

_Moira didn't respond. Instead, she entered the room, letting the door close behind her. "Oliver." She said quietly. Oliver turned around, a myriad of emotions playing across his face._

_"Mom." He finally said after a moment. Moira slowly walked towards him, and Oliver met her half way._

_"Oh My beautiful boy." She said tearfully as they hugged._

Silent tears ran down Thea’s face as she watched her brother, once so full of life, now act so hollowed out, so worn. Laurel was similarly affected but she continued to hold onto her anger stubbornly. Tommy simply watched the screen sadly, wondering what on earth could have happened to Oliver on that island.

 

_Back on the screen, the Queen's Bentley pulled up to the front of the stately old Queen mansion. The trunk opened to reveal a long wooden crate with Chinese writings and a padlock. As the driver reached for it, Oliver cut him off._

_"I've got it." He said, grasping the case instead._

_Moira opened the front doors and led her son inside. "Your room is exactly as you left it." She said, leading him into the house. "I never had the heart to change a thing."_

_"Oliver." A refined British voice called out. “It's damn good to see you."_

_A tall black man came into view. Oliver looked at him in confusion. "It's Walter," the man said, "Walter Steele."_

_On the screen, Moira tried to clarify. "You remember Walter, your father's friend from the company." She said, as if that would explain why he was at their house._

“Oh mom.” Thea sighed.

 

“Is something wrong?” Diggle asked in confusion.

 

“That is my step-father. And my mom obviously hasn’t seen it fit to inform Ollie that she remarried.” Thea said annoyed at her mother.

 

“This’ll go well.” Roy said sarcastically and Thea would’ve snapped at him if she didn’t know he was right.

 

_Another figure entered the foyer, and Oliver walked past Walter, ignoring him completely._

_Oliver walked up to the older woman in the maid's outfit and took her hands in his. "It's good to see you, Raisa." He said warmly._

_"Welcome home, Mr. Oliver." She replied in equal warmth. She looked over to Moira. "Mr. Merlyn phoned." She said. "He wants to join you for dinner."_

_"Wonderful." Moira said, even as Oliver was distracted by the sound of a door slamming. He looked up towards the top of the stairs as his mother continued. "Oliver? Did you hear that?" he ignored her as he walked around the pillar to the bottom of the stairs._

_"Hey, sis." Oliver said as Thea stood at the top of the stairs._

_"I knew it." Thea was saying as she ran down the stairs, jumping into her brother's arms. "I knew you were alive! I missed you so much." She said, hugging him._

_"You were with me the whole time." He replied, a genuine smile on his face._

Thea smiled as did Tommy. Laurel managed a slight grin before the next scene came on the screen.

 

_Back on the screen, we are taken over the Glades into CNRI as Joanna was arguing with Laurel._

_"Come on, Laurel," she was saying, "We're lawyers, not miracle workers. We can't win this."_

_"If we can't win a class-action suit against a man who swindled hundreds of people out of their homes and life savings," Laurel replied, "then we're not fit to call ourselves a legal aid office."_

_"And if we go bankrupt in the process, we won't be a legal aid office." Joanna shot back. "Hunt has an army of lawyers, and they're ready to bury us."_

_"You and I against an army." Laurel said on screen. "I love those odds."_

_"Why do you hate me?" Joanna groused as Laurel sat down at her desk._

“I’ve been asking myself that same question for two years.” Tommy said idly as Laurel smacked him lightly on the arm.

 

_She stared up at her board that laid out Adam Hunt and his 'alleged' criminal activities, searching for something concrete that she could sink her teeth into. As she was looking, a news report on one of the office TV's caught her attention._

_"And in other news, details as to the castaway story you've all heard about the son of a very wealthy billionaire will soon become a legendary story. Jessica now has more details and the complete castaway story. Jessica?" Laurel got up and walked over to the TV that her colleagues were all gathered around._

“Oh boy. This won’t end well.” Tommy said worriedly.

 

“I’d hit you but you’re right.” Laurel sighed.

 

_"The Queen's Gambit' was last heard from more than five years ago. Mr. Queen has reportedly confirmed he was the only survivor of the accident that took the lives of seven people, including local resident Sara Lance. Survived by her sister, Laurel-"_

Laurel had suspected it but to hear it was another thing. Laurel sunk back into the couch as Thea took her hand. Laurel smiled gratefully as Diggle paused the recording.

 

“A relative of yours?” Diggle asked gently.

 

“My sister.” Laurel said raw pain in her voice and Diggle looked over at her with understanding.

 

“I’m sorry.” Diggle said and Laurel nodded.

 

“I suspected it but…let’s keep going.” Laurel said and Diggle nodded as he unpaused the recording.

 

_Laurel shut the TV off, not wanting to hear anymore._

_The scene shifted back to the Queen mansion. It was night, and Oliver emerged from his bathroom in only a towel._

Everyone, even Diggle, stared in shock at all the scars that littered Oliver’s body.

 

“Those…aren’t natural.” Diggle said slowly and everyone turned to him.

 

“What do you mean by that?” Thea demanded.

 

“I mean that your brother was tortured.” Diggle said and everyone sat in stunned silence for a moment.

 

“But…he was on that island.” Tommy protested.

 

“He never said he was alone.” Roy pointed out.

 

“Maybe we’ll learn more if we keep watching.” Laurel said and Diggle nodded as the recording continued.

 

_"After five years, everything that was once familiar is now unrecognizable." Oliver was saying, narrating his own story. On the screen, Oliver was looking himself over, cataloging his various scars. "The face I see in the mirror is a stranger." For a moment looking in the mirror, he saw himself in his familiar green hood. But as he turned away, his mind flew back to where it all began._

_The Queen's Gambit made its way through stormy seas. Inside the boat, Robert Queen was looking at a weather map on the wall as one of the crewmen came in from the storm._

“Dad.” Thea said softly as Tommy wrapped his arm around her once again.

 

_"The storm's a category 2." The crewman said. "The captain's recommending we head back."_

“That’s…that’s not possible.” Laurel stammered and everyone turned to her.

 

“What’s not possible?” Thea asked curiously.

 

“If this is showing what happened when the Gambit went down, then the storm would be much worse. Ollie sailed through rougher waters on the Gambit then category two and the ship was perfectly fine.” Laurel explained and the others looked confused.

 

“What are you saying Laurel?” Tommy asked.

 

“She’s saying that someone sabotaged the boat, right?” Diggle asked and Laurel nodded.

 

“But who would sabotage the gambit?”  Thea asked shocked as Tommy couldn’t even formulate a response.

 

“I don’t know but we’re being shown this for a reason. Maybe we’ll find out more if we keep watching.” Diggle suggested and Thea reluctantly nodded.

 

_Robert sighed. "All right. Inform the crew. He said as a younger looking Oliver ducked out of a stateroom._

_"Are we in trouble?" he asked._

_"One of us is." Robert replied with a small smile. Oliver let out a small laugh, but before he could say anymore a blonde-haired girl came out of the room in nothing more than her lingerie and a short silk robe._

“Sara.” Laurel said in a mix of anger and sadness.

 

Thea took her surrogate sister’s hand and squeezed it, hoping to offer comfort. Laurel did not visibly respond but she squeezed Thea’s hand back.

 

_"Ollie?" she started, then noticed Robert. Grinning, she wrapped the robe around herself. "Where do you keep the bottle opener on this thing?"_

_"I'll be there in a minute, Sara." Oliver said with a grin. Sara grinned and went back into the room, her hair swaying behind her._

_Robert came up to his son and put a hand on his shoulder. "You know, son, that is not going to finish well for either of them or for you."_

“In more ways than one.” Laurel grumbled.

 

_The flashback ended and Oliver was again standing in the foyer of the mansion, looking at a picture of his younger self and his dad. He was staring at it pensively, and then he heard the front door open. He put the picture down as a grin came to his face._

_"What did I tell you? Yachts suck."_

_"Tommy Merlyn." Oliver replied hugging his best friend. Tommy hugged him back strongly, happy to have his brother back._

_"I missed you, buddy." Tommy said._

_The scene shifted, and the whole family (plus Tommy) was seated around the dining room table. Oliver sat at one end, with Thea and Tommy to his left and right respectively; Moira sat at the other end with Walter to her left._

_"Ok." Tommy started. "What else did you miss? Super bowl winners Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. A black president, that's new. Oh, and 'Lost,' they were all dead I think." He finished with some confusion. Honestly, no one really knew how Lost ended._

“Really Tommy?” Laurel snapped as she glared at him, “he may not be my favorite person right now but he just came back from an island. I doubt that he wants to talk about a TV show centering on an island!”

 

“You’re right, that wasn’t very tactful.” Tommy said ashamed.

_"What was it like there?" Thea asked suddenly._

“But that’s even worse.” Tommy said as he glared at Thea, who looked away guiltily.

 

_There was silence as everyone turned to look at Oliver. He plastered a fake smile on his face. "Cold." He said after a moment, an air of finality in that one word._

_"Tomorrow, you and me, we're doing the city." Tommy suddenly announced, sensing that it was time to move on. "You've got a lot to catch up on."_

_"That sounds like a great idea." Moira said._

_"Good." Oliver replied. "Then I was hoping to swing by the office."_

_Walter and Moira exchanged glances. "Well, there's plenty of time for all that." Walter responded. "Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere."_

_At that moment, Raisa came back into the room with a bowl of pears. She tripped on the rug and stumbled into Oliver, who deftly caught her and the bowl "Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Oliver." She said. Oliver smiled at the older Russian._

_"Ni dlya kogo ne volnuites." He replied._

“Okay, he obviously learned to move that fast on that island. But where on earth did he learn Russian?” Tommy wondered as he looked at Thea and Laurel for answers.

 

“I was twelve the last time I saw him. How should I know?” Thea deadpanned.

 

“I don’t remember him taking Russian in college. And even if he did, he wouldn’t have shown up enough to become fluent.” Laurel noted curious about where Oliver learned a second language.

 

_There was a beat in the room as everyone processed that._

_"Dude, you speak Russian?" Tommy finally exclaimed._

_"I didn't realize you took Russian at college, Oliver." Walter said, slightly confused._

_"I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter." Oliver replied bluntly._

“Burn.” Tommy winced.

 

She should have told him. He didn’t like surprises before the island and I doubt that’s changed.” Laurel noted and Thea nodded in agreement.

 

_Conversation again died, and Walter and Moira glanced at each other. Moira looked back to her son, whose face showed only polite interest, no anger or disappointment. Moira looked over to Thea._

_"I didn't say anything." She said._

_"She didn't have to." Oliver added._

_Moira's eyes narrowed slightly, then she nodded to herself, seemingly coming to a decision. "Oliver," she started, taking Walter's hand in her own, "Walter and I are married. And I don't want you to think that either one of us did anything to disrespect your father."_

_"We both believed that Robert, like you, was, uh, well, gone." Walter added._

_"It's fine." Oliver said._

“And I’m a ninja.” Thea scoffed.

 

_. He stared at his mother for a few moments, before he rose. "May I be excused?" he asked, rising from his chair. Moira nodded, and Oliver turned to leave._

_"Hey, don't forget about tomorrow, buddy." Tommy called out as Oliver left, casting one last look at Thea. Round the table,, looks of sadness passed over Moira and Thea's face, as they began to realize that while Oliver may have been home, he still wasn't back yet._

_Later that night, as a storm raged outside the mansion, in his room Oliver slept on the floor besides his open window, with rain pelting him as he slept fitfully. A voice could be heard counting "One, two, three, four…", and suddenly the screen flashed back to the stateroom on the Gambit. Oliver was busy opening a bottle of wine as Sara sat on the bed, counting the beats between the lightning flashes and thunder. "It's getting closer." Sara said, as the lights flashed on and off._

_"That's not very scientific." Oliver said teasingly._

_"What would you know about science, Mr. Ivy league dropout?" she asked as he brought two glasses of wine to the bed._

_"I happen to know a lot about science." Oliver said, handing her a glass. "I know about fermentation. I know biology…" he trailed off as he kissed her. The broke apart and Sara leaned back smiling._

_"Laurel's gonna kill me." She said, putting the glass down on the nightstand._

“Oh god,” Laurel said with growing unease, “please don’t show…”

 

_"Oh, she's so gonna kill me."_

_"Your sister will never know." Oliver assured her, pressing her down into the mattress. "Come here."_

_Sara laughed and they kissed some more, and suddenly there was a loud crack of thunder. Sara broke away, slightly panicked. "Ok, that one was really close." She said nervously._

_"Sara," Oliver said, grinning at the girl, "we're gonna be fine." Suddenly, without warning, the room seems to flip and suddenly the far wall became the floor. Oliver and Sara were thrown out of the bed, slamming into the wall. Oliver staggered to his knees, pulling himself up on the edge of the bed._

_"Sara?" he called out, looking around. There, across the room near the door lay Sara, a small cut on her head bleeding. She blinked in confusion, then look up and back at Oliver. She reached for him- but was suddenly swept from the room "Sara!" Oliver screamed as the water claimed him, too._

Diggle paused the recording as Laurel suddenly cried out. Laurel wrapped hers around herself as she suddenly started sobbing uncontrollably. Thea wrapped her in a hug and Laurel buried her face in the younger woman’s shoulder, still sobbing.  No one said anything for a moment, then the automatic doors opened. Everyone looked over and Laurel gasped.

 

Standing in the doorway was a second Laurel. She was older, in her early forties it looked like. Her hair, instead of brown like Laurel’s, was almost completely blonde. She was dressed in a leather jacket with a black shirt underneath, blue jeans, and a pair of black boots.    

 

“You’re…” Laurel trailed off as Dinah walked in.

 

“Yes. But to avoid confusion, you can call me Dinah,” Dinah said as she walked over to Laurel, “she’s not dead Laurel.”

 

“What?! But we just saw her die!” Laurel shouted in confusion and Dinah sighed.

 

“As far as Ollie knew at that point, Sara was dead. He learned otherwise later on. But I just thought you should know.” Dinah said before she turned and walked back out.

 

Everyone stared after Dinah, still absorbing what she had said. Then Laurel wiped her face and nodded at Diggle. The soldier nodded and unpaused the recording.

 

_It seemed to take forever, but in reality it only took a few moments for Oliver to break the surface of the ocean. He gasped for breath and looked around frantically. "Sara!" he screamed._

_"Oliver!" Robert called from the life raft. Oliver frantically swum for the raft, and Robert and a crewman pulled him onboard._

_"Sara! Sara!" Oliver screamed. He lunged for the side, trying to get back in the water to find her. Robert grabbed him and held him in. "No! Dad, she's out there!"_

_"She's not there, Oliver. She's gone."_

_The flashback ended, and we see Moira leaning over Oliver, shaking him lightly. "Oliver, wake up." She said loudly, trying to be heard over the storm. She shook his shoulder again "Oliver…"_

_Suddenly Oliver awoke and, running on five years of survival instincts, grabbed his mother's arm and flipped her over him onto the floor. His hand came down to her neck just as Walter yelled "Oliver!"_

 

“Wow.” Roy was impressed while everyone else was stunned.

 

“Bad idea,” Diggle noted, “he’s not the same. He’s gone though some deep shit, treating him the same will only get you hurt.”

 

“What makes you so sure?” Laurel asked curiously.

 

“He’s got PTSD. I’ve seen the signs in some of the guys I’ve served with. It never goes away.” Diggle told her.

 

_Oliver blinked and looked down, seeing his mother there for the first time. Scarred at his own actions, he rapidly crawled away from his mother back towards the window. "I'm sorry," he said ashamedly. "I'm so… I'm so sorry."_

_Walter helped Moira up shakily. She knelt down in front of Oliver. "No, it’s ok, Oliver." She said in a soothing voice. "It's all right, sweetheart. "You're home. You're home." She emphasized._

_The scene shifted to the next day. Oliver pulled his old munitions crate out from under his bed, and deftly undid the lock. Opening the lid, he pulled out a small, worn book, and an arrowhead-shaped stone. The scene then shifted to Thea's room, where her friend Margo was crushing a pill into powder with the edge of her credit card._

Thea looked like a deer caught in the headlights as Laurel and Tommy both whirled on her.

 

“What are you thinking Thea?! Do you know what that stuff can do to you?!” Tommy demanded.

 

“You and  Ollie weren’t exactly innocent when you were my age.” Thea shot back but Tommy shook his head.

 

“Oliver and I partied, we drank, and occasionally we smoked some pot, but we _never_ did narcotics. _Ever_ ” Tommy said with a firmness that surprised Laurel and Thea.

 

“You realize that you could get arrested for this, right? And your mom won’t be able to bail you out this time. This is not a minor offense Thea!” Laurel snapped.

 

“So this is how the rich live.” Roy said distastefully.

 

“You’re not helping.” Diggle told him.

 

“Wasn’t trying to.” Roy told him.

 

“You know, when we get back, I think I’ll have a conversation with Mrs. Queen, have her look very closely at who you hang out with.” Laurel said as Tommy nodded at Diggle, who continued the recording.

 

_"Roxies. Thank you, daddy's ACL tear." Margo replied smugly. Suddenly there was a knock on her door, and Margo hurriedly hid the pill bottle in her jacket as Thea hurriedly threw a folder over the line just as Oliver entered the room._

_"Ollie." Thea said with a smile. Oliver laughed lightly._

_"No one's called me that in a while, Speedy." He replied. Thea closed her eyes, half in annoyance and half in embarrassment._

_"Worst nickname ever."_

_"What, always chasing after me as a kid? I thought it fit pretty well." He replied. A beat. "Maybe it still does."_

“Or better yet, maybe Oliver can.” Tommy said snidely as Thea squirmed.

 

_Margo took her cue and grabbed her bag. "See you at school, Speedy." She said. She threw a grin over her shoulder at Thea as she left. Thea laughed._

_"Sorry about her." She said._

_"I have something for you." Oliver held up the stone. Thea smiled in amazement._

_"You did not come back from a deserted island with a souvenir."_

_"It's a Hozen." Oliver explained. "And in Buddhism, it symbolizes reconnecting. I kept it in hopes that one day; it would reconnect me with you." He finished, handing the Hozen to his sister. Thea took it and smiled warmly at her brother._

Despite the tense atmosphere between them, Thea, Laurel, and Tommy couldn’t help but smile at the scene.

 

_"A rock! That is sweet." A voice said from the door. Oliver smiled as Tommy entered the room. "You know," he started, "I want one of those t-shirts that says 'my friend was a castaway, and all I got was this crappy shirt'."_

“Always ruining the moment.” Thea said with a flirty smile that Tommy didn’t notice.

 

_Thea smiled at his antics, then looked to her brother. "Don't let him get you into too much trouble." She advised. "You just got back. Take it slow." She embraced Oliver, who gave her a kiss on the cheek. Thea went back to her desk._

_"Ahem. The city awaits." Tommy announced, and after shooting Thea a smile, the two left the room. As they walked down the hallway, Tommy looked to Oliver. "Have you noticed how hot your sister's gotten?" he asked, At Oliver's glare, "Because I have not."_

 

Tommy cried out as he was pushed off the couch. Roy burst out laughing as Tommy hit the floor. Tommy looked up at a startled Thea and Laurel shooting him a death glare.

 

“Roy, Tommy, you’re switching seats,” Roy stopped laughing at this, “Thea has enough bad influences in her life, she doesn’t need a pervert like you. Now switch seats.”

 

Roy considered arguing but the look on Laurel’s face told him this would be bad for his health. Roy stood up and Tommy all but sprinted to take his seat.

 

“Wimp.” Roy muttered as he took his new seat.

 

“So…are you gonna tell them?” Kal asked Dinah in the control room.

 

“Eventually but for right now, it’s too funny. Think of how embarrassed they’ll be when they find out they’re brother and sister.” Dinah smirked.

 

“I always knew you were secretly evil.” A man in a red uniform said as he walked n.

 

“Roy, glad you’re back.” Kal said warmly.

 

“Call me Arsenal while they’re here. So how far are they?” Arsenal asked as he joined them by the monitors.

 

“Still in th first one.” Dinah told him.

 

_The scene shifted again, and now Tommy an Oliver were driving through the Glades in Tommy's Mercedes with the radio blaring._

_"Your funeral blew." Tommy announced. Oliver looked over at him with a grin._

_"Did you get lucky?" he asked, and they both laughed._

_"Fish in a barrel." Tommy said. "They were so sad."_

_"No." Oliver said jokingly._

“You used your best friend’s funeral to get lucky.” Roy said in disgusted disbelief.

 

“Nobody asked you.” Tommy snapped.

 

_And huggy." Tommy continued. "And I am counting on another target rich environment for your welcome home bash."_

_Oliver looked to his friend in confusion. "At my what?"_

_"You came back from the dead." Tommy stated. "This calls for a party. You tell me where and when. I'll take care of everything." They came to a stop at a corner. Across from them, a dilapidated building stood, with several homeless people out front standing close to a warming barrel. To the right stood an old, abandoned steel mill- The Queen steel mill. "And this city's gone to crap." Tommy continued. "Your dad sold his factory just in time. Why'd you want to drive through this neighborhood anyway?" he asked as Oliver looked at the factory._

_"No reason" he finally said._

“He’s up to something.” Laurel noted.

 

“He still hasn’t revealed how he plans to bring justice to the city.” Diggle pointed out.

 

_"So what'd you miss the most?" Tommy asked him, turning to him and grinning. "Steaks at the Palm, drinks at the station, meaningless sex?"_

_"Laurel."_

“Really?” Laurel stared at the screen in disbelief.

 

“Despite my brother’s less than ideal treatment of you, I do think he loves you.” Thea told Laurel who scoffed.

 

“He has a funny way of showing it.”

 

_The smiled dropped off of his face. "Everyone is happy you're alive." He said, trying to reason with his friend. "You want to see the one person who isn't?"_

_Oliver just shrugged his shoulders._

_The scene shifted again to CNRI, where Joana was talking with Laurel._

_"Laurel, I just got this from Hunt's lawyers." She handed Laurel a folder. "They filed a change of venue. We are now in front of Judge Grell."_

_"Hunt funded Grell's reelection campaign." Laurel said, walking back towards her desk. Joanna joined her._

_"Mm-hmm." She said._

_"He's got Grell in his back pocket." Laurel stated._

_"You know, its fun being your friend." Joanna replied. "I get to say 'I told you so' a lot."_

_"No." Laurel shook her head. "Adam Hunt is not smarter than we are."_

_"No, he's just richer and willing to commit multiple felonies."_

_"We don't need to go outside the law," Laurel started._

_"To find justice." Joanna finished. " Your dad's favorite jingle."_

Roy scoffed loudly, causing everyone to turn to him.

 

“You got something to say?” Laurel raised an eyebrow.

 

“Yeah: You and your dad are full of shit. You clearly don’t know anything that’s really going on in this city; otherwise you’d change your tune. The law only protects those who can pay for it.” Roy told her coldly.

 

“What do you mean by  that?” Laurel asked.

 

“You work at CNRI, right? When was the last time you actually talked to anyone in The Glades? That should give you your answer.” Roy said coolly.

 

_Joanna smiled and walked away, and Laurel turned around-_

_To see Oliver Queen standing by her desk, looking at her board on Adam Hunt. Oliver looked over to Laurel and gave a slight smile_

_"Hello, Laurel."_

“Well this isn’t gonna go well.” Tommy muttered.

 

_The scene shifted, and the two were walking through an outdoor plaza. "You went to law school." Oliver was saying, "You said you would."_

_Yeah." Laurel agreed sullenly. "Everyone's proud."_

_"Adam Hunt's a heavy hitter." Olive tried. "You sure you want to get in the ring with him?"_

_"Five years and you want to talk about Adam Hunt?" she asked. Oliver shook his head._

_"No. Not really." Laurel sighed and they stopped walking, Oliver turning to face her._

_"Why are you here, Ollie?" she asked tiredly._

_"To apologize." Oliver replied. "It was my fault. I wanted to ask you not to blame her."_

_"For what?" she asked. "Falling under your spell? How could I possibly blame her for doing the same things that I did?"_

_"I never meant to-"_

_"She was my sister." Laurel cut him off. "I couldn't be angry because she was dead. I couldn't grieve because I was so angry. That's what happens when your sister dies while screwing your boyfriend." She paused to compose herself. "We buried an empty coffin," she finally said, "because her body was at the bottom of the ocean- where you left her. It should have been you."_

_Oliver looked pained, the truth of her words stinging. "I know that it's too late to say this, but I'm sorry." He said at last._

_"Yeah, I'm sorry, too." Laurel replied acidly. "I'd hoped that you'd rot in hell a whole lot longer than five years."_

 

Thea glared at Laurel who had the grace to look slightly guilty of her actions. Still, Laurel could not change how she felt.

 

“You make it sound like he put a gun to her head and forced her to do it,” Roy pointed out and Laurel looked over at him, “but that really doesn’t seem to be the case.”

 

“Instead of blaming it all on Ollie, maybe you should look at Sara to.” Thea snapped and Laurel paused, considering.

 

  _She stalked past him back to CNRI. As she passed by Tommy, she asked' "How did you think that was gonna go, Tommy?"_

_"About like that." He replied._

_Soon, Tommy and Oliver were walking back towards the alley where Tommy had parked his car._

_"Ok, so we took care of that." Tommy was saying. "Good call. Now we can make up for lost time. If you're not too sick of fish, I suggest we find some leggy models and eat Sushi all day. What do you say?" he stopped suddenly as a van came from out of nowhere and pulled up right behind his car, slamming on the breaks before it hit the two friends. Two men in demon masks and blue hoodies came out of nowhere. "What're they doing?" Tommy asked, startled. Before either man could react, the masked men shot the pair with tranquilizer darts. Tommy went down immediately, but Oliver took a few more moments, as he started fading, he saw a cook come out of the back of a restaurant, taking out the trash. He only had time to say "What the hell?" before a third demon-masked man with a submachine gun shot him. The last thing Oliver saw before he passed out was one of the demon masks peering down at him._

Thea jumped, worried for her brother and Tommy. Laurel put a hand on her shoulder, even as she herself worried about Tommy and even Oliver. Tommy simply stared at the screen, wondering what was about to happen to him and Oliver. Diggle noted that the men who kidnapped as Oliver and Tommy were obviously very good at their job while Roy eyed the screen in interest. 

 

_The scene flashed back to the life raft, where the three survivors sat, floating on the rough sea at night. Robert handed Oliver a bottle of water. "Here, son." He said, "Drink."_

_"What the hell are you doing?!" the crewman shouted. "That's all we've got!"_

_Robert glared at the man. "If anybody's making it out of here, it's gonna be him." He said as Oliver took a drink of water. Robert put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer to his chest._

_"I'm so sorry." He said. "I thought I'd have more time. I'm not the man you think I am. I didn't build our city, I failed it. And I wasn't the only one."_

Roy and Diggle frowned in interest while the others did so in confusion. What exactly did Robert Queen mean by he failed the city?

 

_The scene faded to black, and suddenly a voice could be heard._

_"Mr. Queen? Mr. Queen!" the blackness was lifted, reveling one of the demon masked men as he pulled the bag up from over Oliver's head. The man held a Taser and hit the activation stud, causing a current of electricity to flow between the two prongs at the end. "Did your father survive that accident?" Oliver remained silent, looking around the room. He saw three men, one with a submachine gun, another, also with a gun, standing near Tommy, who was still passed out on a wooden pallet. "I ask the questions." The man said, "You give me the answers." Oliver was still silent, so the man stuck the Taser on his chest, shocking him. Oliver groaned loudly behind clenched teeth._

Thea whimpered at the sight of her brother in pain and Laurel despite her feelings about Oliver at the moment, couldn’t help the feeling of worry. Tommy, Roy, and Diggle watched the screen uneasily, wondering what was about to happen.

 

_"Did he make it to the island? Did he tell you anything?" the mask asked again, and again Oliver was silent, so he taserd him. Oliver let out another groan. Finally, he looked up at the mask._

_"Yes, he did." He said._

_"What did he tell you, Mr. Queen?"_

_Oliver looked right into the darkened eyeholes of the mask. "He told me I'm gonna kill you."_

Those who knew Oliver before leaned back in shock at how cold blooded he sounded. Roy and Diggle were also greatly surprised by this admission, wondering if he could back it up.

 

_The mask and his friends all shared a laugh. "You're delusional." He said finally. "You're zip-cuffed to that chair."_

_Oliver lifted his now-freed hands. "Not anymore." He said. Then, before they could react, he went into motion. He ducked a punch from his interrogator, and then flipped the chair up to block a second. He reversed the chair, sending the hard edge of the seat into the chest of the second man, then ripped out of back seat posts and spun around, staking the interrogator in the heart. For good measure, he brought the Taser up and shocked him under his jaw, sending him to the floor. He grabbed the second man and swung him around in front of his as a shield, just as the third man fired. The bullets hit the second guy in the chest killing him. Seeing that, the third bolted from the room._

“Good god.” Thea said stunned by her brother’s skill and willingness to kill.

 

Laurel watched stunned, not quite absorbing what she had seen. Tommy couldn’t formulate a response. Roy watched eagerly, wondering if he could learn that. Diggle simply noted that Oliver was highly skilled, even more than he originally thought.

 

_Oliver let the man drop and ran over to Tommy. Bending down he checked his pulse, making sure his friend was alive. Noting that he was, Oliver took off after the third man, just as Tommy started to come around._

_As Oliver started gaining ground, the man fired wildly behind him. Oliver was able to duck and doge out of the way of the fire. They made it into another warehouse and the man fired wildly once more spraying bullets everywhere, once more Oliver was able to stay ahead of the fire, jumping off a platform and grabbing on to some chains, as the man frantically tried to reload. Oliver didn't give him a chance, swinging around and launching himself at the man. A punch to the face bent the man backwards, and Oliver spun around, wrapping his arm around the man's neck from behind in a reverse choke._

_"You killed that man." Oliver said, holding the man in place._

_"You don't have to do this." He gasped out._

_"Yes, I do." Oliver replied, then with a jerk, broke the man's neck. "Nobody can know my secret."_

 

Thea couldn’t contain the startled cry that came out of her mouth. Laurel drew back, shock and horror written across her face.

 

“He murdered that guy.” Tommy muttered in shock.

 

“It was self-defense.” Diggle said and they all looked at him.

 

“The first two were self-defense but that….that was cold blooded murder.” Laurel said still shaken.

 

“These guys were the muscle, hired by someone very powerful and dangerous. If it got back to the employer what Oliver could do, he’d hire someone more equipped to deal with Oliver. An as we’ve seen, they don’t care about collateral damage, so they may even use the people close to Oliver in order to get to him.” Diggle explained.

 

As everyone paused to absorb Diggle’s words, Diggle continued the recording.

 

_The scene shifted to the sitting room at Queen Manor, where Oliver was being interviewed by Detective Lance and his partner, Detective Hilton. Moira and Walter were there as well, and on the coffee table before them lay the sketch of Oliver and Tommy's 'savior', a man in a hood._

_"So that's your story." Lance was saying. "A guy in a green hood flew in and single-handedly took out 3 armed kidnappers." He shrugged. "I mean, who is he? Why would he do that?"_

_Oliver shrugged in return. "I don't know. Find him and you can ask."_

_"Yeah." Lance said doubtfully. He looked over at Tommy. "What about you? You see the hood guy?"_

_"I saw…" Tommy hesitated for a moment, his eyes flickering over to Oliver, who was looking back at him with an unreadable expression. "Just movement." He said finally. "Everything blurry. I was kind of out of it."_

Tommy idly wondered if the him in the recording suspected or not.

 

_"Yeah." Lance replied, disbelieving. He looked back to Oliver. "It's funny, isn't it? One day back, and already somebody's gunning for you. Aren't you popular?"_

“Dad.” Laurel sighed disappointed.

 

_Moira's eyes narrowed at Lance. "Were you able to identify the men?" she asked._

_"Scrubbed identities, untraceable weapons." Hilton said. "These were pros."_

_"Yeah." Lance added. "Well, they probably figured you'd pay a king's ransom to get your boy back- or a Queen's ransom, as it were." His gaze turned to Oliver. "After all, a parent would do anything to keep their child safe."_

_"I don't find your tone appropriate, Detective." Moira interjected. Walter slowly stood._

_"If Oliver can think of anything else, he'll be in touch." He said. "Thank you, gentlemen, for coming."_

_Lance gave a cold smile and rose, tucking the drawing back into his travel case. He stared at Oliver. "Your luck never seems to run out, does it?" he said, before he and his partner leave._

“How does your father still have a job?” Roy asked Laurel.

 

“He makes a good point,” Diggle said as Laurel shot him a glare, “I was in the army and if any one of us had acted like that, we would’ve been dishonorably discharged.”

 

Laurel sighed, knowing they had a point.

 

_Lance gave a cold smile and rose, tucking the drawing back into his travel case. He stared at Oliver. "Your luck never seems to run out, does it?" he said, before he and his partner leave. Oliver walks over the window and takes a calming breath, before turning back and looking at Tommy, who stares back with an unreadable expression of his own._

_Next, we find ourselves in Oliver's room. He's studying news clipping son his computer about Adam Hunt. He looks at his father's book, and sure enough Adam Hunt is a name on The List._

“What’s with that book?” Tommy wondered but no one had an answer.

 

_"You are different."_

_Oliver looks up and smiles at Raisa as she enters his room with a tray of food. As she approaches, he turns the book over and clears his monitor. "Not like you to read a book."_

_"I missed you, Raisa." He said warmly._

_"No kitchen on the island?" she joked._

_"No." Oliver says. "No friends either."_

_He stood and walked towards her, taking the tray. "Hey. Thank you." He took the tray and sat it down on his bed, then looked back at the maid. "Do I really seem different?"_

_"No." she said. "You're still a good boy."_

_"Oh, I think we both know I wasn't."_

_"But a good heart." She added warmly. Oliver smiled._

_"I hope so." He said. "I want to be the person you always told me I could be."_

_The scene shifted, and now we see Oliver leaving the mansion._

_"Oliver," Moira's voice called out, stopping him in his tracks, he turned to see his Mother, Walter, and a tall, well-built black man._

“Well this must be where you come in Dig.” Tommy elbowed the other man who simply nodded in response.

 

_"I want to introduce you to someone," she was saying. "John Diggle. He'll be accompanying you from now on."_

_Oliver smiled. "I don't need a babysitter." He argued._

“Not a babysitter.” Diggle grumbled.

 

_"Darling, Oliver's a grown man." Walter added. "And if he doesn't feel he needs armed protection…"_

_"Yes, I understand," Moira interjected, "but this is something I need." Oliver smiled at his mother, then looked once more at the bodyguard._

_Soon, Diggle was driving the Bentley downtown, with Oliver in the back._

_"So…what do I call you?" he asked. Diggle glanced in the rear-view mirror at his principal as he drove._

_"Diggle's good." He said. "Dig if you want."_

_"You're ex-military?"_

_"Yes, sir." He replied. "105th Airborne out of Kandahar, retired. Been in the private sector a little more than four years now." He glanced in the mirror again. "I don't want there to be any confusion, Mr. Queen. My ability to keep you from harm will outweigh your comfort. Do we have an agreement? Sir?" He heard the sound of the back door opening then closing in rapid succession. He glanced over his shoulder to see that Oliver was gone. "Sir!" he called out, slamming on the brakes. He got out of the car and hurried around to the back, throwing open the back door to see the car deserted. He looked around in vain- but Oliver was gone._

Everyone else laugh while Diggle simply looked annoyed. Still, he could see the amusement in it.

 

_The scene shifted, and we see Oliver walking down in the heart of the Glades. He had picked up new clothes and gear, and now he made his way back to the abandoned Queen steel mill. He tossed his bags over the high fence, and then jumped the fence himself. Picking up the bags, he calmly walked into the mill. Long abandoned, the mill was an empty husk. Trash littered the floor, and Oliver stopped when something caught his eye. Bending down, he found an old Queen Consolidated annual report, his father's face on the cover. He picked it up and stared at it._

_"The abduction was unexpected.' His voice sounded. 'It forced me to move up my plans, but what I told the police was true. The man in the green hood was there in that warehouse, and he's just beginning.'_

“Looks like we’re about to find out what Ollie’s plans are.” Tommy said as everyone leaned forward in anticipation.

 

_What followed were a series of images as Oliver began building his lair- knocking down walls, breaking through the floor to the basement below, maneuvering a generator and other equipment he had had delivered via unconventional sources. Soon, he had several tables set up, lights over each of the tables flickered on when he powered up the generator. He set up his computer system at the forefront and started uploading and sorting files. While the computes worked, he worked two- first on creating new arrows with the machine tools, then on working out his body- doing several reps on the salmon ladder, inverted crunches, and other exercises._

“Wow, don’t I feel inferior.” Tommy muttered.

 

“There’s a simple solution Tommy. It’s called a gym.” Laurel said dryly.

 

_Finally, he pulled his munitions box out and set it on a table, opening it up. He pulled out his custom recurve bow, strapped his quiver to his back, and loaded up a bucket with tennis balls. Steadying himself, he knocked over the bucket and let the balls bounce out onto the floor. At once, he started drawing, nocking, and firing arrows, one after the other, until all of the tennis balls were pinned to the wall, each with an arrow dead center._

“He’s good. Very good.” Thea noted as the only one with experience in archery.

 

_Later, Oliver is sitting at his new computer station watching a news report about Hunt. "The suit alleges that Hunt committed multiple acts of fraud and theft against the city's underprivileged. Laurel Lance, an attorney for the city necessary…" the news report tuned out as Oliver began speaking his thoughts once more._

_"Adam Hunt his crimes go deeper than fraud and theft, but he's been able to bully, bribe, or kill anyone who's gotten into his way." Oliver moved from his weapons table to the crate and pulled out a familiar green hood. 'He hasn't met me yet.'_

_The scene shifted to a parking garage where Adam Hunt, Laurel's boss Eric Gitter, and two of Hunt's bodyguards were swiftly walking._

“Are you kidding me, my boss is in bed with Hunt?!” Laurel shouted enraged.

 

“Almost everyone in this city is dirty. You won’t be able to help if you don’t get that.” Roy told her not unkindly.

 

_"You remind Grell I put him on the bench, I can take him off." Hunt said viciously. "I will turn him into a cautionary tale."_

_"Yes, Mr. Hunt." Gitter replied._

_"And this attorney, Laurel Lance? You said she wasn't gonna be a problem anymore." Hunt continued. "I told you to fix that situation." He stopped and looked at Gitter. "Why are you still here?" Gitter nodded subserviently and left._

_The other three men continued the walk to his car, when suddenly a light exploded behind them. The first guard turned to look, his hand going for his gun in his waistband- until an arrow pierced his hand and gut, pinning it there. The guard fell with a cry, while the second guard pushed Hunt into the back of the limo. "Get in the car!" he commanded, and then turned around, drawing his weapon and firing several times into the darkened garage. He paused, searching for a target._

_"Hey." A voice called out, "You missed."_

Tommy couldn’t but laugh at this.

 

“He’s confident, that’s for sure.” Laurel noted a little worriedly.

 

_Hunt listened inside the car as his second man was taken down, and suddenly a window shattered. He looked up to see an arrow lodged in the seatback. He reached for it in puzzlement-_

_And then suddenly he was yanked through the shattered window and tossed to the ground. He scrambled onto his back, to see Oliver, in his green uniform, hood, and grease paint over his eyes. The brim of the hood was pulled low to distort his face._

_And he had an arrow nocked and aimed right at Hunt's chest._

“And brutal.” Roy said impressed.

 

_"Aah!" the man screamed. "What? What? Just… just tell me what you want!"_

_The Hood jumped off the room of the car and hauled Hunt to his feet. "You're gonna transfer $40 million into Starling city bank account 1141 by 10 P.M. tomorrow night." He demanded._

_"Or what?" Hunt shot back, a scowl on his face._

_"Or I'm gonna take it, and you won't like how." The Hood replied, then turned and walked away._

_Gaining courage at the Arrows retreating back, Hunt shouted, "If I see you again, you're dead!" In response, The Hood in one fluid motion turned and fired an arrow into the back window of the limo. Hunt looked at the hole in shock, then turned back to the Hood- but he was already gone._

“Why does he want that money?” Laurel asked suspiciously.

 

“Don’t know but threats aren’t gonna work. That kind of man won’t take it lying down.” Diggle noted.

 

_The scene shifted to the next day, at Adam Hunt's penthouse apartment, where Hunt was giving his stated to Lance and Hilton._

_"He was wearing a hood, a green hood," he was saying, "And he had a bow and arrow." The two cops glance at one another, and Hunt misinterpreted their looks. "What, you don't believe me?" he picked up and arrow that was lying on his desk and handed it to Lance. "That maniac put two of my men in the hospital."_

_Lance took the arrow and looked it over. "Well, thanks for your statement. We'll put out an APB on," he looked back up at Hunt and said, slightly mockingly, "Robin Hood."_

In the control room, Arsenal suddenly burst out laughing. As Dinah and Kal shot him looks, Arsenal managed to regain control of himself before speaking.

 

“I’m sorry; it’s just, can you imagine how he would’ve taken that back then?” He asked.

 

 It took all of one second for Dinah and Kal to start laughing at the idea.

 

_Hunt scowled and to into Lances face. "Hey, pal. I'm not some grocer who got taken for his register. I go to the front of the line." He stepped back and looked at both cops. "Now he said he would be back here by 10 P.M. Make sure you're here first. You can coordinate with Mr. Drakon, my new head of security." He gestured to a tall, thin man in black._

“What a douche.” Thea said distastefully.

 

“Does it make me a bad person that I want Ollie to put an arrow in him? Not enough to kill him but just enough to hurt badly without being fatal.” Tommy asked.

 

“No. I fantasize about that once or twice when I go up against these kinds of people.” Laurel admitted.

 

“Okay then.” Tommy leaned back, satisfied.

 

_"All right." Lance said finally. "Well, uh, thanks for your time." The two partners turned and left. As they walked to the elevator, Hilton said, "It looks like Queen was telling the truth."_

_"Yeah." Lance said grudgingly, "Well, there's a first time for everything. This hooded guy comes looking for trouble," he finishes as the doors to the elevator start to close, "he'll find it."_

“Your dad is over-confident and out of his league,” Diggle told Laurel, “someone as heavily trained as Oliver won’t be stopped by the police. Your father needs to reign in his ego or he’s gonna get himself killed. If not by Oliver, by someone with a similar skill set.”

 

Laurel nodded, worry filling her heart.

 

_The scene shifts back to Queen Manor, where Oliver is exiting. He opens the back door of the Bentley- to see John Diggle sitting in the back already._

 

_"Put on your seat belt, sir." Dig says with a smile. "Wouldn't want you to miss your party." Oliver smiles in amusement in return as he gets in._

_We cut to the Iron Works Building, where Oliver's 'Welcome Home' party was already in full swing with music blaring and plenty of hot girls writhing on the dance floor. Oliver walked down the main staircase, pausing only for a moment to check his new iPhone to see if Hunt had deposited the money yet._

_He hadn't._

_Frowning momentarily, Oliver put the phone back into his jacket and once again slipped on his 'Oliver Queen- party boy' face just as Tommy saw him._

_"Everybody, hey!" he called out, signaling for the DJ to cut the music. "Man of the hour! Whoo! And, ladies, please give this man a proper homecoming!"_

_We are the champions' started playing as Oliver made his way up to the main stage in the middle of the floor. "Thank you very much, everybody!" he called out as Tommy handed him a shot. He downed it fast and yelled, "I missed Tequila!" The crowd cheered as the music started up again._

“How does he do that? How is he able to just…stand up there and act like he’s the same person he was five years ago?” Laurel asked out loud.

 

“Those five years away changed him in ways that you can never understand. I spent twenty seven years of my life in Starling City, five in Afghanistan. You know what I learned? Home is a battle field,” Diggle explained and everyone shot him looks, “at home, everyone’s trying to get you to open up, be someone you’re not sure you are anymore. Sometimes it’s just easier to give them what they want.”

 

Laurel, Thea, and Tommy all frowned as they considered his words.

 

_Across the street in Adam Hunt's penthouse, his security contingent was busy prepping clips and checking their automatic weapons, preparing for the coming fight. Hunt, drink in hand, frowned as he looked out his window._

_"What the hell's going on out there?" he demanded._

_"It's across the street." Constantine Drakon replied. "Party for the guy that got rescued off that island Oliver Queen." Hunt nodded sourly and moved back to his desk._

“He’s smart, very smart.” Diggle muttered and everyone looked over at him.

 

“Got something to share?” Roy drawled.

 

“The location of the party is a strategic move on Oliver’s part. In the event of Hunt refusing, which he obviously will, Oliver can easily go over there and get the money, and then slip back in unnoticed. It’s brilliant really.” Diggle admitted.

 

_Back at the party, Oliver smiled across the room at Diggle who stood in a corner, though his eyes never left his principal._

_"Hey." Tommy said, coming up next to his friend, "Does he wipe for you, too?" Oliver chuckled as Tommy threw an arm around his shoulders._

_"Now by my rough estimate, you have not had sex in 1,839 days. As your wingman, I highly recommend Carmen Golden." He indicated three girls dancing on the stage._

_"Which one is she?" Oliver asked._

_“The one who looks like the chick from 'Twilight'."_

_"What's 'Twilight'?"_

_"You're so better off not knowing." Tommy responded, taking a sip of his drink._

“Truer words never spoken.” Thea said with Laurel looking like she heavily agreed.

 

_Oliver looked out at the crowd and spotted something he didn't like- Thea, with some of her friends, talking with a guy on the floor. He saw her pass him some cash and palm a packet of pills in return. Oliver frowned. "Back in a minute." He told Tommy as he headed over to his sister._

“Not again.” Thea groaned.

 

“If you’re gonna act this way, then be prepared to face the consequences. If not from your mother, then from Ollie.” Laurel told her firmly.

 

_. Diggle noticed his movement and moved to follow._

_Thea smiled as he approached. "Ollie, hey!" she said as she grasped her arm, lightly pulling her away from her friends. "This party is sick!"_

_"Who let you in here?" Oliver demanded quietly._

_"I believe it was somebody who said, 'Right this way, Miss Queen'." She replied sarcastically._

_"Well, you shouldn't be here."_

_Thea narrowed her eyes at him as she pulled her arm free. "I'm not 12 anymore." She said._

_"No." Oliver agreed. "You're 17."_

_Thea scoffed. "Ollie, I love you, but you can't come back here and judge me, especially for being just like you." She noted pointedly._

_Oliver sighed. "I know that it couldn't have been easy for you when I was… away," he started, but Thea cut him off with a small, incredulous laugh. "Away?" she started, "No. You died. My brother and my father died. I went to your funerals."_

_"I know," Oliver started, but Thea cut him off._

_"No, you don't." For the first time Oliver caught a glimpse of the pain Thea had been hiding ever since his return. "Mom had Walter, and I had no one. You guys all act like its cool; let's forget about the last 5 years. Well, I can't. For me, it's kind of permanently in there! So I'm sorry if I turned out some major disappointment, but this… me is the best I could do with what I had to work with." She finished, Oliver closed his eyes, unable to meet her gaze. Thea turned back to her friends. "Let's bounce." She said, and the quartet of girls walked away._

“Thea,” Tommy called out and she looked over at him, “I know it’s been hard for you, putting it lightly, but you can’t push Oliver away when he’s trying to help.”

 

“And what makes you think you know anything about what I’ve been going through?” Thea snapped.

 

“Because you’re not the only one who lost someone!” Tommy snapped, finally losing his temper and she reeled back in shock, “Laurel lost her sister! I lost my best friend and the man who was more of a father to me than my own! Stop your pity party and grow up! You’re gonna be eighteen in less than a year and your mother won’t be able to bail you out of it every time you screw up!”

 

“Okay, both of you calm down.” Laurel said as she looked from Tommy to Thea.

 

“Let’s keep watching.” Diggle said as he restarted the recording.

 

_You have the fun dip?" Margo asked. Thea, a little shaken, fumbles for her purse. "Yeah. It's right…" she felt around her purse, but couldn't find the packet of pills. "No." she said in confused embarrassment, "I…I must have dropped it."_

_Oliver stalked away. He paused at a trashcan to throw away the packet he had palmed from her purse; looking up he caught Diggle's' satisfied look at his actions._

 

“Good job Ollie.” Laurel muttered and Thea shot her an annoyed look.

 

“The first positive thing you say about him and it’s about messing up my night?” Thea sneered and Laurel shrugged.

 

“Someone has to do it and it certainly isn’t going to be your mom.” Laurel said pointedly.

 

_Oliver turned and started to walk away- only to run into Laurel._

_"Oh!" he exclaimed. "Oh. You're here."_

“You never could stay away from him.” Thea said cheekily and Laurel glared at her, both oblivious to Tommy’s pained look.

 

_"Tommy." Laurel finally said. "He made the point that we have too many years between us to leave things the way we left them." She looked at Oliver, and then glanced around. "Is there someplace quieter that we could go?"_

_"Yeah."_

_They headed outside the main room onto the balcony that overlooked the entry hall. They walked together quietly for a few moments before Laurel spoke. "I'm sorry about saying that you should have been the one who died." She said as they walked. "That was wrong."_

_"If I could trade places with her, I would." Oliver replied sincerely._

_About Sara." Laurel finally said, stopping and turning to face Oliver. "There's something that I've been afraid to ask, but I need to know."_

_"Ok." Oliver said warily._

_"When she died… did she suffer?"_

_Oliver thought back to that moment on the Gambit when Sara was sucked out the door and into the dark ocean beyond. "No." he lied._

 

“Well, at least he tried to spare me.” Laurel sighed.

 

_think about her every day." Laurel said after a breath._

_"Me, too." Oliver agreed._

_"I guess we still have one thing in common then." Laurel commented. "I can't believe I'm gonna say this," she started, "but if you need someone to talk to about what happened to you, I'm here." For a moment, the mask he wore slipped off, and the real Oliver Queen gazed back at Laurel, wanting to take her up on that offer, but knowing he couldn't. The moment was ruined by a buzzing from Oliver's pocket. He took out his phone and glanced at the face- 10 P.M. He checked the account app- nothing. Oliver shook his head._

_"Something wrong?" Laurel asked. Oliver looked back up at his former love._

_"I asked somebody to do something. They didn't do it." The mask slid back into place. "Laurel," he started, "You always saw the best in me. Right now, that's what you're doing, looking at me, and you're wondering if that island changed me somehow, if it made me a better person. It didn't." he smiled slightly. "Stay away from me. Otherwise I'm just gonna hurt you again, but this time, it will be worse." The playboy façade firmly in place, Oliver baked away from Laurel. "Got to roll." He said loudly. "I've got 5 years of debauchery to catch up on!"_

_Laurel looked at him in pity and disgust. "You know what, Oliver? You're wrong." She stalked up to him. "That island did change you. At least now you're honest." With that parting shot, Laurel walked away._

“How can I not see he’s lying to me?” Laurel sighed.

 

“You’re only seeing what he wants you to see. He’s obviously very good at hiding who he really is.” Diggle noted.

 

_Moments later, Oliver was walking though the service corridor when he was stopped by a now familiar voice. "Something I can help you with, sir?" John Diggle called out._

_"I just wanted a second to myself." Oliver tried. Dig smiled lightly._

_"I would believe you, Mr. Queen, if you weren't so full of crap." He gestured to the doors. "Party's this way."_

_Oliver sighed in annoyance. He moved to the door and tried the handle. "It's locked." He lied. Dig looked at him for a few moments, and then moved to open the door. As he moved past Oliver, the younger man's arm shot out and caught Diggle in a chokehold, rendering him unconscious in moments._

 

“Son of a bitch!” Diggle swore as he stared at the screen.

 

“Maybe, Ollie’s got moves.” Tommy said impressed.

 

_Across the street, Drakon positioned his men, then locked the doors to the penthouses' office. On the street, Lance and Hilton supervised the police and S.W.A.T., barricading the building. "It's past 10:00." He told Hunt. "He's never getting in here." Hunt nodded in agreement; outside the window, unnoticed by him, and arrow with a cable struck the wall and anchored itself._

“What was that Hunt? I couldn’t hear you over the sound of Ollie breaking in.” Tommy said mockingly.

 

_Hunt and Drakon stood calmly in the office with several other men, when suddenly the lights went out. Then, in the hallway, the elevator dinged._

__As soon as the doors opened and arrow shot out, killing one guard. Another arrow dropped another guard, and then The Hood was out, using his bow like an escrima stick,_ _

_beating down the two guards closest to the elevator. He tossed the bow at a third, knocking him down even as he moved towards a fourth, jumping out of the way towards a pillar as the guard fired, then propelling himself off the same pillar and coming down hard on the guard, breaking his neck. He rolled, retrieved his bow and moved behind another pillar as the last guard opened fire._

“Man, he is very good.” Roy said his excitement growing even more.

 

“Try not to sound so impressed.” Thea teased.

 

_Inside the office, Hunt paced nervously as he heard the sounds of gunfire- and then suddenly all was silent. For a moment nothing happened, and then suddenly a figure burst through the glass doors. A guard in the room opened fire, spraying the figure with bullets, only stopping, too late, when he realized it was one of the guards from outside he had just killed. The Hood then killed him with an arrow to the heart, and then unleashed his furry on the last guard, breaking his nose and crushing his throat with the bow. He pulled an arrow and shot at Hunt; the arrow impacted the wall behind the desk._

“Huh, he doesn’t seem like he’s the type of archer to miss.” Diggle noted.

 

“You know, is it weird that we’re becoming used to him killing?” Tommy asked.

 

“Probably.” Laurel agreed.

 

_"You missed." Hunt sneered at the Emerald Archer, even as he notches another arrow and held it on the man._

_"Really?" the Hood said. Suddenly Drakon was on him, flinging his bow away and attacking him with furious punches and kicks. Oliver held his own as Hunt scurried out the room, rapidly he pulled out his phone and called own to Lance. "He's here!" he screamed into the phone. On the ground, Lance got on his walkie-talkie._

_"All units, converge! All units, converge!" He cried out to the men on the ground as they stormed the building. As they all ran up the stairs, The Hood and Drakon continued to fight. Oliver was more than a match for the senior guard, but Drakon was crafty. He pulled out his knife and lunged; Oliver parried and quickly disarmed him. They crashed to the ground, with Drakon falling just in range of one of his men's Uzi's. He grabbed the gun and Arrow ran for Hunt's desk. Drakon opened fire just as The Hood, in one fluid motion, leapt over the desk, pulled a flechette from his arm and threw it back at Drakon, striking and killing the man. The Hood landed hard, stunned into momentary unconsciousness._

 

Thea gasped, worry for her brother shooting through her. Tommy tensed as he sat up, not wanting the cops to catch his best friend, despite not agreeing with the killing. Laurel had mixed feelings on this. She should want him to get caught…so why didn’t she?

 

_A moment later, the sounds of Police out in the hall startled the young man back to wakefulness. He gasped, and then staggered to his feet, pulling a round out of his bulletproof vest that had been concealed under his green jacket._

_"Lay down your weapons, or we will open fire!" the cops screamed, coming to the door. "I repeat, lay down your weapons…"_

_Without hesitation, The Hood leapt to his feet and shot an arrow that disarmed both cops simultaneously. But Lance was right behind them and opened fire, tracing a line of bullets just behind The Hood- as he leapt through a window._

“Did he just…?” Tommy trailed off as he stared at the screen in shock.

 

“Doubtful. This is supposed to be his journey as a hero. If he falls to his death on his first outing, it’s not much of a journey.” Diggle pointed out.

 

_Lance and Hilton ran to the window, only to see the hooded man using his bow to cross the zip-line he had set up earlier, back to the Iron Works. Hilton and Lance exchanged disbelieving glances._

“Damn.” Roy whistled impressed as the others stared stunned.

 

_"Tell me you saw that." Hilton said. Lance took a breath._

_"Ok." He said, then to the rest of the cops, "Let's go. Move."_

_Minutes later, the cops stormed the party. A man in S.W.A.T. gear rushed up to the DJ booth and shut it down, just as Lance entered, giving orders to his men._

_"Search the building roof to basement. Find him!" He raised his voice to the crowd. "Starling City police! The party's over, kids." He looked around and saw a familiar face. "Oh, Mr. Merlyn." He said acidly, even as Tommy grinned at the cop in amusement. "Imagine my shock at finding you here. Did you roofie anyone special tonight, huh?"_

“I’m a lot of things: a playboy, irresponsible, filthy rich, among other things. But I am not a rapist.” Tommy said vehemently as he glared at the screen.

 

“I’m sorry Tommy.” Laurel said as she looked over at him.

 

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.” Tommy assured her.

 

_"Detective!" a voice called out. Lance turned to see Oliver walking towards him. "It's a private party."_

_"Yeah?" Lance shot back. "Well, there was an incident at Adam Hunt's building tonight. You know anything about that?" he asked._

_"Who's Adam Hunt?" Olive asked, bored._

_"He's a millionaire bottom feeder, and I'm kind of surprised you aren't friends."_

_"I've been out of town for a… while." Oliver said mildly. Tommy let out a soft laugh._

_"Yeah." Lance agreed. "Well, he just got attacked by the guy with the hood, the guy that saved your ass the other day."_

_"The hood guy." Oliver said._

_"Yeah." Lance replied._

_"You didn't find him?" Oliver asked, then smiled. "I'm gonna offer a reward. Hey, everybody!" Oliver turned around and shouted to his fellow partiers. He held up two fingers. "$2 million to anybody that can find a nut bar in a green hood."_

“Man, it’s freaky how he can do that.” Tommy said with Laurel and Thea silently agreeing.

 

_The crowd cheered in response, and Oliver turned back to Lance. The older cop walked right up to Oliver._

_"Did you even try to save her?" he demanded; any feelings of satisfaction Oliver had felt a moment ago vanished in an instant. Hilton saw what was happening and interceded, putting a calming hand on Lance and pushing him away lightly. "Ok, he said quietly, "Let's go, partner." Lance, though, wouldn't be deterred._

_"Did you even try to save my daughter?" he demanded._

“How does your dad even have a job?” Roy asked again as he looked over at Laurel.

 

“He has a point. If Ollie wanted to, he could pull the right strings and have your dad fired from the force.” Thea pointed out and Laurel sighed.

 

“He’s a drunk, I admitted. But he’s not corrupt and he’s a great cop.” Laurel said.

 

“Well, not for much longer if he doesn’t clean up his act.” Diggle said and Laurel nodded, vowing to talk to her father about his issues.

 

_"Sara wouldn't want this." Hilton said, leading Lance away. "Partner, let's go." Oliver's face was set in stone, as the cops left, but after a moment he made his way onto the stage. "It's way too quiet in here!" he yelled with a smile, throwing out his arms. "This is a party!" The crowd cheered as Oliver made his way off the stage. Tommy came up to him, giving him a strange look._

_"Some coincidence," he said, "I mean, you asking to have your party here, and Hunt getting robbed right next door… and by the same guy who rescued us at the warehouse." His tone inferred he was suspicious. Oliver gave him a tight smile._

_"If I were you, Tommy, I'd just be glad you're alive." He advised calmly._

“Did he just threaten me?” Tommy asked shocked.

 

“I don’t think so,” Diggle said as he narrowed his eyes, “it was more like a warning. Like he’s trying to discourage you from digging into it. He’s trying to protect you, I think.”

 

_Tommy stared back at his friend; for the first time since they had met, he truly felt like he didn't know the person standing in front of him. "What happened to you on that island?" he asked haltingly._

_"A lot." Oliver replied before walking away._

“Understatement of the century.” Roy said with the others nodding.

 

_The next day, Adam Hunt was pacing his office, screaming into his phone at his accountant. "What the hell are you talking about? $40 million doesn't just up and vanish!" the accountant said something, and he scoffed. "Untraceable?! It is $40 million! Find it!" he ended the call and slammed the phone own onto the desk. He sank into his chair and put his head in his hands, defeated. "How did he do it?" he asked himself while ignoring the arrow embedded in his wall. He paid no attention to it, or to the electronic device that was attached to it; its indicator light blinking green._

_Meanwhile back at the foundry. Oliver watched as the $40 million transferred from Hunt International's account into a trust account he had set up. He then glanced over at a second screen, where another program was transferring that money back to the people which Hunt had stolen it from. He picked up the notebook, and calmly crossed Adam Hunt's name off The List. Oliver looked at the picture of his father on the shareholders report._

“It’s brilliant,” Diggle noted, “he can’t take out Hunt without leaving a vacuum for his power which would cause a gang war. But this way, Hunt has no power.”

 

“And it’ll make my job of prosecuting him a hell of a lot easier.” Laurel said with a smirk.

 

___The scene shifted back to the raft. It looks to have been several days. The crewman dozed across from Robert and Oliver, perched on the side of the raft with a knife held loosely in his hand._ _ _

_Robert glanced at the man, and then pulled Oliver in close._

_"There's not enough for all of us." He whispered to his son._

_"Save your strength." Oliver said, weakly._

_"You can survive this," Robert insisted. "Make it home, make it better. Right my wrongs. But you got to live through this first." Oliver appeared to doze off, so Robert shook him lightly. "You hear me, Ollie?" he demanded. "You hear me, son?"_

_"Just rest, dad." Oliver said tiredly, dozing off once more. Robert seemed to come to a decision._

_"No." he said quietly, kissing his son on the forehead. He gently moved Oliver away from him, propping him up against the edge of the raft. Then, eyeing the crewman, he reached into his jacket-_

_And pulled out a gun. The crewman only had a moment to look surprised before Robert pulled the trigger, shooting the man in the head and knocking him off the raft. That woke Oliver up suddenly, and he scrambled back from his dad in shock._

“Dad.” Thea gasped in shock as those who had known Robert looked at the screen in shock at his actions.

 

_"Dad?!"he exclaimed in stunned horror._

_Robert looked sadly back at his son. "Survive." He said, and then he put the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger._

_"No!" Oliver screamed in horror._

 

Thea suddenly burst out crying as Laurel brought the younger woman to her, where Thea cried into her shoulder. Tommy put his head in his hands as he tried to fight his own tears. Diggle put a hand on Tommy’s shoulder as Roy looked down, the scene bringing back painful memories. After a few moments, Tommy and Thea seemed to pull themselves together. Thea pulled back and wiped her tears from her face and Tommy sat back up. With a nod from Tommy, Diggle unpaused the recording.

 

_Then suddenly we were back in the Foundry as Oliver watched the money transfers end._

_The next day at CNRI, Laurel spent most of the afternoon and evening fielding calls from happy, if puzzled clients._

_"If, hypothetically, $50,000 magically appeared in your bank account, it might be best for you not to speak about it." She was saying into her phone as Joanna approached her desk. "To anyone. Ever." She smiled. "God bless you, too." She said as she hung up the phone._

_"I just got a very grateful phone call from one of our clients against Adam Hunt." Joanna said._

_"Me, too." Laurel replied, and the two laughed._

_"It looks like Starling City has a guardian angel." She remarked._

“Yeah. A hooded, bow wielding, killing angel.” Tommy muttered, still unsettled by the ease with which Oliver killed.

 

_. Joanna glanced back then said. "By the way, your cute friend's here."_

_Laurel's face fell as she figured she was talking about Oliver, but when Laurel turned around she saw Tommy standing there, smiling._

_"You left the party pretty quick last night," he was saying later as they walked down an ally towards his car. "Even after I made sure the bar was stocked with Pinot Noir."_

_"It wasn't really my scene." Laurel replied lightly._

_"I thought maybe you and Oliver went mano-a-mano again." He threw out, "I saw you two head out."_

_"There's nothing between Oliver and I," Laurel said with finality. "Not anymore."_

_"Here I thought the only thing between you and Oliver was us."_

_"I wouldn't exactly characterize us as an 'us', Tommy." Laurel said teasingly. Tommy stopped and turned to face her._

_"Then what would you call it?" he asked._

_"A lapse." She decided._

“Oh my god, you two?” Thea asked as she looked between tommy and Laurel, disgusted and dismayed.

 

“It was a lapse Speedy.” Laurel said, not seeing Tommy’s hurt look.

 

_“That's quite a few lapses" Tommy said with a grin. "Your place, my place, my place again…" they both laughed._

_"Oh, come on, Merlyn." Laurel said with a smile. "We both know that you're not a one-girl type of guy."_

_"Depends on the girl." He announced. Laurel smiled._

_"I have to go back to work." She said finally, turning to walk away._

_"Dinah Laurel Lance," Tommy called out, "Always trying to save the world." Laurel tuned around and smiled._

_"Hey." She said, "If I don't try and save it, who will?" she gave him a small wave, then turned and walked away. Tommy smiled and got in his car, and unnoticed by either of them, The Arrow sat perched on a fire escape high above, watching it all._

_'She says the island changed me.' Oliver's voice said. She has no idea how much.' Once more we are back on the raft. Oliver pulls himself up, looking over the edge of the raft into the distance- where Lian Yu lay waiting. 'There are many more names on the list, those who rule my city through intimidation and fear. Every last one of them will wish I had died on that island.'_

“Criminals beware. My brother is coming for you.” Thea said as though she were commenting on the weather.

 

“Joke if you want, but your brother may be what this needs,” Roy said and everyone looked over at him, “you obviously don’t know just how bad the city has gotten. I’m sure you’ll get an idea the longer we watch these recordings.”

 

_Back at Queen Manor, a darkly-dressed man was walking down the rear steps towards the garden where another figure was waiting for him._

_"The police failed to identify the men I hired to kidnap Oliver," he said, "and they never will. Should we arrange another abduction?"_

_"No." Moira Queen said. "There are other ways of finding out what my son knows."_

There was a stunned silence as the screen went black. Then-

 

“What the hell?! My mom had Tommy and Ollie kidnapped?! What kind of fucked up world are we living in?!” Thea shouted as she jumped to her feet.

 

“Thea, calm down.” Tommy ordered calmly, the exact opposite of what he was feeling.

 

“Don’t tell me to calm down1 How are you so calm about this?!” Thea whirled on him.

 

“I am the exact opposite of calm. But we’re being shown these for a reason, right? Like Dig keeps saying, we’ll probably find out more as we watch these.” Tommy told her as calmly as he could manage.

 

A grumbling Thea was forced back into her seat by Laurel, who had been too shocked to do or say anything. Diggle picked up the remote and started the next recording. 

__


	3. Honor thy father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group watches as Oliver goes after Martin Somers. Discussions are had about Quentin and Moira.

_The next memory set started with Oliver's voice. 'The day I went missing was the day I died.' Scenes of him finding the island are shown, and then we cut back to the Foundry, where Oliver is gearing up. 'Five years in hell forged me into a weapon, which I use to honor a vow I made to my father, who sacrificed his life for mine. In his final moments, he told me the truth: that our family's wealth had been built on the suffering of others. That he failed our city, and that it was up to me to save it and right his wrongs. But to do that without endangering the people closest to me, I have to be someone else. I have to be… something else.'_

_The scene cuts to a rooftop, where Oliver engages in combat with six armed guards. In under a minute he has taken them all out, beating them down one at a time with sharp, effective punches and kicks, broken up with swipes from his bow. The brass knuckle hand guard on the bow does its job admirably, knocking out the last of the men guarding his target._

_"Whoa, whoa! Easy, wait, wait! No, please-" the man's pleas were cut off as The Hood grabbed the man by his collar and threw him off the helicopter platform, onto an air conditioning unit. The Hood jumped down to join him, smashing his boot into the grate covering the fane, then forced the man's face over the hole, mere inches away from the spinning fan blades._

“Jesus Ollie.” Tommy said sunned and horrified by his friend’s actions.

 

“Is he really gonna…” Thea couldn’t bring herself to say it.

 

“I doubt it, fear and intimidation can be powerful tools.” Diggle noted.

 

_"Marcus Redman," he growled, voice modulator disguising his voice, "you have failed this city."_

_"Please, don't! Please! Don't!" Redman cried out in terror as The Hood leaned in closer._

_"Cell phone, inside pocket; call your partner." He growled. "Tell him to give those pensioners back their money. Do it now."_

_"Okay." The man said weakly, and The Hood jumped down and stalked away._

“Nice job Ollie.” Laurel muttered so quietly that no one heard her.

 

_Cut to the next morning in Queen Manor as Oliver walks into the sitting room, where Moira, Walter and Thea were watching a news report._

_'Over the past 15 years, Mr. Redman has withdrawn more than $30 million from the plan's account. Mr. Redman claims refunding the Halcyon pension plan has always been his intent. But sources say Redman was coerced by the vigilante.' On the screen, the familiar sketch of the Hood came up. Oliver gestured at the screen._

_"This guy gets more air-time than the Kardashians, right?" he said jovially._

 

“That’s his go to reference?” Thea scoffed.

 

_Thea shot him a look. "Five years on an island and you still know who they are." She said. Oliver smiled._

_"I've been catching up." He said. "It's nice to see how much our culture has improved while I was away."_

“Burn.” Tommy quipped.

 

_"But the city used to be different." Moira interjected. "People used to feel safe."_

_"Aw, what's the matter, mom?" Thea said sarcastically, "Afraid we're gonna be next?"_

“Ollie would never go after mom or Walter.” Thea said firmly.

 

_"Do you have any questions about today, Oliver?" Walter asked. "It's a simple proof-of-life declaration. Just read out a brief, prepared statement to the judge, and then your death-in-absentia judgment will be voided."_

_Oliver gave him a tight smile. "It's fine, Walter. I've been in a courtroom before."_

_"Four times by my estimate." Tommy said as he walked in the room. "You know, there was the DUI, the assault on that paparazzi douchebag, stealing that taxi, which was just awesome, by the way, and who could forget peeing on the cop?" Oliver had the sense to look slightly embarrassed at his youthful transgressions._

“Try not to sound so proud.” Roy drawled and Tommy glared at him.

 

_Moira shot Tommy an annoyed look. "I wish everyone would." She said bluntly._

_"I'd hang, but we're headed to court." Oliver said with a tight smile. Tommy grinned back, oblivious to the tension._

_"I know, that's why I'm here." He said. "My best friend is getting legally resurrected; I wouldn't miss this for the world."_

_"Right." Oliver sighed. He looked at Thea. "What about you?" he asked._

_"Oh, I think the first four times of you in court was enough for me." She said tersely as she walked out of the room._

“And the award of ‘world’s crappiest sister’ goes to.” Roy drawled and Thea glared at him.

 

“He’s got a point Thea,” Laurel said and Thea glared at her, “glare at me all you want, but Oliver could probably use your support on this. You whine about how you were all alone but you refuse to be there for your brother. You can’t have it both ways Thea.”

 

Glowering, Thea turned away from Laurel and towards the screen.

 

_"Fair enough." Oliver sighed._

_"Mrs. Queen?" Diggle announced as he came into the room. "Car's ready."_

_Moira nodded and, shooting Tommy a look and ignoring the arm he held out for her, took her husband's arm as well and walked out to the car. Tommy held out his arm jokingly to Oliver, who just smirked and walked out. Shrugging his shoulders, Tommy followed._

_The scene shifted to outside the courthouse, where Oliver was trying to make his way through a sea of reports. They pressed in close from all sides, screaming questions._

“Vultures.” Tommy sneered.

 

_"Are you going to testify as to what happened when the yacht sank?"_

_"Are you going to talk about the boat crash?"_

_"Mr. Queen, did you see Sara Lance die?"_

Laurel winced but had no other reaction.

 

_As the storm of questions continued, his mind brought up images of another storm, feeling the room tilt, seeing Sara pulled away from him by the ocean…_

_Inside the courtroom, Oliver was giving his statement. "There was a storm. The boat went down. I was the only survivor." His mind flashed back to the raft, screaming for Sara as his father stopped him from lunging back into the ocean to search for her._

_'She's not there!' Robert said, even as Oliver cried out. 'Sara!' he screamed…_

_Back in court, Oliver continued. "My father didn't make it." He thought of the moment that Robert had put the gun to his temple and fired. Moira was crying softly, and even Tommy looked saddened as he finally started to grasp the suffering his friend had gone though. "I almost died, I… I thought that I had, because I spent so many days on that life raft before I saw land." He thought of his first sighting of Lian Yu, then of staggering to shore. "When I reached it, I knew I knew that I was gonna have to live for both of us. And in those five years, it was that one thought that kept me going." He finished shakily. Even giving that brief, prepared statement had been exceptionally hard on the man._

Laurel wrapped an arm around who didn’t have the energy to be mad at the moment.

 

_"Your honor," his lawyer started, "We move to vacate the death-in-absentia filed after Oliver's disappearance at sea aboard the Queen's Gambit five years ago. Unfortunately we will not be requesting that the declaration of death filed for the petitioner's father, Robert Queen, be rescinded. The Queen family is only entitled to one miracle, I'm afraid."_

Laurel winced again, Thea buried her hear in Laurel’s shoulder, and Tommy looked down at the floor.

 

_A short time later, the Queens, with Tommy, headed out of the courtroom and down the stairs to the main floor._

_"Now, onto the offices." Moira said with forced levity. "Everyone is waiting to meet you there."_

“Is-is she serious?” Tommy asked as he glared at the screen.

 

“Unfortunately.” Thea said as she detangled herself from Laurel.

 

_"Uh, mom," Oliver said wearily, stopping on the stairs. Moira and Walter turned to face him. "That was a little bit heavier than I was expecting it to be. Can we do that tomorrow? Please?"_

_Moira looked at Walter, who nodded slightly. She smiled at her son. "Of course."_

_"Thank you." Oliver said, and Moira and Walter headed away. Oliver took a moment, then started walking down the stairs, Tommy at his side._

_"Last week, you couldn't wait to get to the company." His friend observed._

_"Tommy, I'd just spent five years away from civilization." Oliver explained. "I wasn't exactly thinking straight. I- Hi." Oliver said as he rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs- and ran straight in to Laurel, who was walking with Joanna and another woman into the courthouse._

“Well this will be interesting.” Roy said idly.

 

_"What are you doing here?" she demanded._

_Oliver looked confused for a moment, the realized what she meant. "Oh, they were bringing me back from the dead. Legally speaking." He smiled. "What are you doing here?"_

_"My job." She replied bluntly._

_"Right."_

_"More like the D.A.'S." Joanna put in helpfully. There was an awkward pause; Oliver then noticed the sad looking woman on Laurel's right and held out his hand._

_"Hi, Oliver Queen." He said politely, shaking her hand._

_"Emily Nocenti." She replied._

_"Oliver just got back from five years on an uncharted island. Before that, he was cheating on me with my sister." Laurel said acidly. "He was with her when she died. And last week, he told me to stay away from him. It was really good advice." She pushed past him. "Excuse me."_

“Do you have to be such a bitch to him?” Thea asked as she glared at Laurel, “He hurt you, I know. I don’t blame you for being mad. But did you really have to bring that up in front of someone who has no business knowing anything about him?”  


“You’re right. That was uncalled for.” Laurel sighed guiltily.

 

_The four stood around awkwardly for a moment, before Emily spoke up. "It was nice to meet you." She said as Joanna led her away._

_Tommy clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, buddy, shake it off. Let's go." The two headed outside. There on the steps the press was gathered, this time around another man. Martin Somers looked confident, smiling at the cameras as the reports clambered for a sound bite, and the two men watched with interest._

_"Mr. Somers! Mr. Somers!" The all screamed. Martin pointed at one of the reporters. "What do you have to say about the accusations made by Laurel Lance?" she called out._

_"I don't know what I've done to earn this witch-hunt from Miss Lance and her bosses at the CNRI." He started, still smiling. "But I can tell you this. I am an honest businessman, and I will fight this slander to my last dime and breath. That's all I have to say, thank you." Martin walked away, with some of the press still trailing after him._

“Right. And I’m Bruce Wayne.” Roy drawled.

 

_Others, however, had spotted Oliver at the top of the stairs. Oliver walked down the stairs towards the car as the reporters shouted their questions._

_"Oh, there's Mr. Queen."_

_"Mr. Queen, do you want to follow up?"_

_"What happened in there, sir?"_

_"Tell us what happened inside, Mr. Queen!"_

_"Step back everybody, please." Diggle called out, ushering Oliver through the crowd._

_"Can you give us a couple comments about the island, Mr. Queen? Before you go, sir, please."_

_"Couple of comments about the island, sir."_

_"What happened in there?"_

_Diggle opened the rear door and Oliver, still silent, climbed inside. Diggle shut the door and tried to push the reporters back. "Everybody, step back." One photographer got too close, and Diggle grasped the man's jacket and shoved him back hard. "Hey man, I'll make you swallow that Nikon. Back!"_

_Suddenly there was the sound of squealing tires, and the Bentley pulled away at a fast clip as Diggle and Tommy looked on._

Diggle looked annoyed as everyone else snickered.

 

_Tommy looked back to the bodyguard. "This happens to you a lot, doesn't it?" he asked glibly._

“No. Most people aren’t as capable of ditching me as Oliver.” Diggle admitted.

 

_Back in the courthouse, Laurel was giving her opening remarks._

_"How much is a life worth?" she asked. "A life of a man, a good man, a stevedore on the docks of the city in which we live. A father." She stopped and looked back at Emily. "A man with a daughter." She paused for effect before continuing. "The plaintiff will prove by a preponderance of evidence that Victor Nocenti learned that his boss, that man sitting right there," she pointed at the defendant, "Martin Somers, was taking bribes from the Chinese triads to smuggle drugs into our city. And when Victor Nocenti threatened to tell the police, Martin Somers had him killed. Mr. Somers is very well-connected, and has friends in the district attorney's office. Which is why, if Emily Nocenti is to get justice for her father's death, if Martin Somers is to get justice for his crimes, then someone is going to have to do it for them."_

 

“You’re very passionate.” Diggle noted and Laurel shrugged.

 

“I believe in what I do.” Laurel said simply.

 

“Not everyone else does.” Roy said darkly.

 

_Back at the Foundry, Oliver was deep into his workout, preparing himself for the night's activities._

_'Martin Somers.' Oliver's voice intoned as he practiced with his escrima sticks. 'Laurel's targeted the worst of starling city, so it's no surprise his name is on my father's list. The city's police and the D.A. can't stop him- or won't. Laurel thinks she's the only one willing to bring him to justice. She's wrong.'_

_That night on the docks, Somers was railing at his lawyer in his office._

_"You, listen up." He growled. The calm, confident man who had spoken to the press earlier that day was gone. This was the true Martin Somers- jittery, scared. "The longer this goes on, the more likely the media is gonna crucify me. You shut this trial down, do you understand me?"_

_Suddenly the lights flickered off, and the sounds of three arrows impacting their targets could be heard. When the lights came back up, his lawyer and his two bodyguards were down on the ground. "What the hell?" was all he said when suddenly he was grabbed from behind and his world went dark._

_When he came to, the world seemed to be upside down. As the world came into focus and he saw The Hood standing across from him, though, he realized that it was himself who was upside down, hanging from a crane and swinging like a pendulum._

Roy and Tommy both burst out laughing; Diggle chuckled lightly, while Thea and Laurel smiled amused.

 

“Well, he’s certainly hasn’t lost his sense of humor. Though it’s certainly gotten darker.” Laurel noted.

 

_"Martin Somers! You've failed this city." The Hood intoned, drawing an arrow from his quiver and firing it as the man swung. It just passed by the right side of his head._

_"No! No, no, no, no, no!" Somers screamed out. The Hood ignored him._

_"You're gonna testify in that trial. You're gonna confess to having Victor Nocenti killed. There won't a second warning." He warned, drawing another arrow and firing it._

_The one left a deep cut on his left cheek. Somers cried out in pain, pressing his hand to the cut. When he looked back at where The Hood had been, though, the vigilante was gone._

“Threats won’t work. It’ll only make things worse,” Diggle said and everyone looked at him, “Somers is connected to the mob. They probably scare him more than Oliver does. It’ll just make him more dangerous.”

 

_Later that night, back at the Queen manor, another interrogation was going on._

_"I hired you to protect my son." Moira was saying as she paced in front of John Diggle. "Now, I'm not a professional bodyguard, but it seems to me that the first requirement would be managing to stay next to the man you're hired to protect." She pointed out._

_"With all due respect, ma'am," Diggle tried, "I never had a client who didn't want my protection."_

_"I hired you." Moira pointed out, coming to stop in front of the bodyguard. "That makes me the client." She looked at the man sternly for a moment before resuming her pacing. "Now, where do you think my son is going on these chaperone-less excursions?"_

_"Ma'am, I truly do not know." Dig answered honestly._

_"And he truly doesn't." a jovial voice called out as Oliver walked into the room. His mother cast him a baleful look._

_"Then perhaps you'd like to share with me, you know, where it is you run off to." His mother said, exasperated._

_"I've been alone for five years." Oliver pointed out._

_"I know that, Oliver."_

_"Mom," he interrupted, shoot her a look. "Alone." He emphasized._

_Moira put it together after a beat. "I see." She said._

“It’s pretty clever, using his past as a cover story.” Tommy noted.

 

“And no one who knew him will question it.” Laurel agreed.

 

_I promise to introduce her if it ever gets to the exchanging first names stage…" he started._

_"No, I'd rather you promise to take Mr. Diggle with you on your next rendezvous." Moira interrupted, walking up to her son. "It's not safe; you've already been abducted once. There is a maniac out there, hunting the wealthy."_

_"That maniac saved my life." Oliver pointed out._

_"This isn't a game." Moira said. She paused and looked into his eyes. "I lost you once. And I am not going through that again." She stated plaintively._

_Oliver looked back with genuine remorse._

_"Okay" He said finally "Dig's my guy."_

_"Thank you." Moira said, and then walked out of the room. Oliver looked up at his body man._

_"Sorry to give you so much grief." He said. He almost meant it._

_Dig buttoned up his suite jacket and walked around the couch. "I served three tours in Afghanistan, Mr. Queen. You don't even come close to my definition of grief." He paused in front of Oliver. "But I tell you what- you ditch me one more time, no one will have to fire me." With that he left the room, just as Thea walked past. The girl gave the bodyguard a cursory look before continuing on her way._

_"Where you going?" Oliver called out. Thea paused, surprised. She hadn't seen him there._

_"Uh somewhere loud and smoky." She replied, crossing her arms. "And don't bother trying to pickpocket my stash this time, because I'm gonna go get drunk instead."_

_Oliver walked towards his sister, concern on his face. "Thea, do you think this is what_

_dad would want for you?" he asked, trying to get through._

_"Dead people don't want anything. It's one of the benefits of being dead." No dice._

_"I was dead.' He pointed out. "And I wanted a lot."_

_"Except for your family." Thea shot back coldly. "You've been home a week and all you do is avoid mom, ignore Walter, and judge me." She cast one last look at him before turning around. "Don't wait up." She said as she walked out of the room._

“Now who’s being a bitch?” Laurel gave Thea a pointed look and Thea refused to meet her eyes.

 

_The next day at the docks, Detective Lance was speaking with Martin Somers about what had happened the night before- or, as Somers put it, didn't happen._

_"Well, I owe you an apology, Mr. Somers." Lance was saying, pacing lightly in front of Somers desk. He noted a hole in the top of the desk and fingered it idly as Somers sat, watching him. "We come all the way down to your docks, and it turns out, you don't need the police after all."_

_"Which is exactly what I've been saying." Somers said. The calm facade was back in place._

_"Yeah." Lance agreed. "So I guess that 9-1-1 call we got last night from your stevedore, saying that you were getting attacked by a guy in a green hood and a bow and arrow… I guess well, was that a practical joke?" he threw out._

_Somers smiled tightly. "These guys like to fool around."_

_"Yeah." Lance said again, walking away from the desk and over towards one of the patrol officers who held an evidence bag. "Well, you know, I'd be very much inclined to believe an honest, upstanding businessman like yourself, except, well, one of my men found this at your docks." He pulled out a green arrow and turned around, showing it to Somers. Somers held his gaze impassively. "You see, there's this vigilante running around." Lance continued, coming back to the desk. He perched on the edge, waving the arrow around slightly. "He thinks he's some kind of Robin Hood. He's robbing the rich, he's trying to teach them a lesson I guess. I don't know," he said, then looked back at the other officers. "I don't know." He repeated, and then looked back at Somers. "But the point is, the man's a killer. And nothing, and no one, is going to stop me from bringing him down." He gently put the arrow in the hole in the desk; it fit perfectly, to no one's surprise._

“Your father’s delusions of grandeur are gonna get him killed.” Diggle pointed out and Laurel sighed.

 

“I know.” Laurel admitted.

 

_Lance looked up at Somers with a tight smile. "But like you said, clearly, nothing happened here last night." He finished sarcastically._

_Somers looked back at the cop. "Isn't this a conflict of interest, Detective?" he asked. "After all, your daughter is suing me."_

_"I'm pretty good at keeping my emotions in check." Lance said evenly._

_"I'm not." Somers said, rage simmering just beneath the surface. He stood and got into Lance's face. "You and your daughter don't want to find out what I'm capable of when I get emotional." He threatened. Lance gave him a disgusted look. Finally, though, he turned and left._

_The scene changed as we flew over Starling City, right to the Queen Consolidated towers. There were three towers in total- the main tower, which held mostly executive offices, stood proudly in the front. Directly behind were two, slightly shorter towers, connected by a sky bridge, that held research labs, stock trading areas, and other departments that made up the Queen Consolidated business._

_"As you can see, Oliver, we've modernized quite a bit." Walter was saying as the elevator opened on the executive level of the main tower. While the elevator banks were set into a rich, green marble, the rest of the floor was all glass and steel. Oliver whistled as Walter led him, Moira and Diggle towards his office._

_Oliver smiled at a cute blonde as he walked past. "Hi." He said. His mother squeezed his arm gently and smiled at her son_

_"Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked. Oliver smiled in return._

_"Yes, I am."_

_"I remember when your father used to bring you here when you were a boy." Walter said jovially as they all walked into his office. Diggle took up position by the door. "You always were so excited."_

_"Dad let me drink soda in the office." Oliver revealed._

_"Ah!" Moira exclaimed happily. "So that's why you enjoyed coming."_

_"Queen Consolidated's success of late is a result of its targeted diversification." Walter began as Oliver walked around the office. "We have been making impressive inroads in cutting-edge fields like bio-tech and clean energy."_

_"That's neat." Oliver interrupted, the called out to Walter's secretary, "Excuse me? Can I get a sparkling water, or something cold, please?"_

_"Sweetheart," Moira said, gesturing at her son. "Oliver, Walter and I have something to discuss with you. Come, please sit." She motioned towards a chair. Oliver looked at her warily._

_"Mom, it makes me nervous when you ask me to sit down."_

_The three stood awkwardly for a moment, before Walter pressed on._

_"The company's about to break ground on a new site for the applied sciences division, and we would like to honor your father by dedicating the building in his name." he said. Oliver nodded._

_"That's nice." He agreed._

_"And we'd like to make an announcement at the dedication," Moira added, "that you will be taking a leadership position in the company."_

“She is…unbelievable.” Laurel said after a moment.

 

“Does she honestly think Ollie is in the right headspace to be running anything?” Tommy said angrily.

 

“She had the two of you kidnapped so I don’t anyone has an idea what she thinks anymore.” Thea said still upset.

 

_"No." Oliver said at once._

_"Your company." She emphasized._

_"No, I don't want to lead anything." He shot back firmly, then looked at Walter. "Besides, Walter is doing a very good job here." It was the first…nice….thing Oliver had said to or about Walter since he got back, and the elder businessman was momentarily stunned._

_"You said that you wanted to be a different person." Moira pressed on. "And you are Robert Queen's son."_

_"I don't need to be reminded of that." He replied coldly._

_"Well, obviously you do."_

_Walter walked up next to Moira and put a reassuring hand on her back. "Everyone here understands that this transition is really difficult for you." He tried._

_"Thank you, Walter." Oliver aid, the civility he had tried to build crumbling. "Which part, though? Everyone fantasizing that I got my MBA while I was on the island? Or the fact that my father's CFO now sleeps down the hall from me?" he finished angrily._

“Burn.” Roy quipped.

 

“She deserved it.” Thea snapped.

 

_His mother looked crestfallen, and turned away from him. Oliver, for his part, looked ashamed at his outburst. Moira walked towards the door, then stopped and turned._

_"You know, five years ago, your irresponsibility was somewhat charming." She said. "It is a lot less so now." She then turned around and walked out of the room. Walter followed after a moment. Dig looked on, no judgment whatsoever on his face. As a soldier, he knew what it was like to come home to a world you didn't recognize._

_The two made their way outside and fought through a sea of reporters to the Bentley. Dig got Oliver in, then walked around and got in on the other side._

_"The driver will be here in a minute." He said as they settled into their seats, the reports still shouting questions outside the car._

_"Okay." Oliver replied tersely. They were silent for a few moments before Dig spoke._

_"You know, I spent the first 27 years of my life in Starling City, and the next five in Afghanistan." He started. "You want to know what I learned?"_

_"There's no place like home?" Oliver replied dryly. Dig smiled and shook his head._

_"No, just the opposite. Home is a battlefield." He explained. "Back home, they're all trying to get you. Get you to open up, be somebody you're not sure you are anymore." He paused and looked at the young man. "Or I could be wrong. Maybe after five years alone, you're not as messed up in the head as you have every right to be." He observed._

“You’re very observant.” Laurel noted and Diggle shrugged.

 

“Comes with the job. If you overlook something, you may end up dead.” Diggle deadpanned.

 

_The scene shifted, and we were back on the Island. Oliver had made a makeshift shelter on the beach and was sleeping, but the loud cries of sea gulls woke him. He looked up to see the birds gathered around the raft, and his father's body. "Hey!" he called out, staggering to his feet and running towards the raft. "Hey, get away! Hey!" he shooed the birds away and collapsed onto the side of the raft. His father's body laid there, a life jacket covering the face- and the bullet wound._

Thea whimpered as she turned away. Laurel wrapped an arm around her as Tommy looked at the screen, a pained look on his face.

 

_The smell of decomposition got to Oliver and he staggered back, vomiting onto the rocky beach. Once done, he slowly moved back towards the raft and knelt beside it once more. "Dad." He said softly. Then, determined, he pulled the body up over his shoulder and stood, then started walking inland to bury his father._

Diggle remembered back in the army, when he had first had to bury one of his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan. He hadn’t been able to it, Oliver was stronger than him.

 

_Back in the present, Laurel and Joanna were briefing Emily Nocenti on what to expect with the coming trial._

_"Well, we anticipate that Somers' attorney will try and paint you as blinded by grief or looking to make a buck." Joanna was saying. Emily looked back at the two lawyers in angry disbelief._

_"This isn't about the money." She argued. "I just want justice for my father."_

_"Emily," Laurel started gently, "there are a lot of people who don't want this trial to proceed. Dangerous people." She explained. Emily just shook her head._

_"My mother died when I was a baby, and my father has been the only family I've ever known and they slit his throat. They are going to have to kill me if they want me to give this up." She said determinedly._

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” Laurel muttered.

 

_"Well let's hope it doesn't come to that." She said._

“Don’t repeat yourself Laurel.” Tommy teased and she rolled her eyes.

 

_"And it won't." the three turned to see Quentin Lance walk in with three patrol officers behind him._

_"What's going on?" Laurel asked._

_"What's going on is that the three of you are getting around-the-clock police protection. Okay? Get used to their faces, because they're going with you everywhere you go, no arguments." The last part was directed at his daughter, who looked back at him unimpressed._

“Unbelievable.” Laurel growled.

 

“You should take it,” Diggle said and Laurel looked over at him, “the Triad is more dangerous than you seem to realize. It’s not a bad thing to have a little protection.”

 

Laurel looked away, a thoughtful look on her face.

 

_"I'm a lawyer. I live to argue." She stated._

_"I'm your father. I live to keep you safe." He replied bluntly._

_Joanna, sensing the building argument between father and daughter, gently took Emily's arm. "Um, Emily, let's go grab a cup of coffee, okay?" she asked rhetorically._

_"Yes, why not do that? Thank you." Quentin said, and then gestured to the three cops. "Please, go with them." he said to the first two, who followed the two ladies out of the office. He held back the third._

_"Stay there." He ordered._

_"Protective custody?" Laurel began, crossing her arms. "I seem to recall you trying that once I discovered boys. It didn't work then, either."_

_"This isn't a joke, Laurel." Quentin said, ignoring his daughters' argument. "Martin Somers got attacked last night."_

_Laurel's dropped as she looked at her father, stunned. "What? By who?"_

_"It doesn't matter." He said, somewhat relieved to see the seriousness of the situation was finally getting through to her. "Point is, you have whipped up a storm with these guys, and until the dust settles you'll be protected, okay? End of discussion." Quentin turned to leave._

_"That might have worked when I was eight," Laurel argued, some of her defiance finding its' way back, Quentin turned back to his daughter. "But it's not gonna work anymore."_

_"End of discussion, Laurel!" he insisted sternly. "You're insistent on doing your job, that's great. But this is me doing mine, okay? And not just as a father, but as a cop. These people, they are more dangerous than you are willing to admit. And you've made them angry." He finished, turning and walking out._

“I hate to admit it but your dad is right Laurel,” Tommy said as he looked over at her, “you’re endangering yourself. Your dad already lost Sara, he can’t lose you to.”

 

“Well, it must be bad when you agree with my dad.” Laurel sighed.

 

_Later that evening on the docks, a stunning Asian woman in a red dress and stark white hair walked into Somer's office._

“Holy crap.” Diggle said and everyone turned to him.

 

“You know her?” Roy asked.

 

“Not even close. That is China White, the top paid assassin for the Chinese Triad.” Diggle explained.

 

_"Thank you for coming." He said. The woman walked up to the desk and gave a cold smile._

_"Anything for a friend." China White said amicably._

_"We're not friends." Somers countered. "You smuggle drugs, I let you use my port."_

_"For which you're paid a lot of money." She responded._

_"I don't get paid enough to have arrows shot at me." He shot back. "You need to take this guy seriously. He is a bigger threat to your operation than Nocenti ever was."_

_"Except now it's Nocenti's daughter who's the problem." China White stated. "Unlike your friend with the hood, we know where to find her."_

_"Don't be an idiot." Somers snarled at the woman. "You take out Emily Nocenti, and Laurel Lance will never let this go. She won't stop until she burns you, me, and then the entire Triad to the ground."_

_China White smiled coldly. "Then we kill Miss Lance."_

“Okay, you guys were right.” Laurel said as she stared at the screen in shock.

 

“I’d make a joke right now but there is nothing funny about this.” Tommy said grimly.

 

_The next morning, Oliver was getting dressed in his room as he watched the news._

_'Attorney for shipping magnate, Martin Somers, has confirmed his client has no intention of testifying, maintaining his innocence in the wrongful death of Victor Nocenti. Nocenti's body was found four weeks ago. We'll keep you updated as more information becomes available.' He glowered at the screen; obviously Somers hadn't quite got his message. He started to put his shirt on when a voice from his open door startled him._

_Thea had come to talk to her brother, not bothering to knock as the door had been open. Before she could speak, she saw the scars the marred his back. "Wait, how did you get those?" she asked, coming into the room._

_Oliver grimaced in angered annoyance as he tried to cover up. "Don't you knock?" he growled._

_"No." Thea declared, stalking into the room and forcing her brother to turn around. "Wait, Mom said that there were scars, but…" she gently pried the edges of his shirt from his hands and pulled it open to reveal even more scars on his chest. She stared in horror, a dawning realization of what he must have gone through finally coming upon her. "I'm-" she started, took a breath, and then started over. "Oliver, what happened to you out there?"_

_Oliver took a few moments to compose himself, pulling his shirt free from his sister and buttoning it. "I don't want to talk about it." He said._

_Thea scoffed. "Of course you don't." she said angrily. "You never want to talk to me about anything. Except for my social life." She started to leave._

“A lot of us in the army don’t talk about what happened to us in Afghanistan. Not because we don’t want to but because of the way we’re afraid our loved one will look at: as changed, as damaged.” Diggle told Thea who looked guilty and thoughtful.

 

_“Wait!" he called out, stopping her in her tracks. "Where are you going?" he asked._

_Thea crossed her arms in defiance. "Why should I tell you?" she demanded._

_Oliver took a breath, trying to find the words. "I'm sorry, Thea." He finally said. "I need to get better at talking about what happened to me there. But I'm not ready yet." He looked Thea in the eye, imploring her silently to understand. "Okay?"_

_Thea stared at her brother for a long moment. "Do you have a second?" she asked finally._

_"Yeah."_

_"Good. I wanna show you something out back." She turned and walked out of the room; Oliver grabbed his jacket and followed._

_Soon they were walking out onto the back yard of the manor. Thea led him to a clearing where two headstones had been erected._

_One read: Robert Queen_

_1958-2007_

_A leader, a husband_

_The second read: Oliver Queen_

_1985-2007_

_A loving son and brother, whose light was diminished far too soon_

_"Sometimes, when I felt… whatever, I'd come here." She said, coming to a stop in front of the headstones. She knelt down in front of Roberts's stone and brushed away some stray leaves. "About a month after the funerals, mom stopped going out. Pretty soon, she stopped talking altogether. The house got so quiet, so I'd come here." She stood and walked over to Oliver's stone. She pointed at it. "To talk to you." She was trying her best not to cry, but it was hard. "I mean, stupid stuff. Like what I was doing that day, what boy I had a crush on. And then sometimes, I'd ask you, beg you, to find your way home to me." She looked back to her brother. "Now, here you are. And the truth is, I felt closer to you when you were dead. Look, I know it was hell where you were. But it was hell here too.”_

“You don’t know a thing about hell,” Diggle said, a hint of anger in his voice as Thea turned to him startled, “what you went through…does not even begin to compare to what Oliver went through. It may have been hard for you; hard for you all, but it was not hell. To imply it was is insulting to Oliver and everything he went through!”

 

“Okay, Dig, calm down.” Tommy said as he held his hands up.

 

Diggle took some deep, ragged breaths as everyone looked stunned at the so far calm, cool, and collected man’s outburst.

 

“I’m sorry,” Diggle apologized after a moment, “you saying that you went through hell offends me Thea. You didn’t go through hell, Oliver went through hell, my guys and I went through hell in Afghanistan, you didn’t.” 1

 

No one said a thing as Diggle unpaused the recording. Laurel looked away, as Diggle’s words giving her some perspective. She had been thinking along the same lines as Thea, that she had known suffering as much as Oliver. She was wrong.

 

_“You gotta let me in, Ollie." She implored. "You gotta let someone in." she turned and walked away, leaving Oliver standing there at the markers. He stared down at his own, taking in everything she had said._

_The scene shifted to later that night in Laurel's apartment. She was looking over her notes for the Nocenti case on her laptop as she finished off a TV dinner when a knock at her door startled her. She paused, thinking she had miss heard, and then heard the knocking again. Cautiously, her father's warning still fresh in her mind, she approached the door and looked out the peephole. She opened the door a moment later to see Oliver standing there, brown paper bag in hand._

_"Hi." He said awkwardly. "Are you okay? There are two cop cars outside."_

_"How am I supposed to stay away from you if you won't stay away from me?" she asked sarcastically. "What are you doing here, Ollie?" she demanded._

_"My sister took," he paused, rethinking his words. "She pointed out to me that I have been distant since I got back and that It would probably be a good idea if I let somebody in."_

“No surprise that he starts with you.” Thea shot Laurel a cheekily grin and Laurel rolled her eyes.

 

_"So, you thought you'd start with the first person you pushed away." Laurel pointed out._

_"I did that to protect you." Oliver reasoned, and then pushed on. "And then I saw you yesterday, and I realized that I hurt you." Laurel glowered at him, but finally stood aside and allowed him to enter. "Thank you." He said sincerely. He looked around the apartment. "Wow. This place hasn't changed in five years."_

_"I haven't really had time to redecorate." Laurel snarked as she walked past him._

_"I'm a jerk." He announced, bringing her up short. "Before the island, I was a jerk, and now I'm just a… I'm a damaged jerk." He finished lamely. Laurel turned around and looked at him, then decided to take pity on her ex-boyfriend._

_"What's in the bag?" she asked._

_Oliver smiled, reaching into the bag. "I thought about many things on the island, but there was one thing that I thought about every day." His smile grew, and he laughed slightly at the memory. "I actually dreamed about it, and I promised myself that if I ever got a chance to do it again, I'd do it with you." He pulled out a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream._

_"Eat ice cream." He stated, and Laurel smiled._

“Ice cream, yeah. I’d miss it to.” Tommy mused.

 

_A short time later, Laurel was eating her ice cream out of a bowl, while Oliver just dug into the carton with his spoon. "This is as good as I remember." He said, smiling. After a moment, he spoke again. "My mother wants me to join the company." At her look, "Yeah. Take my rightful place."_

_"I can't exactly picture you as master of the universe." Laurel remarked, not meanly, but honestly._

_Oliver smiled tightly. "You know, after five years, I have plans." He announced. "I have things that I have to do. I can't do that if I'm, I don't know… attending board meetings and stockholder briefings."_

_"Oliver?" Laurel said. At his look, "You're an adult. You can say no."_

_"Oh, I tried." He pointed out. "Didn't take."_

_"Well, then don't tell her. Show her." She reasoned. "Be the person that you want her to see you as."_

“Why do I have a feeling this’ll come back to bit me?” Laurel wondered.

 

“Because you know him.” Thea deadpanned.

 

_"Trust me. I have plenty of experience with disapproving parents."_

_"I have been on the receiving end of your father's disapproval." He agreed._

_"He blames himself more than he blames you." She said suddenly, leaning back into the couch. "He thinks that, you know, maybe if he and Sara were closer, she would have told him about the boat trip. And he could have stopped her from going with you."_

“No one could’ve stopped Sara. When she set her mind to something, there was no talking her out of it.” Tommy told Laurel and she sighed.

 

“I’d tried telling my dad that but he won’t listen.” Laurel admitted.

 

_Oliver looked at her sadly. "I am sorry." He said again._

_"You apologized already." Laurel replied._

_"And it'll never be enough."_

_They sat in silence, but then Oliver heard a noise. "Did you hear that?"_

_"What?" Laurel asked, confused. Oliver grabbed the knife he had used to open the ice cream carton; it was dull, but it would work in a pinch. "There's someone on the fire escape." Slowly he climbed to his feet, listening. He heard more noises, so he grabbed Laurel's hand, pulling her up._

_"Hey, come on."_

_"What?" she asked in confusion, even as he pulled her towards the door. They were halfway there when it crashed open, a large Asian man with an Uzi stumbling in after._

Tommy fisted his hands on his pants legs, trying to remind himself that Laurel survived this, that he had just seen her future self not that long ago. It didn’t help.

 

_. Oliver turned and pulled Laurel deeper into the apartment, ducking a spray of bullets as he made their way towards her bedroom. He pulled her back when another figure came crashing in through her window from the fire escape. They kept low as they searched for a way out, even as Oliver looked for an opening to attack without revealing too much. He came up short as China White stalked into the room, twin knives held at the ready._

_Suddenly more gunfire erupted, this time from Diggle as he stormed into the room. The first gunman went down quickly, as did the second. But China White proved too fast; she disarmed Dig in seconds. He in turn relieved her of one of her knives, and parried several thrusts with his hands, his special forces training evident. But China White was again too fast; she took him down and prepared to stab him. As she brought her knife up for a killing blow, Oliver flipped the dinner knife in his hand and threw it hard, knocking the blade out of the Asian woman's hand. She looked up in surprise, and then decided discretion was the better part of valor and scrambled out the ruined door._

“Thank god you were there Dig.” Tommy sighed in relief as he looked at the bodyguard.

 

“I doubt me being there did much. The only thing be being there probably did was prevent Oliver from showing Laurel what he could do.” Diggle mused.

 

_Laurel ran into Oliver's arms, crying in terror even as Dig clambered to his feet, grabbing his gun on the way up. He looked to his client._

_"Are you hurt? Are you hurt, Mr. Queen?!" he yelled._

_"No! No." Oliver replied, stunned himself by what had transpired._

_"This is why it's a good idea to have a bodyguard!" Dig remarked as he moved to check the rest of the apartment, even as Oliver checked over Laurel._

_A short time later, cops were removing the dead men from Laurel's apartment as Quentin Lance ran in. He looked around for a moment, out of breath, before he spotted his daughter. He ran to her and pulled her into a hug._

_"Daddy!" she said, still frightened._

_"Oh, thank God." Quentin said, relieved. "Thank God. Are you all right?"_

_"I'm okay." She assured him, then asked the question she really didn't want the answer to. "Those cops that you put on me…" she trailed off._

_"They…" he started, hesitantly, and was saved when Diggle answered for him._

_"I went outside to ask for a light, and they were both dead in the squad car."_

Laurel closed her eyes, guilt flooding her. Those officers were killed because she had put herself in the crosshairs of the Triad. Seeing the look on Laurel’s face, Thea reached over and took her hand. Laurel only squeezed back.

 

_Quentin looked at the bodyguard in gratitude. "Mr. Diggle, thank you." He said. "Feel free to run as many red lights in the city as you want."_

_"I was just doing my job, sir." Dig assured him. Quentin shook his head._

_"No, your job is protecting him." He looked at Oliver. He stalked up close to the man. "It seems like whenever you're with one of my daughters, people die." He snarled. "You stay away from Laurel, or I swear the next time you disappear, it will be permanent."_

“Did he just threaten to kill my brother?” Thea demanded, rage flooding her.

 

“Laurel, have a talk with your dad when we get back or I will have a talk with mine. You know how connected he is.” Tommy said firmly, likewise enraged.

 

Laurel sighed but nodded, knowing her father was out of line.

 

_"Dad!" Laurel exclaimed._

_"No, Laurel..." the Detective started, but was cut off by Oliver._

_"It's okay." Oliver said. "I understand."_

_"Yeah." Quentin said, moving back to his daughter._

_Later that evening back at the Manor, Dig was sitting on the sofa nursing his injured hand. Oliver walked in, tossing the man an ice pack._

_"Here!" he said "I'd say thank you, but I don't think that would cover it."_

_"Well, like I told your cop friend, I was just doing my job." Dig replied, standing. "Besides, I think it should be you that I'm thanking."_

_Oliver looked at him in confusion. "What for?" he asked._

_"The knife." Dig said simply. Oliver nodded in understanding._

_"The knife." He said. "I got lucky."_

_"That was a kitchen knife." Dig argued. "It wasn't even weighted properly, yet you threw it with accuracy across a 10-foot room."_

“I’d just like to point out that is least impressive thing we’ve seen Oliver do.” Tommy pointed out.

 

“Do you think you suspect something?” Thea asked Diggle.

 

“Possibly but I doubt I suspect just who it is I’m working for.” Diggle noted.

 

_"Exactly." Oliver said. "I got lucky."_

_Diggle stepped up to the man, though kept far enough away to be respectful. "I'm not the kind of man you want to take for a fool, Mr. Queen, you understand me?" he stated._

_"Yes." Oliver agreed._

_"And I think I'm just beginning to understand the kind of man you are." Dig said observantly._

_"Shouldn't take you very long. I'm shallow." Oliver quipped. "And very tired, so good night." With that, Oliver headed to his room._

_"Good night, sir." Diggle called out, still nursing the hand._

_The scene shifted to the Foundry, where Oliver was busy getting his gear on._

_'I wanted to give Martin Somers the chance to confess and face a court's justice, but he chose to go after someone I care about instead.' His voice intoned as he got out his bow. 'He's still going to face justice. It'll just be a different kind.'_

“Hell have no fury like Ollie pissed.” Tommy quipped.

 

“Particularly when it comes to Laurel.” Thea said cheekily and Laurel rolled her eyes as Tommy winced.

 

_The scene shifted again to the docks, where Martin Somers was hurriedly stuffing bundles of cash into a case._

_"Triad bitch screwed up the hit on Lance." He growled to his bodyguard. "Now, the Triad is gonna erase every ounce of evidence of their smuggling operation, including me. Except that's not gonna happen." He closed up the case and looked back to his man. "Tell Wallace to get the boat ready." He ordered. "I'm leaving tonight."_

_"Wallace? Wallace, you copy?" the man asked into his radio. There was no response. "Wallace?"_

_“Wallace isn't here.” A familiar voice sounded on the radio, and Somer's face filed with dread as he recognized The Arrow. “But I am.”_

“What was that you were saying about leaving?” Tommy asked glibly.

 

_"We need to move, now." He ordered. "Move!"_

_"Sir, we've got six men out there." The man argued, but Somers pulled him along._

_"It's not enough. Move it!" he ordered as they ran out of the building._

_Back at Laurel's apartment, Quentin was busy laying down the law, so to speak, to his daughter._

_"You're gonna go back into that courtroom tomorrow and you're gonna recuse yourself from this case, all right?" he demanded. "Or drop it. Either way, you're done."_

_"If you think I'm gonna abandon Emily Nocenti, then you don't know me all that well." Laurel shot back._

_"You don't know me well, young lady." Quentin countered. "I will lock you in a cell if that's what it takes."_

_Laurel rose from the couch and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I guess that's what it's gonna take then." She said walking away._

_"Damn it, Laurel!" Quentin shouted, his voice cracking from fear. "I thought after what happened with Sara, you'd stop being just so reckless!"_

_"It's not about being reckless!" she shouted back heatedly. "It's just the opposite. I'm trying to make this city safer, just like you."_

_"Sweetie." He tried, coming up to her. "You're my only daughter, Laurel. You're all I have left to live for."_

“I may not like him but he’s gotta point,” Tommy said as he looked over at Laurel, “I know you love your job Laurel; I know you’re passionate about it. But you are all your dad has left. I’m just saying…maybe you should think about that before you take on cases like these.”

 

_"But what you want from me isn't living." She countered again, near tears. "Having cops around, not being able to do my job…"_

_"Your job is not going after people like the Triad! Or Somers…"_

_"My job is to use the law to fight for what is right. Just like you taught me."_

_"Well, that's dirty." Quentin said brokenly. "Using me against me. You can't do that." He argued._

_"Well maybe I picked that up along the way, too." Laurel joked softly. Lance let out a soft laugh. Suddenly his phone went off._

_"Lance." He said answering it. He listened for a moment. "I'll be right there." He said, hanging up. He looked at his daughter. "I gotta go." He said. "Something's going on at the docks."_

_At the docks, it was pandemonium as The Hood leapt from walk way to walkway, staying one step ahead of the guards bullets and taking them out, one at a time. He spied Somers running into a building as he killed the last guard._

“Damn, this is like something out of a movie or T show.” Roy whistled impressed.

 

“No kidding.” Tommy agreed.

 

_"Somers!" he shouted, jumping down to the ground and following him._

_In the building, Somers was running as fast as he could, trying to get away. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't fast enough. An arrow pinned him to a crate at the far end of the room. "Oh, God, no, no, no…" he cried out as The Hood stalked up, nocking another arrow._

_"He can't help you." The Hood growled. "I want the truth about Victor Nocenti." He let the arrow fly; pinning is right shoulder to the crate._

_"I can't! The Triad will kill me."_

_"The Triad's not your concern right now!" The Hood snarled. At Somers reluctance, he let another arrow fly, right below the man's crotch._

“That was low Ollie. And that was not a pun!” Tommy said before Thea or Roy could open their mouths.

 

_"All right, all right, all right!" Somers cried out. "It wasn't me that killed him. It was the Triad." He sobbed._

_"Acting on whose instructions? Whose?" he shouted, shooting another arrow right above the man's head._

_"All right, all right! It was mine." He confessed. "It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me."_

_Suddenly he saw something over the vigilante's shoulder and paled even further. The Hood spun, and arrow nocked as he came face to face with China White._

“And here comes round two.” Tommy said nervously, wondering if his best friend could really beat her.

 

_"Cóng tā shēnshang yí kāi" She demanded in Mandarin._

_"Ràng wǒ." He replied in flawless Mandarin._

_She came at him hard, knives flashing. He parried each blow with his bow. A kick sent him to the ground, but he was quickly up and blocking her again. In a battle of skills, The Hood was good- but China White was just a bit better. Another kick sent him sprawling to the ground, when suddenly a voice blared over a loud speaker._

_'This is the Police! Put down your weapons or we will open fire. I repeat, lay down your weapons!'_

“The police may have just saved his life.” Diggle noted.

 

“First good thing they’ve done in a while.” Roy said bitterly.

 

_The two warriors spared one another a glance, and then both took off to opposite exits. The Hood made his way outside, tossing his bow on top of a shipping container and clambering up after it. Gabbing the bow, he leapt off. He started to run to where he had hidden his motorcycle when-_

_"Freeze!" Lance yelled, coming out from between two containers with his gun drawn. The Hood froze, his head down so that his hood hid his face. "You twitch and you're dead." He promised, moving a bit closer. "Bow down, hands up."_

_They stood there for a few moments, a silent battle of wills playing out. Then suddenly, The Hood pulled a flachette out of his thigh quiver and threw it side-handed. It knocked the gun from Lance's hand and pinned it to the shipping crate a few feet behind the Detective. Lance gasped, looking at his hand in disbelief, and then at his gun hanging from the crate. When he turned back to look, The Hood was gone._

“Your dad is lucky Oliver isn’t the remorseless killer he thinks he is, otherwise he’d be dead right now.” Diggle told Laurel.

 

Laurel grimaced but nodded in agreement.

 

_Lance looked back at his gun, then noticed the flachette had some kind of device attached to the shaft. It looked to be a recording device, its indicator light blinking green. Lance cautiously hit the play button_

_'All right, all right! It was mine!" Martin Somers voice cried out. 'It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me…'_

“That was pretty clever. He scared him enough to where Somers confessed while he recorded it.” Laurel said impressed.

 

_Lance looked at the recording device in disbelief- The Arrow had managed to tape Somer's confession. "You son of a bitch." He said as his fellow officer finally made it to the scene._

_Back at the Foundry, Oliver was putting his gear away._

_'Laurel was right.' His voice said. 'I can't be the Oliver my mother wants me to be and still keep the promise I made to my father. I have to be the person I need them to see me as.'_

_The scene changed to the next day, at the site for the new Applied Sciences Center groundbreaking. A crowd milled around as Moira and Thea stood on the stage._

_"Oh! Excuse me, ladies." Tommy said, weaving through the crowd until he found his target. "Okay, this is a surprise." He said to Laurel, who shot him an amused look. "Did you show up here by mistake?"_

_"By invitation." She clarified. "Oliver invited me last night."_

_"Last night?"_

_Laurel smiled. "Is that surprise or jealousy I'm hearing?" she asked playfully._

_"Look, I just don't want him to find out anything, okay?" Tommy said. "Oliver has been through a lot."_

_"Tommy, we've all been through a lot." She pointed out._

Laurel looked down, ashamed as Diggle’s explosion from earlier weighed heavily on her mind. Diggle’s eyes twitched a little but he had no other reaction.

 

_. Their conversation was cut short by Walter, who took the stage._

_"Good afternoon, and thank you all for coming." He began. "Welcome to the future site of the Robert Queen Memorial Applied Sciences Center." There was polite applause. "Now, this is a building that will stand as a monument to the man whose company, and vision, are his greatest legacies."_

_"Whoa! Whoa!" a voice called out. Everyone turned to see Oliver, dressed in suit with no tie and obviously drunk. He paused by a waitress to take another drink and quickly downed it, give her the glass back. "What about me? Right? I'm a legacy." he said, managing to pull himself up on the stage, much to Thea's disgust and embarrassment. "Hey! Thanks for warming them up, Walt." He took the gold shovel from Walter and gently pushed him aside to stand in front of the podium as the crowd started whispering amongst themselves._

_"All right. I got it, I got it." He smiled for the cameras. "Some of you may not know me. My name is Oliver Queen. Watch some television, read a newspaper, I'm kind of famous right now. Mostly, though, I'm famous because I'm Robert Queen's son."_

“That’s why he acted out so much you know,” Tommy said and everyone turned to him, “he hated being seen as nothing but Robert Queen’s son. It was exhausting to constantly have to live up to that and eventually, he just stopped trying.”

 

“Speaking from experience?” Laurel asked and Tommy just shrugged.

 

_Moira's face fell as Thea looked on, unbelieving. "Uh, but as Walter, who's my new dad Huh? Who is… sorry. As Walter was saying, I'm not much of a legacy, per se."_

_"Oliver, you don't have to do this." Walter said quietly, trying to guide the drunk man away from the podium. Oliver waved him off._

_"No, sit. Sit! Gosh."' Walter reluctantly sat down, and Oliver turned back to the microphone. "See, I was supposed to come here today, and I'm supposed to take my rightful place at the company. Prodigal son returns home and becomes the heir apparent." He almost seemed to instantly sober up, the resentments he usually kept buried coming to the surface. "But I'm not my father. I'm not the man he was. I'm not half the man he was. I never will be. So, please, stop asking me to be." His point made, he planted the shovel in the mound of dirt besides the stage, then walked past his stunned family, Thea still shooting him a look, though it was more sad than anything else. He jumped off the stage and walked off, not saying another word._

“He certainly took my advice but now I’m just going to think he’s the same jerk from before the island.” Laurel sighed.

 

_The scene shifted, and now a news report was playing as footage of police cars at the docks played._

_'Martin Somers, the CEO of Starling port, was arrested last night for the murder of Victor Nocenti. He is also being accused of accepting cash, including over $10 million in bribes.' Joanna turned off the news and looked back to Emily Nocenti as they, with Laurel stood in the CNRI offices._

_"Well, we can pursue the civil suit if you want, but the D.A. now has no choice, with Mr. Somers' confession, to prosecute him." Joanna explained to the smiling girl._

_"He's going to jail, Emily." Laurel added. "For the rest of his life."_

_"Thank you so much for fighting for us." Emily said, shaking their hands. Laurel smiled back at her._

_"Well, thank you for being brave enough to let me."_

_Emily turned and walked out, just as Quentin Lance came in._

_"Hey." He said, smiling at his daughter. Laurel rolled her eyes and moved back to her desk._

_"I thought I didn't need police protection anymore."_

_"I thought I didn't need a reason to see my own daughter." He countered._

_Laurel sat down and smiled. "You don't." she looked him over. "You look tired."_

_"Yeah, I was filling out reports on the shootout at the port last night." Quentin explained. "And getting grilled about how I let that archer get away."_

_"I have to admit, I'm kind of glad he did." Laurel said quietly. "He brought down Martin Somers."_

_"He hurt a bunch of people doing it, okay?" Quentin pointed out. "He is no hero. He is an anarchist."_

_"Yeah, well, whoever he is, it seems like he's trying to help." Laurel noted._

_"The city doesn't need that kind of help, okay?" Quentin said, somewhat heatedly. "It's like I always told you, you don't need to go outside the law to find justice. Now I believe that. All right?" Laurel looked up at her father as he continued. "And I promise you, when I catch this guy, he's gonna believe it, too."_

“Your dad is even more full of crap than I thought. And that is saying something.” Roy said, honestly impressed by Quentin’s arrogance and delusions.

 

_The scene changed to Oliver's room, where he pulled out his father's book and crossed Martin Somers off the List. Oliver stared at the far wall, remembering._

_We flash back to the Island, where a struggling Oliver carried his father's body to the top of a ridge overlooking the bay. He gently laid the body down and collapsed next to it. He began to arrange the body so he could bury it, when he noticed something in pocket of his dad's jacket. Reaching in, he pulled out a small, tan notebook. He flipped through it, noticing that all of the pages appeared to be blank. However, he noticed some kind of strange marking on the inside cover, and he stared at it in puzzlement._

_Back in the present, a long black limo pulled up next to a silver sedan on an abandoned stretch of road. Moira got out of the sedan and entered the limo. She closed the door and looked to the other occupant._

“That’s my dad’s limo.” Tommy realized.

 

“Why is she meeting with your dad?” Thea asked him.

 

“How am I supposed to know?” Tommy asked dryly.

 

_"Well, you saw for yourself. My son knows nothing." She stated plainly, taking off her sunglasses. "Robert didn't tell him anything that could hurt us. And he has no idea that the yacht was sabotaged."_

“So it was sabotaged.” Laurel breathed.

 

Thea took her hand and Laurel squeezed back, both in need of mutual comfort. Hearing that it was sabotaged was entirely different than suspecting something. Tommy stared at the screen, shock on his face. Did this mean his dad had sabotaged the Gambit? Questions whirled in his mind as the recording continued.

 

_The second figure said nothing, even as he held up a small notebook to examine it. On the inside cover was the same symbol that was in Robert's book._

_Back at the Manor, when stood a respectful distance away as Oliver approached the two tombstones. Ignoring his own, he knelt down in front of his father's. In his hands he held the notebook._

_"All that time on the island, plotting my return, I didn't realize how hard it would be." He began hesitantly. "To reconnect with Mom, Thea… Laurel….okay, I didn't," he paused for a breath, fighting to hold back his tears. "I didn't know how painful it would be to keep my secrets."_

_"You asked me to save the city." He continued. "To right your wrongs. I will. I swear. But to do that, I can't be the Oliver that everyone wants me to be," he explained sadly, "which means that sometimes to honor your wishes I need to dishonor your memory. I'm sorry." He finished with a whisper. Oliver took a few moments to compose himself, then stood._

_"Take it down." He told the workmen, jabbing a thumb towards his own tombstone. The two men went to work as Oliver approached the car, and Diggle, who had stood silent watch._

_"Will you be going out tonight, sir?" he asked as Oliver got in the car._

_"Definitely." Oliver replied as the door closed._

_Back on the island, Oliver was placing the last stone on the cairn he had entombed his father's body in. He stood to inspect his work-_

_There was a sudden whooshing sound-_

_And Oliver screamed in pain. Looking down at his right shoulder, he stared unbelievingly at the arrow that had pierced him from behind._

Thea started, fear and worry for her brother shooting through her. Laurel held her back, even as she couldn’t help but feel worried for her ex-boyfriend herself. Tommy simply sat there, a pained, concerned look in his eyes.

 

_He screamed in pain once more, collapsing next to the grave. He looked around, and in the distance behind him saw a figure. All he could make out through the haze of pain was a green hood as the figure readied another arrow._

_"No, no…" he said weakly. Then he said no more as he passed out from the pain._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: I’m sorry if anyone finds this as an overreaction but here, Thea is comparing what she went through to basically what people like Oliver and Diggle went through. I think Diggle would be at least a little offended by that.


	4. Lone gunmen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the third recording unfolds, Diggle realizes that Deadshot killed his brother. Dinah and Arsenal argue.

Diggle began the next recording. Tommy, Thea, and Laurel stared intently at the screen, worry flooding their minds.

 

_The scene opens with Oliver in the Foundry. He's working out, as per his usual, though this time he's using cement blocks and chains as a make-shift weight station._

_'My Name is Oliver Queen.' His voice sounded over his workout. 'To my family, I am the brother and son who just returned home after being lost at sea 5 years ago. They don't know I came back with a mission, to bring justice to our city, and they never can.' He pulled the chain taught, holding the cement blocks up in the air several feet for a few seconds, then let them drop. The blocks shattered on the hard concrete floor. Oliver toweled off and moved over to his workbench, pulling up some information on his computer._

_'The men and women I've targeted are dangerous, corrupt; a virulent cancer. Cancers like James Holder, whose corporation put defective smoke detectors in low-income housing in The Glades.'_

“Some of my friends died in fires. Wonder how many could have been saved if not for Holden.” Roy grumbled.

 

_' He pulled out his father's notebook and flipped through its pages until he found Holder's name. 'There have been many fires and too many funerals. But cancers can be fought and conquered.' He opened his munitions box and pulled out his bow, testing its flexibility and looking for any significant damage. He found none. 'All it takes is a surgeon and the right instrument.' With that thought, he moved back to his bench to string his bow and prepare for his night's meeting with James Holder._

_The scene changed to the rooftop pool of Holder's penthouse. He was in a bathrobe, drinking a beer getting ready for a swim as he talked on his phone to a colleague._

_"Heh." He laughed at something the other person said. "Other than the bill I got handed this morning by my legal team, I'm feeling pretty good. Plus, now that this lawsuit's been settled, we can focus our attention on Unidac Industries." He listened for a moment. "Ok. I'll see you in the office first thing." He cut the connection and tossed the phone onto a poolside couch. He took a breath and looked around the skyline, then brought the bottle of beer up to take a drink-_

_And it was shattered by an arrow._

_Holder spun around to see The Hood standing there._

“How you feeling now, you son of a bitch?” Thea sneered at the screen.

 

_"I have armed security inside." He threatened. "All I have to do is call out."_

_"Go ahead." The Hood replied, tossing the two guns he had liberated from their owners to the deck. "They can't hear you."_

_"What the hell do you want?" Holder demanded._

_"How many people died in those fires?" The Hood growled. "How many?! The courts say you don't owe your victims anything; I disagree. James Holder, you-" Before he could finish, a shot rang out, and a bloody wound appeared on Holder's chest, right where his heart was._

Laurel and Thea jumped, surprised by the interruption. Diggle narrowed his eyes. Whoever had done that would have to have been very far away. They were good, that was for sure.

 

_As Holder's lifeless body was falling into the pool, The Hood spun around and started firing arrows towards where he believed the shooter was. He ducked down behind a low wall just as two more shots rang out. One pierced the wall and into his arm; the other missed entirely. Then it was silent. Oliver looked to the pool to see Holder's body slowly sinking to the bottom, then he glanced over the wound on his arm with a frown._

_The scene shifted back to the lair as Oliver extracted the bullet, and then sewed up the wound. Once finished, he put on a shirt and got up, moving over to his workbench and opening the notebook._

_'It's no surprise a man as corrupt as James Holder has more than one enemy.' His voice said as he crossed Holder's name off the list. He sat back in his chair, a look of discomfort playing over his face. He suddenly got to his feet, and then staggered into the table. He caught himself on the edge and barely stopped himself from falling down._

Thea gasped in worry, causing Laurel to take her hand even as she herself worried about Oliver. Diggle narrowed his eyes even further, what was happening? If he was right…

 

_'The bullet.' He thought as he staggered over to the other bench, digging around in the surgeon's pan for the offending piece of metal. 'Poison!' he realized._

_He grabbed a water bottle and sprinted to his munitions crate, practically sliding into is as he crashed to the floor. He deftly undid the lock and dug around for something, finally pulling out a small leather pouch filled with mysterious herbs. He took a large pinch of the herbs and threw them into his mouth, then started chewing them as he opened the water bottle and took a drink. Once done, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious._

“What is doing making tea?!” Tommy demanded worriedly.

 

“There must be something very special about those herbs.” Diggle noted even as he refused to relax. If this was the same shooter who killed Andy…

 

_The scene flashed back to the island, where Oliver awoke in a cave. Groggily and in pain, he looked around, then down to see the arrow still sticking out of his shoulder._

Thea gasped as Laurel tensed. Diggle and Roy both winced, having a feeling how much that must hurt. Tommy clenched his pants legs tightly, reminding himself that Oliver was alive. It didn’t help.

 

_Oliver groaned in pain as he struggled to sit up, but he stopped moving as another man entered the cave. He was a thin Asian man, with a scraggly beard and long, stringy black hair that was partially obscured by the green hood he wore. He carried a bow and on his back was a quiver filled with arrows._

“Familiar hood.” Laurel noted.

 

_"Who are you?" Oliver asked, frightened. "Why did you shoot me?"_

_"Wèile bǎohù nín." The man replied in Mandarin. He kneeled down besides the boy and held out a handful of herbs and a small bowl with water. He indicated to Oliver to take the herbs and water. "Yǐnliào." He said in Mandarin. Oliver finally got the hint and, taking a small pinch of the herbs, put them in his mouth. He choked slightly on the acrid taste and quickly down the water. After he finished drinking, the man grasped the arrow and pulled it out through his shoulder, causing Oliver to cry out in pain once more._

“That had to hurt.” Tommy winced.

 

“What was your first clue genius?” Roy snapped.

 

_Back in the present, Oliver gasped as he regained consciousness. The first thing he noticed was sunlight streaming down upon him; the second thing was an alarm. He looked up at his computer monitor, and the clocked that showed 7:10 on its face. Cursing to himself, he shot to his feet and grabbed his jacket to head home._

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Oliver walked in through the house, shaking his arm in slight pain. He slowed as he approached the sitting room, where Moira and Walter were talking with two cops as Thea sat glumly on the sofa._

_"What happened?" Oliver asked Diggle, who was standing watch in the doorway. "Thea ok?"_

_The bodyguard turned to face him. "The cops brought her home." He explained. "Her and some of her friends broke into a store, tried on some dresses last night. Lit up the breathalyzer like a Christmas tree."_

“So this is how the rich live. I’m not impressed.” Roy sneered and Thea glared at him.

 

_Diggle looked the younger man over. "So how was your evening, sir?" he asked dryly._

_"You mean after I said I had to go to the bathroom at dinner and never came back?" Oliver shot back glibly._

_"I guess from now on I'll be watching you pee." He replied._

“Well, that will be awkward.” Tommy quipped and the tense atmosphere between Roy and Thea broke as Thea giggled.

 

_The two stared at each other for several moments before Oliver moved past him to Thea, a small smile on his face that rapidly disappeared._

_"Thank you, officers. My wife and I appreciate it." Walter was saying to the cops. "I'll see you out." The tall Brit walked the two cops out of the room as Moira turned to her delinquent daughter._

_"Last time it was public intoxication." She started, "This time breaking and entering. My, how we are moving up in the criminal world."_

_Thea tiredly got to her feet. "You know, when you pay off the store owner, you should check out the merchandise. They got some pretty killer outfits." She replied sarcastically._

_"Thea, go get ready for school." Moira said. Thea gave her a look._

_"Uh, you know, I was thinking of taking a sick day." She stated, silently daring her mother to argue. Moira didn't._

_"Fine, then get some sleep." She said wearily._

“Is-is she serious?” Tommy asked in disbelief.

 

“My god Moira,” Laurel put a hand to her head, feeling a headache coming on, “how is it that the only sane member of this family is the one killing people?”

 

“I’ve been asking myself that question since the first recording.” Roy said as Thea glared at all of them.

 

_Thea gave her a sarcastic smile as she sauntered out of the room._

_"You look like crap." She told her brother on the way out._

_Oliver looked at his mother in disbelief. "You're letting her play hooky?" he asked. Moira sighed._

_"When your sister gets like this, it's best to give her space."_

_"She's testing you." Oliver reasoned._

_"Yes. Who'd she learn that from?" Moira pointed out._

_"Mom, when I was her age, you and dad let me get away with murder." He said. "Looking back, I could have used less space and more parenting." Oliver turned and left, leaving a contemplative Moira behind._

“I never thought I’d say this, but I agree with Oliver.” Laurel said stunned.

 

“As you said, he’s the only one speaking sense.” Diggle said and Thea glared at them.

 

“What is this, pick on Thea day?” She snapped.

 

“You make it easy by acting like a spoiled brat.” Roy said and she glared at him.

 

“I hate you all.” Thea seethed as she leaned back and crossed her arms.

 

_The scene shifted to Holder's penthouse swimming pool, where the coroners were busying fishing the corrupt businessman's body out of. Detective's Lance and Hilton looked on._

_"It doesn't make sense." Lance was saying to his partner._

_"Holder fits the profile." Hilton replied. "Wealthy dirtbag. Red meat for the Hood. And we recovered at least one arrow." He offered._

_"Yeah, only this time the cause of death is a double tap through the heart and our perp doesn't use firearms." Lance pointed out._

_"Maybe he's finally figured out there's easier ways to kill people than with a bow and arrow." Hilton said, only half-joking. "It's like you said, the guy's a whack job." Lance looked at his partner, then at the body being secured to a stretcher, unconvinced._

_Back in the Lair, Oliver tested the bloody gauze from his wound, trying to confirm a suspicion. He proved himself right when the blood reacted to the chemicals._

_'The bullets were laced with curare, a rare and deadly poison, the killer's unique M.O.' Oliver's voice said as he started pulling up various federal databases, searching for a profile that fit. He found it on Interpol's database. 'He's killed all over the world Chicago, Markovia, Corto Maltese. Interpol even has a codename for him: Deadshot.'_

“Deadshot.” Diggle breathed and Tommy looked over at him.

 

“Something the matter Dig?” Tommy asked.

 

“My brother was killed by a sniper whose bullet was laced with poison. I never could figure out who did it…now I think I finally now.” Diggle said softly.

 

_He studied the limited information in the file. 'I was prepared to give James Holder a chance to right his wrongs, but this Deadshot has no morality, no honor, no code. He doesn't kill for justice, which makes him as dangerous as anyone on my list. In fact, it puts him right at the top.'_

_Later that day, Oliver led Tommy and Diggle through the Foundry- the upper level, that is._

_"So what do you think?" Oliver asked his friend as he gestured around the empty building. "Great spot for a nightclub or what?"_

_"Sweet." Tommy said. "Though I got to tell you, man, if you're thinking about calling it 'Queens', I don't think you're gonna get the clientele that you were hoping for."_

_Oliver pointed towards an upper level, where the foreman's offices had been. "Private office." He suggested._

_"For the private one-on-one meetings, I would imagine." Tommy inferred with a smile._

_"Hopefully the occasional two-on-one meeting." Oliver joked back._

“You’re a pig,” Laurel told Tommy who flinched, “at least Ollie is just playing a part.”

 

_Tommy turned to his friend._

_"Man, are you sure you want to do this?" he asked seriously. "It's not like you really have any experience in running a… well, running anything." Oliver just gave him a mildly insulted look. Tommy slapped him on the back. "How about tomorrow night the two of us, we go and scope out the competition." He suggested. "There's a new club opening downtown. It's called Poison. Max Fuller owns it."_

_"Max Fuller?" Oliver asked._

_"Mm-hmm." Tommy nodded._

_"I slept with his fiancé."_

_"Yeah, before the wedding."_

_"It was at the rehearsal dinner."_

_"The rehearsal dinner is technically before the wedding, right?" Tommy pointed out with a smile._

“Pig.” Thea said as she glared at Tommy who shifted.

 

_"And besides, who stays mad at a castaway?" Tommy's phone rang, and he looked at it. "Ah, dammit, I got to roll. He said, slipping the phone back in his pocket. "Anyway, I'll see you later, man. Good place!"_

_"See you." Oliver called out, then looked to Dig._

_"So what do you think?" he asked._

_"Well, I'm here to provide security, sir, not a commentary."_

_"Oh, come on, Dig, do me a favor." Oliver said earnestly. "Speak freely, please."_

_Diggle took a moment to compose his words. "Well, this is The Glades, right?" he started. "Your rich white friends wouldn't come to this neighborhood on a bet."_

_"I'm Oliver Queen, right? People would stand in line for 3 hours if I opened a club." He pointed out._

_"And no one who actually lives in The Glades would see a penny of those cover charges." Dig said._

_"So we make it a successful business, we gentrify the neighborhood."_

_"I was wondering when we would get to that." Dig scoffed. "The white knight swooping in to save the disenfranchised. And all by his lonesome with no help from anybody."_

_"Wow." Oliver said. "You don't think very much of me, do you?"_

_"No, sir." Dig disagreed. "Actually, I have a very high regard for how perceptive you are. Sir." He walked out of the foundry. Oliver took a last look around._

_'The nightclub will conceal my base underneath,' Oliver's voice said, 'and provide an alibi for where Oliver Queen spends his nights._

“That’s pretty clever.” Laurel said impressed.

 

_The scene shifted to CNRI, where Laurel was reading an article on Oliver opening a club. She was so engrossed that she didn't hear Joanna approach._

“Stalker much?” Thea teased and Laurel rolled her eyes as she flushed.

 

_"Hey. Do you have the depos on the Jergens case?" her friend asked. Laurel frantically tried to close the article, but not before Joanna got a glimpse._

_"Yeah, they're around here somewhere." She dug around her desk. She didn't miss the look Joanna sent her. "I was just surfing the 'net." She said defensively._

_"Really?"_

_Laurel sighed and looked to her friend. "Joanna, I'm over him." Another look. "And you don't believe me."_

_"Well, I would have if I wouldn't have just caught you trolling for articles on him!" Joanna shot back._

_"I wasn't trolling!" Laurel shot back, exasperated._

_"I don't want to have to be the one to remind you that he cheated on you, Laurel. With your sister."_

“As if I needed to be reminded.” Laurel grumbled.

 

_"I appreciate your self-control." Laurel said dryly._

_"You're stuck in the past." Joanna advised. "And the reason I know this is the fact that the only physical relationship you've had since Oliver is with his best friend. It is time to move on." She decided. "It is past time."_

_"I've been busy." Laurel hedged. "I work a lot."_

_"Ok. That's got to stop." Joanna decided. "So we are going out tonight. And we are going to have some shots, and we are going to dance with men that we don't know, and we are going to stay out way too late." She plucked a folder off Laurel's desk. "Oh!" she exclaimed wryly. "Jergens depos."_

_"I really don't think I can go out tonight." Laurel tried. Joanna just gave her a smile._

_"It is adorable that you actually think I'm giving you a choice." She said, walking away._

“She’s a good friend to you.” Diggle noted and Laurel nodded smiling.

 

“Yeah, she’s the best.” Laurel said fondly.

 

_The scene shifted back to Queen Manor, where Thea was getting dressed for school. She was putting her tie on when Moira walked into her room._

_"I want you to come home right after school." She said._

_"Oh, can't." The said absently, checking her appearance in the mirror. "Margot and I are going to go to the mall."_

_"What, more shopping?" Moira asked rhetorically. "Tell Margot you'll have to cancel. You're grounded for two weeks."_

“Grounded!” Thea said affronted.

 

“Well, looks like Oliver managed to talk some sense into her.” Laurel said pleased.

 

_"Grounded?" Thea looked at her mother, incredulous. "I've never been grounded."_

_"Well, you've never committed larceny before." Moira replied pointedly._

_"Since when do you care?" Thea demanded._

_"I've always cared." Moira replied defensively. "I'm your mother."_

_"Look, we've had a good thing going on the last five years." Thea said, annoyed. "Why mess with that now?"_

“Because one day, your family’s money and status won’t be able to help you. And you’ll end up in jail, where no one will care if your last name is Queen.” Laurel said hotly and Thea sneered.

 

_Moira walked further into the room, right up to Thea. "No, we are paying off store owners to keep your record clean, so clearly, it hasn't been working."_

_"And you're going to teach me." Thea scoffed, her arms crossed. "It's Oliver, isn't it? His judgmental hypocrisy is rubbing off on you."_

_"No, I don't need Oliver to teach me how to parent you." Moira shot back. "You'll be home by 4:00."_

_"Or what?" the asked snidely. "You're going to call the cops on me?" She walked past her mom, grabbing her purse on the way out of the room. "Tell them I say hi." Moira looked on, exasperated._

_The scene shifted to Holder's penthouse. On the ground, Oliver was surveying the area, thinking back to the night he was shot. He looked up at the penthouse, then over to where he believed the shots came from. Three shots were fired at him- one hit his arm, one hit a retaining wall, but one overshot the building. He followed where he thought the trajectory carried the slug. Spotting something far up on one building's outer wall, he leaped into action- literally. Applying his parkour skills, he scaled the wall. Approaching the bullet hole, he pulled out his knife and carefully extracted the bullet._

“Wow,” Tommy whistled, impressed, “Is there anything he didn’t learn how to do on that island?”

 

_Back at SCPD headquarters, Quentin was looking over the crime scene photos when Hilton approached._

_"Got ballistics back on the Holder murder." He announced. "They pulled two 7.62 millimeter bullets out of him. According to the stippling and size of the entry wound, they estimate the shots were fired from approximately a hundred yards away."_

_"A hundred yards?" Lance repeated. "What, so the hood shoots him from another building, goes over to his place, he takes out his security, and then he fires off a few arrows?_

_"And according to his tox screen, his blood contained high concentrations of strychnos toxifera."_

_"- What?" Lance asked, his look saying 'speak English.'_

_" - Curare." Hilton clarified. It's a kind of poison."_

_"Oh." Lance said dryly. "Ok, so now we switch from arrows to sniper bullets and poison." He shook his head. "I'm not buying it."_

“That is why my dad is still on the force,” Laurel said, “he may be a drunk, but he’s a good cop.”

 

_"We still found arrows on the scene." Hilton said, clinging to his theory. "Solid evidence the Hood was there." Lance got up and started walking out. "Where you going?" he asked tiredly._

_"I'm going to get my own evidence." Lance said, walking out. Hilton sighed and dropped the folder onto Lance's desk._

_The scene shifted to the Foundry, where Oliver was running his own ballistics on the round he pulled from the wall._

_'7.62 millimeter rounds.' His voice said as he stared at his computers. 'The money trail leads back to the Bratva- the Russian mob. Finally some good luck.'_

“Wait, what?” Tommy asked confused.

 

_The scene changed again, and now Oliver was walking into a Russian auto repair shop. He approached two men working on an old Mustang._

_"I’m looking for Alexi Lenonov." He stated in flawless Russian._

_The elder of the two, a bald, rough-looking Russian turned to stare at Oliver. "There's no one here by that name." he responded after a moment._

_Oliver shook his head and moved in closer. "Not in your garage." He said. "in the basement underneath." The bald man indicated to his compatriot, who mace out from underneath the car and pulled a gun. As he brought it up, Oliver deftly disarmed the man, sending him to his knees with one hand as he pulled the gun out and disassembled it. He then pulled down the collar of his shirt, exposing the tattoo on his chest._

_"I’m Bratva." He announced._

“He’s what?!” Tommy shouted after a moment, as they all stared at the screen in shock.

 

“H-how is this possible? He was stranded on an island for five years!” Thea said stunned and horrified.

 

“I don’t know, but we’ll learn more as we watch. And let’s not make judgements before we know the whole story.” Diggle said as he unpaused the recording.

_He allowed the second man to get up, and he moved behind the bald man._

_"I’m looking for Alexi Lenonov." Oliver demanded again._

_The bald man moved to Oliver and offered a short bow. "Pleased to meet you." He said in English. Oliver nodded in return._

_Soon, they were walking through a door and down a set of stairs to the basement, the headquarters for the Starling City branch of the Bratva._

_"I apologize." Alexi was saying. "We meant no disrespect to a Captain. Particularly an American one."_

_He stopped at a table and began pouring two shots of vodka. "So, how can I be of assistance?"_

_"I'm in the market for a hired gun." Oliver stated. "Someone the organization's used before. His calling card is a 7.62 millimeter gun laced with curare."_

_Alexi shook his head. "I know no man who uses such tools."_

_"But you can find out who does." Oliver countered._

“Smart plan; use the Bratva to find Deadshot.” Diggle noted.

 

_Alexi handed him his shot._

_"First, we will drink to each other's health, then I will look into the identity of this man you seek." The two drank._

_"Ahh." He said as the alcohol went down. "I will also confirm that you are really Bratva captain." He said, smiling. "Should this not be the case, I will send my mechanic here to find you and kill you and your family." He indicated the second man, who had taken position on the second flight of stairs. Oliver stared at the two men for a moment, then left._

“For your sake, and your mother and step-father’s, you better hope he is Bratva.” Roy told Thea, who nodded mutely.

 

_As he walked out of the shot, he caught the end of a news broadcast._

_'Carl Rasmussen was found shot to death in his home earlier this evening.' The reporter was saying on the television. 'The police will not comment if there's a connection between Mr. Rasmussen's death and the murder of James Holder a few nights ago. Mr. Rasmussen leaves behind a wife and three children.'_

“Holden, Rasmussen…why do those names sound so familiar?” Tommy mused as his eyes narrowed I thought.

 

“Unidac Industries,” Thea said and everyone turned to her, “They were both were buyers for Unidac Industries. Mom’s been talking about it for weeks…Walter’s a buyer to.”

 

“Well, let’s hope your brother can stop Deadshot before he targets your step-father.” Diggle said grimly and Laurel put an arm around the worried Thea.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor, where Detectives Lance and Hilton were talking with Walter and Moira._

_"It's a great loss." Walter was saying. "Carl was a titan."_

_"A titan who was looking to buy out a company called Unidac Industries?" Hilton observed, looking at his notes._

_"Well, Industries are something of a misnomer." Walter explained. "UI's recent activity was actually looking into alternative energy."_

_"I think the point my partner is trying to make is that Carl Rasmussen was the second bidder this week to lose his life." Lance cut in._

_"Are you implying something, Detective?" Moira asked archly._

_"Well, only that your husband's looking into buying Unidac Industries and the competition seems to be dropping like flies." Lance pointed out._

“Your dad’s a dick.” Thea told Laurel.

 

“Maybe, but it’s a valid question. He’s doing his job, although he could be a little more professional about it.” Laurel sighed.

 

_"And I'm sure your veiled accusation has nothing to do with how you feel about my family?" Moira shot back, annoyed._

_"Unidac's in receivership, Detective." Walter cut in before things got heated. "Ownership is subject to a liquidation auction, so that means there are many prospective buyers. And the auction's tomorrow, so if I was taking out the competition, I have a lot of killing to do in a very short amount of time." He finished, dryly._

_"We're just making the rounds with the interested buyers." Hilton put in, trying to diffuse the tension. "Let them know to be careful."_

_"Oh, yes. And I'm overwhelmed that Detective Lance is concerned for our safety." Moira said sarcastically._

_"Well, thank you for your concern, gentlemen." Walter said. He nodded towards Diggle, who stood in the doorway. "Our security consultant, Mr. Diggle, is taking all the necessary precautions."_

_"Yeah. Right." Lance slapped his knees and rose. "Well, if you need us," he said as he and Hilton started to leave "we're just a 911 call away." Moira shook her head in exasperation as the cops left._

_The scene shifted to outside the club Poison. Tommy and Oliver, followed by Diggle, made their way to the head of the line. The bouncer undid the chain and let them through at once._

_"Ha ha ha! Oh, my, this is going to be killer." Tommy exclaimed._

_"If Max never sees me here, I agree." Oliver pointed out. Tommy just clapped him on the shoulder._

_"Ah, if you want to run a business, you've got to take a few risks."_

_The bouncer closed the chain just as Diggle came up. He stared at the bodyguard impassively._

_"I don't see your name on the list." He stated._

_"Mr. Queen." Dig called out. Oliver spun around and headed back. He patted the bouncer on the shoulder. "Oh!" he said jovially, pointing at Dig. "I have never seen this guy before in my life. Ever." He gave Dig a wink and headed back inside with a laughing Tommy. Diggle just sighed._

Diggle scowled as the other four just laughed.

 

_The two men walked in to the club and looked around. It was dim and loud with the sounds of music and laughter. They watched the ladies dance, then as one headed towards the bar. Tommy spotted her first._

_"Oh, wow!" he exclaimed "Doesn't you going out and having fun violate some kind of law, you know, like the ones that are carved on a stone tablet?"_

“Cut Tommy.” Laurel said dryly.

 

_Laurel gave him a look. "That's cute, Tommy."_

“You really need to stop repeating yourself.” Tommy said cheekily and Laurel rolled her eyes.

 

_"Thanks."_

_"I can see you two are up to your old hunting patterns." She noted wryly, eyeing Oliver._

_"Just seeing what passes for fun in Starling City after five years." the former castaway said_

_"Ah. Well, I'm sure you'll find that it just hasn't been the same without you."_

“You can cut the tension with a knife.” Roy drawled and Laurel shot him a look.

 

_The three were spared further conversation as a very drunk Thea stumbled up to Oliver._

“Drunk me, yay.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

_"Big brother!" she exclaimed. "Oh! I am so wasted right now. There is… there is two of you." She finished, waving a finger between the real and imaginary Oliver. Her brother looked back at her sternly._

_"I thought you were grounded." He stated. Tommy and Laurel both turned back to the bar, suddenly very uncomfortable._

_"I am." She crossed her arms. "And thank you for that, by the way."_

_Oliver stepped in closer, glaring at his sister. "You're done for the night."_

_"Oh, what are you going to do?" she asked defiantly. "Tell mom?"_

_"Thea!" he exclaimed, but reigned in his emotions. "You are hanging with the wrong people." He tried._

_"You're one to talk." She looked over to Tommy and Laurel with an evil glare. "How much do you know about your own so-called friends over here?"_

“Please don’t.” Tommy pleaded as Laurel removed her arm from Thea, who shifted guiltily.

 

_Ok Thea, maybe you should-" Tommy started, but Thea cut him off. "Tommy I think your BFF has a right to know." She said snidely._

_"Thea, let's go." Oliver tried to lead her away, but she was having none of it._

_"Well, I guess they never told you that they've been screwing while you were gone." She shot the two a satisfied look as Laurel and Tommy suddenly found it hard to look at Oliver. Oliver, meanwhile, never looked away from Thea._

“It would have been one thing to tell him,” Laurel said as she gave Thea a disappointed look, “but you did it just to hurt him. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

 

_"Look, man, I-" Tommy started to say, but Oliver cut him off._

_"Tommy," he said softly, looking at his friend. Tommy looked back uncertainly. "It's ok." He said earnestly. Oliver turned back to Thea, anger evident on his face. "You and me, we're done for the night." He grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the door._

_"Take your hands off of me!" she yelled, yanking her hand free. "You're not my father." She hissed. "And you're barely my brother." She stalked off, leaving an angry Oliver behind._

“How many different ways is it possible for you to be a bitch to him?” Tommy demanded, rapidly losing patience with Thea.

 

_"Well, well… look at this." A voice said from behind him. "Oliver Queen."_

_Oliver turned to see "Max Fuller." He said, eyeing the two bodyguards that flanked the man. "How've you been?"_

_"Happy you drowned."_

“This can only end well.” Roy drawled.

 

_Oliver was led to a curtained off area. He knew what was coming, but he tried to reason with the man. "Hey, Max-" he started, but was thrown to the floor by a punch from the club owner. He forced himself not to react._

_"Get him up!" Max yelled to his bouncers, who roughly pulled him to his feet._

_"Hey, let him go, let him go!" Tommy yelled, rushing into the area and putting himself between Oliver and the goons. "Hey, I said let him go!"_

“You’re a good friend.” Roy said to Tommy, the first positive thing he’d said about the millionaire.

 

“Uh, thanks.” Tommy blinked at the unexpected praise.

 

_Told you he was going to be pissed." Oliver said quietly._

_"Back off, Merlyn." Max said. "This isn't your problem."_

_"You want to get to him? You've got to go through me." Tommy eyed the goons as they grinned to one another, and then looked over his shoulder at Oliver. "Wow, they are probably going to get through me." Without another thought, Tommy threw the first punch, knocking one of the bouncers back._

_Oliver went after the other, even as he tried to keep his true skills hidden. Holding back, the fight soon turned in Fuller's bouncers' favor, with Tommy and Oliver on the floor. Max stood back at the curtain, a satisfied smile on his face-_

_At least until Laurel came in, hitting him several times in the kidneys, and then kicking the back of his knee out. She spun him, then flipped him onto the ground hard. The bouncers stopped and looked back at the brunette._

“Wow, that was…awesome.” Roy said as he looked over at Laurel, impressed.

 

“Daughter of a cop.” Laurel shrugged.

 

_So is this over, Max?" she asked harshly. "Or are you going to have your boy's pound on me next?"_

_Max ungracefully stumbled to his feet. He glared at the three. "You three consider yourselves banned for life." She snarled. "Get the hell out of my place!"_

_"Your club sucks anyway." Tommy shot back._

_"You guys ok?" Laurel asked. Oliver looked at his ex._

_"Where'd you learn to do that?"_

_"Cop dad, remember? He made me take self-defense classes."_

_"Laurel," he started, "What Thea said-_

_"Oliver, Tommy and I don't need your blessing." She pointed out. "And I don't need your forgiveness."_

“He never said you did.” Thea said annoyed and Laurel looked away.

 

_The scene flashed back to the cave. Oliver slowly came back to consciousness. Glancing around, he saw the Asian man sound asleep. Quietly he got to his feet and swiftly made his way out of the cave. Once outside, he ran through the forest. He paused a moment to catch his breath, then started moving again- only to be ensnared in a net, which dragged him up five feet into the air._

_Back in the present, Diggle was leading Tommy and Oliver into Big Belly Burger. He waved at a cute woman behind the counter, who waved back. "Why don't you guys take a seat, and I will grab a couple of burgers and some ice for those faces."_

_Tommy smiled at the woman. "The girl's pretty cute." He said casually._

“That’s my sister in law.” Diggle glared at Tommy, who held up his hands in defense.

 

“I come in peace?” Tommy said hopefully.

 

_That's my sister in law." Diggle said, a steely glare at the younger man._

_"-Who I will never speak to or look at." Tommy replied at once. "Ever. Gonna grab a booth." Tommy headed to the back of the restaurant._

_"She's not wearing a wedding ring." Oliver noticed. "Brother out of the picture?"_

Diggle winced.

 

_"Yeah, you could say that." He replied. Oliver headed back to Tommy, while Dig headed over to Carly. "Hey you." He said._

_"So sweet of you to adopt two white boys." Carly joked, leaning up against the counter. "They need a good role model."_

“Tommy yes, Ollie…well, he could use someone to teach him not to kill.” Laurel mused.

 

_That's my client Oliver Queen." He explained. They watched the batted young man drop painfully into the booth._

_"Looks like you're doing a bang up job protecting him." She remarked._

_"Mmm." Dig agreed._

_At the booth, Tommy was working up his courage. "Look, man about Laurel." He started. "I was going to tell you. I was just trying to figure out the right way."_

 

_"To tell somebody that you slept with their girlfriend after they went missing and were then presumed dead." He replied seriously, and then gave a small smile. "What, there's no greeting card for that?" he joked. The two laughed._

_"Look it was wrong." Tommy said, seriously. "And I'm sorry."_

_"Tommy." Oliver started quietly. "I was dead."_

_"No, man, you were with Laurel." Tommy replied, cutting him off. "And whether you were dead, or as it turns out, alive on a deserted island, you are my friend. And me being with Laurel violated that friendship in about 50 different ways."_

_"Thank you." Oliver said earnestly. "But it's ok."_

_Back at the counter, Carly was still talking to Diggle. "How dangerous is this gig, anyway?" she asked, concerned._

_"It's a cakewalk, Carla, don't worry." He assured her._

_"Too late." She said. "Or have you forgotten this job got your brother killed? Because, Dig, I haven't. I can't." she walked away._

_"You are being really chill about this." Tommy remarked to Oliver back at the booth. Before he could reply, his phone rang. He pulled it out._

_"Hello?" he said, then spoke in Russian. He held the phone to his chest and looked to Tommy. "It's a Russian model calling me." He explained with a smile. "Can we- can I have a minute, please?"_

“Nice cover.” Tommy noted.

 

_Tommy laughed lightly as he got up out of the booth. "I can see now why you were able to be so chill." He remarked. "Enjoy."_

_"So I checked out?" he said._

_"You did." Alexi replied. "His name is Floyd Lawton. I have address where he stayed last time he was in Starling City. But that is all."_

“Floyd Lawton.” Diggle muttered. He finally had a name.

 

_"Let's hope he's a creature of habit." Oliver replied. "Go."_

_"1700 Broadway Pell Hotel, room 52." Alexi replied. "You'll leave us out of this, yes? Assuming Mr. Lawton doesn't kill you first." Oliver hung up._

_The scene changed to Oliver standing outside room 52. He kicked the door open and fired an arrow, narrowly missing Lawton as he dived off the chair and behind his bed._

“He really should’ve attacked from the window.” Roy noted.

 

_He came up, right arm extended and sprayed the doorway with bullets from a wrist-mounted fully automatic submachine gun. Oliver ducked back outside, and waited for him to reload. As Lawton changed clips he got two more arrows off, but Lawton propped up the mattress, blocking them. He sprayed bullets once more, then jumped out the window behind him. Oliver rushed into the room and looked out the window, but there was no sign of him. As police sirens got closer, Oliver grabbed the damaged remains of Lawton's laptop and ran out._

_The scene shifted to the next day at Queen Consolidated, as Oliver made his way through the I.T. department, stopping in front of a particular cubicle._

_"Ahem." He cleared his throat, getting the blonde woman's attention. "Felicity Smoak?" he asked, smiling. "Hi. I'm Oliver Queen."_

In the control room, Dinah hissed as she clenched her fists. Kal looked over at her startled as Arsenal sighed.

 

“It’s been four years, let it go Dinah.” Arsenal told her.

 

“Oliver is dead because of her.” Dinah hissed.

 

“Felicity didn’t kill him, Slade did.” He reminded her.

 

“Only because Oliver spared him during the siege, which he only did because she told him to,” Dinah snapped as she whirled on him, “my dad, Sara, everyone was telling Oliver to kill him. But he listened to Felicity, because he trusted her. And because he trusted her, I lost my husband; my daughter lost her father at three years old. Every time I think about how we could have saved him…that’s where I always end up. So don’t tell me it wasn’t her fault Roy, because it was!”

 

“Both of you, calm down,” Kal interrupted, “we’re here to change things, so stop arguing and watch.”

 

Glaring at each other, Dinah and Arsenal turned back to the screen.

 

_"Of course." She said, surprised. "I know who you are, you're Mr. Queen."_

_"No, Mr. Queen was my father." He stated with a smile._

_"Right, but he's dead." She shook her head, embarrassed. "I mean, he drowned." She closed her eyes, trying to compose herself. "But you didn't, which means you could come down to the I.T. department and listen to me babble. Which will end." She slowly rotated away from Oliver. "In 3… 2… 1…" she turned back._

Tommy and Roy snickered, Thea and Laurel laughed, and Diggle smiled.

 

_"I'm having some trouble with my computer and they told me that you were the person to come and see." He said, laying Floyd Lawton's laptop down on her desk. "I was at my coffee shop surfing the web and I spilled a latte on it." He lied. Poorly._

_Felicity looked at him. "Really?"_

_"Yeah."_

_She ran her hand over the casing. "'Cause these look like bullet holes."_

_"My coffee shop is in a bad neighborhood." He added smoothly._

“Is he seriously this bad at lying?” Tommy wondered.

 

“No, I think he’s…testing her.” Diggle eyed the screen thoughtfully.

 

“For what?” Thea asked curiously.

 

“I’m not sure yet.” Diggle admitted.

 

_She tilted her head and gave him a look that said 'Really?" Oliver smiled down at her. "If there is anything that you can salvage from it, I would really appreciate it." He said in a hopeful tone. Felicity gave him one last look, then shrugged and picked up the laptop._

_Back at Queen Manor, Thea was in her room, texting on her phone. Moira walked in, and momentarily was shocked that Thea was home._

_"Oh." She exclaimed pleasantly. "Well, good, you're here."_

_"I'm under house arrest, remember." Thea shot back, not looking up from her phone._

_Moira held up two dresses. "Do you want to wear the Calvin Klein or the Zac Posen?" she asked. Thea looked up._

_"For dinner?" she said, confused. "I was just going to wear pajamas."_

_"To Walter's stock auction." Moira explained._

_Thea groaned and looked back to her phone. "I think I'd rather be grounded."_

_"No, it's important that you come." Moira pressed on._

_"Important to whom?"_

_"To me." Moira insisted. Thea looked up at her incredulously, and then turned back to her phone. Moira sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on Thea's arm. "All right, listen to me. When you were four years old, you came home one day with a cat. It was a stray, it was filthy, and it was mean. But you stood there and you declared that it was coming to live with us. Your father came home from the office and he saw what was going on, and he sat you down and he explained to you that the cat was in fact a tiger and that we needed to get it home. And somehow you understood." Thea smiled slightly at the memory. "Robert was always so good at getting through to you." She continued. "I… I was always so jealous of that." She admitted._

Thea sniffed and Laurel wrapped an arm around her, allowing the younger woman to bury her face in her shoulder.

 

_The two were silent for a moment. Thea's eyes were wet with unshed tears. Finally, Thea spoke. "You never talk about him." She stated. "Dad. That's the first time you've talked about him in years."_

_"Well, I think you and I have gotten into some bad habits." Moira finally said. "There's been a lot that has changed recently, Thea, and I think that maybe this can change, too." She patted Thea's arm and rose from the bed, leaving Thea to think._

_Back at Queen Consolidated, Felicity was working on the laptop. She managed to pull up several image files._

_"It looks like blueprints." She said._

_"Do you know what of?" Oliver asked._

_"The Exchange Building."_

_"Never heard of it."_

_"It's where the Unidac industry's auction is scheduled to take place." Felicity explained._

“Wait, what?!” Thea ripped herself away from Laurel as she jumped to her feet. “But that’s where Walter, mom, and I are going?!”

 

“Well, it’s a good thing Oliver has a heads up then.” Laurel told her as she made Thea sit back down.

 

_At his look, she pressed, "I thought you said that was your laptop."_

_"Yes." Oliver stated._

_Felicity sighed. "Look, I don't want to get in the middle of some Shakespearian family drama thing."_

_Oliver's eye flickered rapidly between the computer and Felicity. Confusion played across his face. "What?"_

_"Mr. Steele marrying your mom." She explained. "Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet?"_

_"I didn't study Shakespeare at any of the four schools that I dropped out of." Oliver said bluntly._

_"Mr. Steele is trying to buy Unidac Industries." lay out plainly. "And you've got a company laptop associated with one of the guys he's competing against."_

_Oliver nodded. "Floyd Lawton."_

_"No" Felicity interjected, "Warren Patel." She looked at him. "Who's Floyd Lawton?"_

_"He is an employee of Mr. Patel, evidently." Oliver explained lamely._

_'The Exchange Building is surrounded by 3 towers with eye lines into the building.' Oliver's voice said as he stared at the blueprints. 'Lawton could get a kill shot off from virtually anywhere. But I can't cover the area. I can't protect all of Deadshot's targets. I can't do this alone.'_

_The scene shifted to outside the SCPD headquarters later that night, where Lance was walking to his car. He was suddenly grabbed roughly from behind and slammed into the hood of a cruiser. Looking back, grunting in pain, he saw The Hood pinning him down, holding one arm back in a vice-like grip, preventing him from getting up._

“And this’ll just make your dad like him more.” Roy said sarcastically.

 

“He deserves it.” Thea said, still bitter towards the detective.

 

_"Ah, you son of a bitch!" he started._

_"Detective, quiet!" The Hood whispered._

_"You've got a pair on you, pulling this right outside the police station!" Lance snarled._

_"Floyd Lawton's the one targeting the buyers interested in Unidac Industries. Interpol calls him 'Deadshot' because he never misses. You can look this up after I go." The Hood told the detective._

_"Yeah, and stop chasing you, I suppose?" he grunted as The Hood cranked back on his arm slightly._

_"Warren Patel hired Lawton." He continued. "I can't be sure who they're targeting, it might be all the buyers, and I can't protect them in a space that big. I need your help." He pleaded._

_"Yeah? Professional help." Lance scoffed._

_"Lawton laces his bullets with curare. Tell your men to wear Kevlar." The Hood finished._

_"I'll them to shoot you-" he gasped as an arrow was driven into the hood of the car right next to his head. Suddenly the pressure on his arm was gone, and he shot up and looked around- but The Hood was gone. Looking back at the hood, he noticed the laptop for the first time._

“It’s a cold day in hell when Ollie has to ask your dad for help.” Tommy told Laurel, who nodded mutely.

 

_The scene shifted to later that night at the Exchange Building. Moira and Walter were standing in the grand foyer, chatting quietly with one another._

_"Well, it's quite a turn out, huh?" Moira remarked, looking around. Walter hummed in agreement._

_"Well, it's quite an opportunity, actually." He said. "But regardless of the outcome of the auction, I'm already a winner because I have the two most beautiful women at my side tonight."_

_"Two?" Moira asked in confusion._

_"Mm-hmm." Walter looked up past Moira, and she turned to see Thea enter in a tasteful blue dress. "Thanks for coming, Thea." He told the young woman, kissing her on the cheek. "It means a lot to your mother. And me." Thea smiled and hugged her mother._

_"Mr. Steele, the auction will be opening in 5 minutes." A woman said, coming up to the group. "Please make sure your bid is ready."_

_"Thank you, Gina." He replied, and then looked to his two ladies. "Shall we?"_

_"Mm-hmm." Moira agreed, and the three walked into the main room._

_Warren Patel was talking to some of his fellow businessmen when Detective Hilton approached him._

_"Warren Patel." The cop announced, grabbing the man by his arm. "I'm going to need you to come with me, sir."_

“You reap what you sew, you greedy son of a bitch.” Tommy smiled nastily.

_Oliver watched from the top of the stairs as Patel was led away. Across the room on the balcony, Lance was monitoring the situation on his radio._

_"Unit one, all clear." Lance announced. "Unit two, you copy?"_

_'We have Patel in custody.' Hilton's voice sounded. 'Still, no sign of Lawton.'_

_"Unit three?"_

_'I'm at the northwest perimeter. All clear.'_

_"Unit four?"_

_'Parking structure is clear.'_

_"Unit five, what's your status?" he asked._

_Across the street in an under construction floor of an office building, Deadshot lifted up the radio. "This is unit five." He said. "All clear." He put the radio down and grabbed his sniper rifle, paying no attention to the dead cop on the floor._

“Son of a bitch!” Diggle snarled as everyone else looked startled.

 

“Oh, this is bad. Everyone will be looking for him while he’s safe.” Tommy realized.

 

_The scene changed to show Laurel walking through a deserted courthouse._

_"Oh, what a shock." She looked up to see Tommy sitting in one of the chairs that lined the wall, grinning at her. "It is Friday night. What are you doing here?" he asked._

_"Well, I am an attorney and this is a courthouse, so I think the better question is, what are you doing here?" she countered._

_"I wanted to talk to you about last night." He began._

_"You mean how I saved your asses? You're welcome." She said teasingly. Tommy rose from the chair._

_"Ok, first of all, we shall never, ever speak of that ever again." He said with a smile. "And secondly, I think you know that I meant the other thing."_

_"I don't care to talk about that." Laurel said, moving to walk away._

_"I spoke to Oliver." Tommy said, stopping Laurel in her tracks. "He was surprisingly cool."_

_"That's because he knew." Laurel realized. At Tommy's confused look, she pressed on. "Did you see his face when Thea told him? Tommy, he didn't even blink. Trust me, he knew."_

_"Then why didn't he say anything?" Tommy asked. Laurel shrugged._

_"I don't know. Maybe because he knows he doesn't have any right to judge me."_

“He never said he did.” Thea snapped and Laurel flinched.

 

_"There's a silver lining, though." Tommy said after a moment. "Now that the whole truth and nothing but is out, is there a chance now for you and me?" they stared at one another. "You said you didn't think that I was a one girl type of guy. I'm going to prove you wrong." He decided._

_"By dating me." Laurel said._

_"By being better." He clarified. "By being someone that you deserve and that you want to be with." He finished earnestly._

Laurel looked over at Tommy, a thoughtful look on her face.

 

_Laurel smiled. "Well that's certainly a guy I'd be interested in meeting." She said finally. Tommy smiled._

_"Good. Now how about we start, ahem, by getting you the heck out of here." He took the case files from her and held out his arm. "Come on, it is Friday night. Come on." He encouraged. Laurel sighed and took his arm._

_"Fine." She said, smiling._

_The scene shifted back to the Exchange Building. Oliver entered the main room, only to be brought up short by a familiar voice._

_"Well, don't you scrub up nice?" Lance said sarcastically, as he cast his eyes around the room._

“Is there any way for him not to be an ass to my brother?” Thea asked and Laurel sighed.

 

“I wouldn’t hold your breath.” Laurel told her.

 

_"Here to support my family." Oliver stated with a tight smile._

_"Yeah, me too, God help me." Lance remarked crossly._

_"Thank you." Oliver said quietly, in honest thanks. Lance scoffed at him and moved off. Oliver moved into the room and headed to his bodyguard. "Dig," he said to the man, his yes looking around the room. "Got your eyes open?"_

_Dig gave him a look. "That's what I'm here for, sir." He said, annoyed. "That and answering patronizing questions."_

_"This guy's out of time." Oliver said plainly, still looking around. "If he's going to do something, it's going to happen before the auction."_

“is-is he testing you now?” Tommy asked.

 

“I think so. I think he’s trying to bring me in.” Diggle said surprised.

 

_Diggle looked at him, partly in confusion and partly in worry. "Sir?" he asked. Oliver looked at him, the mask back on suddenly._

_"I heard the story on the radio." He said lamely._

_"Oliver!" Walter exclaimed happily. Oliver walked over to the man. "So pleased you were able to attend."_

_"Hmm." He replied. "Walter, the police said that some of the Unidac bidders were murdered." He told the man, worry in his voice. "I just think that we should be a little bit more careful. My mother's already lost a husband." He finished quietly._

_"Well, if Moira shared your concern, she wouldn't have come." Walter said, unconcerned. "And she definitely wouldn't have brought your sister." Oliver looked up in shock at his mother and sister standing only a few feet away. He made his way over to them._

_"Hi." He said, motioning to Diggle, who hurried over._

_"Oliver, what a wonderful surprise." Moira started, but Oliver ignored her._

_"I need you to get them out of here right now." He told Diggle._

“Yes, get them out of there.” Tommy said worriedly.

 

_Across the room, Lance was still looking around, worried. A flicker of red light caught his eye, and he looked over, glancing at Walter- who had a small, red dot on his chest over his heart. It took only a second for Lance to realize what it was, and he took off running. He tackled Walter to the ground just as the sound of shattered glass echoed throughout the room, and the waiter that had been standing behind Walter flew back, killed by Deadshot's missed round._

Thea winced, although she couldn’t help the relief that soared through her that Walter hadn’t been killed.

 

_Screams erupted, and Diggle grabbed Moira even as Oliver grabbed Thea and hurried them out of the room. More shots rang out, and another man went down._

_"Are you ok?" Oliver asked Thea. She nodded, and he looked to his mother. "Are you hurt?" he demanded._

_"No, I'm fine!" she replied shakily. "Where is Walter?" she asked, terrified that he was dead. Oliver looked around and saw Detective Lance leading him out of the room._

_"Walter's fine." He assured her._

_"Sir, I have to get you out of here." Diggle started, but Oliver shook his head._

_"No, them. Them!" he demanded, pointing at his mother and sister. He then turned and ran off, leaving his mother calling after him._

_"Go, go," Diggle said, pointing to the exit. "I'll find him, ma'am, I'll find him." He assured her._

_Oliver ran up the service stairs, pausing briefly at a trashcan. He pulled off the lid and pulled out a duffle bag. Opening the bad, he extracted his hood, and then continued up the stairs. A minute later, Dig came up the stairs, pausing briefly at the trashcan._

_Across the street, Deadshot was continuing to fire into the Exchange Building when suddenly The Hood crashed through the window. He landed and rolled, ducking behind a column as Deadshot sprayed bullets from his wrist gun. Oliver returned fire, missing twice. There was silence as Lawton looked for a kill shot._

_"Drop your guns." The Hood yelled._

“If that doesn’t work with the police, what makes him think it’s gonna work on this guy?” Tommy stared at the screen.

 

_I admire your work." Lawton replied. "Guess you won't be extending me any professional courtesy."_

_"We're not in the same line of work." The Hood snarled. "Your profession is murder."_

_"You've taken lives." Deadshot shot back._

_"For the good of others." The Hood defended. "You're out for yourself."_

“He’s not wrong,” Diggle said and they all turned to him, “every life Oliver has taken has been to help the city. I may not agree with his methods, but no one can argue with his results.”

 

_Deadshot scoffed, then opened fire, spraying the column with bullets. As soon as the clip was empty, The Hood whipped around and fired, then ducked back behind the column. He heard a body drop, and then waited a few more moments to be sure. Finally he peeked out-_

_And saw Deadshot on the ground, apparently dead, with an arrow through his targeting sensor eyepiece._

Diggle leaned back, a satisfied smile on his face. Finally, his Andy’s death had been avenged.

 

_He stared at the body for a moment, before a groan caught his attention. He whirled around to see Dig, slumping against a doorframe, wounded by a ricochet from Deadshot._

Everyone looked over at Diggle. Diggle’s smile had disappeared as he stared at the screen, wondering what would happen to him.

 

_Without hesitation, The Hood ran over to him, put Digs' arm around his shoulders, and walked him out._

_The scene flashed back to the Island, where Oliver awoke with a start to see the Asian man standing before him, a machete in his hand._

_"Shǎguā." He said in Mandarin. "Zhège dìfāng tài wéixiǎnle, rènhé yīgè rén dúchǔ." He walked over and cut the net down, sending Oliver crashing to the ground. "Tāmen huì shāle nǐ." The man declared. Oliver made his way out of the net, scrambling to his feet as he heard something heading through the bush behind him. He ran after the Asian. Moments later, soldiers in all black appeared. They studied the net, tossing it aside and moving off after a few minutes._

“Mercenaries,” Diggle stated and everyone looked back over at him curiously, “there’s a certain pattern to the way they moved. It’s consistent with a lot of Mercenary groups.”

 

“Why are Mercenaries on that island?” Laurel wondered.

 

“I don’t know.” Diggle said honestly.

 

_Back in the present, The Hood led Diggle down into the Foundry. Laying him on a table, he moved to the munitions crate and pulled out the bag of herbs. Mixing some in water, he fed the potion to Diggle, who coughed slightly but drank._

_Sometime later- it could have been minutes, it could have been hours, Diggle came too. He looked around in confusion, wondering where he was. He struggled to sit up, finally doing so. As his surroundings came back into focus, he spotted a familiar face. Across from him, leaning against another table and dressed in green leather and hood down, was Oliver Queen._

_"Hey." He said as Diggle looked at him in stunned silence._

“Hey, he says ‘hey?’” Tommy asked as he stared at the blank screen.

 

“Well, either way, this should be interesting.” Roy noted as Diggle started the next recording.


	5. An innocent man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suspicions about Moira are raised even further as the recordings continue. Roy opens up about his past as they watch Oliver and Laurel attempt to free an innocent man.

_The scene begins with a recap as The Hood led Diggle down into the Foundry. Laying him on a table, he moved to the munitions crate and pulled out the bag of herbs. Mixing some in water, he fed the potion to Diggle, who coughed slightly but drank._

_Sometime later- it could have been minutes, it could have been hours, Diggle came too. He looked around in confusion, wondering where he was. He struggled to sit up, finally doing so. As his surroundings came back into focus, he spotted a familiar face. Across from him, leaning against another table and dressed in green leather and hood down, was Oliver Queen._

_"Hey." He said as Diggle looked at him in stunned silence._

_"Oliver?" Diggle asked, stunned. "You're that vigilante." He deduced, and then took a sloppy swing at the man. Oliver easily sidestepped the punch and Diggle ran into the table._

“Great way to thank someone for saying your life.” Tommy said sarcastically.

 

“In my defense, I was probably in shock.” Diggle said even as he began getting uncomfortable at the looks Tommy, Thea, and Laurel were shooting him.

 

“You did say not to take for a fool.” Roy pointed out helpfully.

 

“Yeah, but what kind of person suspects that their client is a vigilante!?” Diggle asked exasperated.

 

_"Easy, Dig." He said calmly. "You were poisoned."_

_"Son of a bitch." Diggle groaned, throwing another punch. Oliver caught the man and leaned him back up against the other table. Diggle groaned and glared at the other man._

_"Come on." Oliver started. "I could have taken you anywhere, could have taken you home." He gestured around. "I brought you here."_

“I wonder why that is.” Laurel mused, wondering what her ex had planned.

 

_"You really did lose your mind on that island." Diggle observed._

_"Found a couple things along the way." Oliver replied._

_Diggle scoffed. "Like what, archery classes?"_

_"Clarity." He stated, taking a step closer to Digg. "Starling City is dying. It is being poisoned, by a criminal elite who don't care who they hurt, as long as they maintain their wealth and power." He espoused._

“He’s not wrong,” Laurel admitted as everyone turned to her, “I’ve run into more roadblocks while trying to prosecute someone than I can count. And if these recordings are anything to go by, then it’s much worse than I thought.”

 

“Welcome to Starling City lady.” Roy said bitterly.

 

_"What are you gonna do, take 'em all down by your lonesome?" Diggle asked scathingly._

_"No." Oliver shook his head. "Now, I want you to join me."_

“Could he sound anymore like Darth Vader?” Thea asked as they all stared at the screen, stunned.

 

_Diggle scoffed, but Oliver continued. "Special Forces out of Kandahar. It's perfect." He looked at Diggle. "You're a fellow soldier." He stated._

_Digg shook his head. "Oliver, you're not a soldier." He said. "You're a criminal. And a murderer." He spat, staggering out of the lair as Oliver sighed._

“Again, I was in shock.” Diggle said wearily as even Roy looked at him in disapproval.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor, later that night. Oliver, back in his suit and tie, walked in and wearily started making his way up the stairs when a voice stopped him in his tracks._

_"Where were you?"_

_Oliver turned around to see Laurel at the bottom of the stairs he sighed. "What are you doing here?" he asked tiredly._

_"I heard about the shooting, and I wanted to make sure you were ok." She explained._

_"You did?"_

_"Yeah." Laurel looked at him sternly. "I knocked on the door, and I found a family terrified for you." Oliver sighed and laid his head against the post. "They had no idea where you were."_

_"Oh." He said simply. He had been so caught up in the moment that he had honestly forgot about calling them so they knew he was alright._

_"Oliver, are you so self-centered that you don't think that people who care about you are gonna wonder where you are after you all got shot at?" Laurel started, but Oliver cut her off._

_"You're right." He said simply._

_Laurel stepped in closer. "I made peace with your selfishness a long time ago, but Moira, Thea, and Walter, they don't deserve that." She said simply. "They deserve better, someone who doesn't care only about himself." With that, she walked past him towards the front door._

“Damn lady, you’re harsh.” Roy quipped as Laurel winced.

 

_"Laurel," Oliver started, struggling to find something to say. Finally, he settled on, "Thank you for coming."_

_"I care about the lives of other people, Oliver." She replied. "Maybe you should try it sometime." With that, she walked out of the house._

Both versions of Laurel winced. In the control room, Arsenal a hand on Dinah’s shoulder. What she had come to realize over the course of Oliver’s return was that it wasn’t that Oliver didn’t care; it was that he cared too much. It was one of the things that had made Dinah fall in love with him all over again.

 

_Oliver threw his head back and sighed. "Oh, man." He muttered tiredly._

_"That was harsh." Thea walked up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You ok?" she asked simply._

_"Sure." Oliver replied. "Second time tonight that a friend of mine has taken me to the woodshed. Kind of tires you out."_

_"Yeah." Thea agreed. Oliver kissed her on the forehead._

_"Good night." He said, wearily walking up the stairs._

_"Good night." She called back._

_That night, Oliver once again dreamed of the Island._

_The scene flashed back to the cave. Oliver had pulled a photo of Laurel out of his wallet and was looking at it when Yao Fei came in, a bird in a hand-made bamboo cage._

_He set the cage down in front of Oliver._

_"Shengcún." He said._

_Oliver looked between him and the bird, uncomprehending. "What am I supposed to do with that?"_

_"Shengcún." Yao Fei repeated._

_"Does that mean 'bird'?" Oliver guessed._

_"Shengcún!"_

_"I don't speak Chinese!" he yelled back, frustrated. Yao Fei went back to his work, and Oliver returned to starring at the picture. "I'm sorry, Laurel. I'm so sorry."_

Thea had tears running down her face and Laurel wasn’t much better. More and more, as the recording progressed she was finding it difficult to remain angry at Oliver. Yes, he had betrayed her and her family had suffered for it. But he didn’t deserve what had happened to him. Tommy averted his eyes, the reality of what his best friend had endured too much to handle.

 

_Back in the present, Oliver shot awake, breathing hard. Giving up sleep, he threw on a robe and headed downstairs, thinking to watch some TV. He was surprised to find that Thea beat him to it; she was sitting on the couch in her own robe, munching on chips. A news report played on the TV._

_'There were no signs of forced entry or any evidence of a struggle, but, hours later, the police found that the bloodstained kitchen knife in the trunk…'_

_Thea noticed him. "Couldn't sleep, either?" she asked. Oliver shook his head and sat next to her._

_"No." he looked at the TV. "What are you watching?" he asked._

_"Peter Declan." She said simply._

“Bastard.” Tommy muttered darkly with the others looking like they agreed with him.

 

_"Hmm?" he said, confused._

_"The guy who killed his wife." She saw the uncomprehending look on his face. "Right. This guy killed his wife in their baby's room." She explained, leaning back into the couch. "Psycho."_

_Oliver looked at the TV, where Declan was talking to a reporter in prison. 'Camille was everything to me.' He was saying. 'I couldn't kill her any more than I could kill myself.'_

_"So why can't you sleep?" Thea asked Oliver, pausing the TV._

_"Bad dreams." He said._

_"About?"_

_"Laurel." Oliver sighed._

_"So why don't you make a play?" Thea asked with a small smiled. "I mean, she did come over here just to make sure you didn't get shot."_

_"There are reasons." Oliver said. Thea gave him a look._

_"Mm, what are they?" she asked dryly, before listing several. "Besides you sleeping with her sister and her sister dying and her father hating your guts and you basically being a jerk to everybody since you've been back?"_

_Oliver nodded. "Those are the top ones." Thea bit back a smile._

“Sounds so small when you say it but it doesn’t even begin to cover it.” Laurel sighed tiredly.

 

_"I know that it might not seem like it sometimes, but I'm not the same person I used to be." Oliver tried to explain._

_"So show her." Thea replied. "Be yourself. I mean your new self." Oliver looked at his sister, considering her words._

“Something tells me he’s probably gonna take that advice and use it the wrong way.” Thea said wearily.

 

“Probably.” Tommy agreed.

 

_The scene changed to the next day. Oliver came downstairs and walked in to the sitting room, where Moira was sitting, reading the paper. In the back was a tall, white man in a suit that brought him up short._

_"How did you sleep?" Moira asked, not looking up from her paper._

_"Just fine, thank you." He said pleasantly. He looked to the new man. "We have a visitor."_

_"Hmm." Moira hummed. "Mr. Diggle's replacement."_

“So, how long do you think before you come around?” Tommy asked as he nudged Diggle with his shoulder.

 

“What makes you think I come around?” Diggle inquired.

 

“Because this is supposed to show us how Ollie became the world’s first superhero. I doubt that happens if you turn him in.” Tommy pointed out.

 

_"Replacement?" a chill went down his spine._

_"Yes." Moira said. "He tendered his resignation this morning."_

_"Did he say why?" Oliver asked, trying to stay cool. Moira finally put the paper down. "He said he didn't approve of the way you spend your evenings, particularly given that they always begin with you ditching him."_

“See.” Tommy said pointedly and Diggle nodded silently.

 

_Oliver silently breathed a sigh of relief. He walked up to the man and smiled, extending his hand._

_"Hi."_

_"Mr. Queen, Rob Scott." Rob introduced himself, shaking Oliver's hand. "I'll be your new body man."_

_"That's a firm grip you got there, Rob." Oliver said jovially._

_"That's 5 years SWAT with Monument Point M.C.U." he explained. Oliver nodded sagely._

_"I feel safer already."_

“Good god, what a tool.” Roy snorted.

 

“How long before Ollie ditches him you think?” Thea asked curiously.

 

“I give him five minutes.” Laurel said amused.

 

“You’re being generous, I’d give him three.” Tommy said laughing.

 

_"Ah, thank God we don't have to hear about this awful man anymore." Moira said, drawing Oliver's attention. He looked back at the TV, where Declan was once again the focus of the news._

_'Declan's execution is set for midnight 2 days from now.' The news anchor was saying. 'Camille Declan's former employer, Jason Brodeur, released a statement saying, quote, 'I hope this gives Camille the peace she deserves.''_

_"Jason Brodeur?" Oliver remarked to himself._

_"What?" Moira asked, looking up at Oliver._

_"The dead wife worked for Jason Brodeur." Oliver said._

_"Apparently so." Moira looked at Olive curiously. "What-- why?"_

_"No reason." Oliver said lightly, and then turned to his new body man. "Say, Rob, I want to go into town. Could you please get the car for me?"_

“Wonder what’s up.” Thea frowned.

 

“This Brodeur must be on this list of names.” Diggle pointed out and Laurel started.

 

“Wait, if Jason Brodeur is on the list, then that means that Peter Declan could not be guilty. He could be being framed by Brodeur!” Laurel said as she analyzed the situation.

 

“Maybe, my brother certainly seems to think so.” Thea pointed out as she watched the screen.

 

_"No offense, Mr. Queen, but I have been filled in on your tendency to slip the leash." Rob said. "If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer keeping you in my sights at all times."_

_"We're 20 miles from the city." Oliver pointed out reasonably. "If you don't drive me, how else am I gonna get there?" He looked at the man. "Right?" Rob nodded awkwardly and left to get the car. Oliver looked down at his mother. "I like him." He remarked._

_Outside a few minutes later, Rob was standing by the Bentley. Suddenly, Oliver roared past him on his motorcycle. He gave a wave to Rob, who unthinkingly returned it. "Hey!" he shouted in vain._

The viewers all laughed, despite the suddenly tense atmosphere.

 

_The scene shifted to the Foundry, where Oliver was researching the Declan case. 'They say Peter Declan murdered his wife in cold blood.' Oliver's voice said as he looked over various reports on his computer. 'He had no alibi, and all the evidence pointed toward him. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, an open-and-shut case, except for one thing.' He pulled out the notebook and looked through it briefly, finally stopping when he found what he was looking for- Jason Brodeur's name. 'Declan's wife Camille worked for Jason Brodeur. And Jason Brodeur is on the list.'_

“Well I guess great minds think alike.” Tommy said as he looked over at Laurel.

 

_At an undisclosed location, a well-dressed man was reading about Declan's upcoming execution. He looked up from his paper. "Mr. Brodeur." He said respectfully._

_"Admiring your handiwork?" Brodeur asked the man, a smile on his face._

_"You should have just let me kill both of 'em."_

“Son of a bitch, Ollie’s right! Declan is being framed!” Tommy cried as they all stared at the screen, stunned.

 

_"Peter Declan is worth more alive." Brodeur argued. "'Husband kills wife' is a much better headline than 'whistle-blower uncovers toxic dumping,' don't you think?" He sighed happily. "Either way, 48 hours, all this'll be over."_

“Bastard.” Roy sneered.

_Back at the Foundry, Oliver was making new arrows._

_'The odds are good that Brodeur is involved in this woman's murder, which means an innocent man is facing execution.' Oliver sat back at his desk, pulling out his worn photograph of Laurel. He looked up, thinking. 'He'll need a good attorney.'_

“Of course he’d go to you.” Thea flashed Laurel a coy smile.

 

Laurel rolled her eyes good naturedly as Tommy averted his eyes.

 

_The scene changed to CNRI, where Laurel was busy gathering papers. Joanna walked over to her._

_"So I take it there's absolutely no point in asking if you'd like to grab a drink?" she asked._

_"I can't." Laurel said, closing out her computer. "I have to go over transcripts for the Fernands case."_

_"You know, if you go somewhere that's not work or your home, your odds of meeting someone increase by, like, a gazillion percent." Joanna noted._

_"Oh, that's not true. I could still get mugged on the way home." Laurel argued, throwing her bag on her shoulder._

_"In that case, I hope he's cute and single."_

_"Good night, Joanna." Laurel said as she walked out of the building._

_Laurel made her way back to her apartment without incident. As she entered, she went to turn the light on- but nothing happened._

Thea suddenly gripped Laurel’s forearm fearfully. Laurel pried her hand off her arm and squeezed her hand as Tommy looked over fearfully.

 

_She flicked the switch a couple more times, but the light stayed off. She glanced up at the light in confusion, and then cautiously made her way further into her apartment._

_She looked into her living room, and saw the curtain blowing from the wind coming through an open window. Panicked, but controlled, Laurel opened the lower drawer of her desk and pulled out a handgun. She pulled back the slide to chamber a round._

_Suddenly she felt someone behind her. She spun, pointing her gun at the intruder._

_Across from her, The Hood stood. Unseen to her, he clicked on a voice modulator he held in his hand._

_"Hello, Laurel." He said._

That’s what he opens with? Why not ‘I know I’m a wanted fugitive but I need your help’?” Tommy said sarcastically as they all relaxed.

 

_"Don't move!" Laurel shouted, holding the gun steady on The Hood._

_"I'm not gonna hurt you." Oliver said holding out his bow and switching it over to his non-dominate hand. He started to slowly walk towards her._

_"Stay back." Laurel said, gun held steady. "My father's a cop. You are making a huge mistake."_

“I doubt that would scar him. If he was really trying to hurt you, that is.” Thea pointed out.

 

“The ‘I know a cop’ line really doesn’t work. Sometimes, it just makes things worse.” Roy pointed out.

 

_"I'm not the person you think I am," Oliver started, "and I need your help. Peter Declan is gonna be executed in 48 hours. I think he's innocent." He explained. "Declan's wife was gonna blow the whistle on Jason Brodeur. Brodeur had her murdered." He was now an arm's length from the woman._

_"There are a thousand lawyers in Starling City." She reasoned. "Why me?"_

_Oliver gently reached out and pushed the gun down to point at the floor. Laurel didn't resist._

_"We're both trying to help." Oliver said._

_"What makes you sure I'm gonna help you?" she asked. Oliver walked behind her._

_"Because I know you'd do anything to save the life of an innocent man." The Hood stated truthfully. Laurel thought for a moment, and then turned around- but the Hood was gone._

“Man its creepy how he does that.” Tommy muttered.

 

_The scene changed to the next morning, where Laurel was visiting Declan in Iron Heights Penitentiary._

_"A jury has charged you as guilty, Mr. Declan." She remarked calmly, staring at the man._

_"The evidence was stacked against me, but I didn't kill my wife." He asserted, sliding a photo of is baby daughter to the lawyer. "I didn't take my daughter's mother from her."_

_Laurel looked at the picture for a few moments, then looked back up at Declan. "The murder weapon was a knife from kitchen with prints on it." She said. "It was found, along with Camille's blood, in the trunk of car. Your neighbors said they heard an argument that night." She pressed on. Declan stood and began to pace._

_"We had a knockdown fight over Jason Brodeur." He said finally, looking at Laurel. "Camille worked for him, and his company had been dumping toxic waste into The Glades. Now, Camille told me that she'd gone and told a supervisor about it." He took a breath. "I was afraid for my family's safety. And we argued very loudly, yes. Izzy started crying, so Camille went and stayed in her room." He dropped back into his seat wearily. "In the morning, I went to apologize, and that's when I found her. So I just grabbed Izzy, and I ran outside, and I called 911." Laurel leaned forward. "I'm innocent, Ms. Lance." He reasserted, and Laurel believed him._

Laurel and Thea had tears streaming down their faces, Tommy was trying not to cry himself and Diggle and Roy both felt for the man. It was obvious from his story alone that he wasn’t a killer. Was the system in Starling City really so rigged that it could frame anyone, a man like Peter Declan?

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated, where Moira was walking into Walter's office._

_"Well, it looks like someone forgot a lunch date with his wife." She said lightly. Walter looked up at her, his eye glasses perched on the end of his nose._

_"What do you mean?" he asked, confused "Lunch isn't for another-" he looked at his watch and blanched slightly. He pulled off his glasses. "I'm so sorry."_

_"It's all right." Moira laughed lightly. "The restaurant is holding our table." She watched as Walter hurriedly straightened up his desk to leave. "Is there something wrong?"_

_"Compliance department has tagged something, $2.6 million withdrawal from one of our Vancouver subsidiaries." He stated._

_A flicker of panic flitted across Moira's face, but she schooled her features before Walter even had a chance to notice. With forced casualness she asked "What--you mean-- are you saying that someone embezzled $2.6 million from the company?"_

_"Well, it's probably a bookkeeping error, but compliance is understandably worried about an IRS audit." Walter hurriedly grabbed his jacket from a nearby chair. Mistaking his wife's worry, he smiled. "But don't worry. I'm sure it's nothing." He assured her, holding out his arm. "Come on. We're gonna be late. I mean, later!" Moira smiled and took his arm, walking with him out of the office._

“She knows something.” Diggle said and everyone turned to him.

 

“What makes you say that?” Laurel asked curiously.

 

“For a moment, she lets her guard down and you can see fear in her eyes. Only someone who’s been in the business of dealing with corrupt people day in and day out, for years, would notice it. She’s involved in this missing money somehow.” Diggle promised.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD, where Laurel was perched on Quentin's desk, staring at his board. Front and center was the sketch of The Hood._

_"Well, I wasn't the lead on this," Quentin said, coming back into the squad room carrying the Declan case file, "but from what I recall, we had fingerprints. We had blood. We got motive, everything." He told his daughter, sitting next to her on the desk's edge._

_"Brodeur seems like the type of guy with resources needed to frame someone." Laurel noted. Quentin looked at his daughter._

_"Laurel, in 24 hours, Peter Declan is lying down with a needle in his arm, and he's not getting up." He stated. "If I thought for a second we didn't have the right guy, do you think there's anything else I'd be doing right now except trying to get at what really happened?"_

_Laurel took the file and looked through it. "Declan said his wife went to her supervisor with allegations that Brodeur was dumping toxic waste." Laurel put in._

_"Yeah, but that supervisor, he said that never happened." He noted. Quentin took back the file and flipped it. "Let me see. What was his name?" he flipped a couple of pages, then pointed. "Here you go. Istook, Matt Istook. He said he didn't even see Camille that day." He looked back at Laurel. "Happy now?"_

_Laurel clapped him on the leg. "Yes." She said, getting up._

_As she started to leave, Quentin called after her. "You know, I thought it'd be a cold day in hell before you started defending criminals." He said. Laurel turned to him and gave him a tight, lawyer smile._

_"I'm not so sure Declan's a criminal." She replied. "Like you said, he's on a clock. Can't leave any stone unturned." With that, she left. Quentin sighed._

_"Oh, yeah." He muttered, getting back to work._

“Ollie was right, you can’t let it go.” Thea noticed.

 

“She’s like a dog with a bone when it comes to this stuff.” Tommy said and Laurel shrugged unapologetically.

 

_The scene changed to Big Belly Burger, where Carly was delivering food to Digg. He was seated in a booth, his left arm in a sling._

_"So when are you gonna tell me?" she asked._

_"Hmm?" Digg hummed, not paying attention._

_"About what happened to your arm?" She nodded at the sling. Digg looked up in surprise, then plastered on a confident smile_

_"Oh, it's my shoulder, and it's…its fine." He lied._

_Carly scoffed. "I knew that Queen guy was trouble." She noted._

“Oh, you have no idea lady.” Roy drawled.

 

_"Hey, I never said this happened protecting Queen." Diggle replied._

_"Oh, yeah?" she asked, looking up at the entrance. "Then what's he doing here?"_

_Diggle looked around in surprise to see Oliver walking in, followed closely by Rob._

_"Area is secure, sir." Rob said._

_"Thank you very much, Rob." Oliver replied dryly. He walked towards Diggle's booth. "Hello, Diggle's sister-in-law Carly." He said jovially, extending his hand. "I'm Oliver Queen."_

_Carly took it and gave him a curt shake. "I know who you are." She replied, unsmiling._

_"No, you really don't." Digg put in. Oliver sat down and Carly walked off._

_"Hello." He started. "I couldn't help but notice a distinct lack of police cars when I got home. I knew you wouldn't drop a dime on me. So have you considered my offer?"_

_"Offer? Digg scoffed. "That's one hell of a way to put it."_

_"It is an offer. It's a chance to do the kind of good that compelled you to join the military." He tried._

_"Please." Digg shot back. "You were born with a platinum spoon in your mouth, Queen. What, you spent 5 years on an island with no room service, and suddenly you found religion?" he scoffed again, shaking his head._

_Oliver pulled out the small notebook and placed it on the table. "This was my father's." he said, as Diggle gave the book a cursory look. "I found it when I buried him."_

_Digg looked up. "I thought you said your father died when the boat went down."_

_"We both made it to a life raft, but there wasn't enough food and water for both of us, so he shot himself in the head." He explained to a shocked Diggle. "And as much as he was doing it to give me a chance to survive, I believe that he was also atoning for his sins. I need to right the wrongs done by my family," he pleaded quietly, "and I'm offering you the chance to right the wrongs done to yours."_

_Digg leaned forward. "Oliver, what are you talking about?"_

_"The police never caught your brother's shooter." Oliver started, but Digg cut him off angrily._

“Is he really gonna play the ‘I killed your brother’s killer’ card?” Tommy asked surprised at Oliver’s boldness.

 

“Apparently.” Diggle said a slight edge to his voice.

 

_"Hey, you leave Andy out of this."_

_"The bullets were laced with curare." Oliver continued. "That's Floyd Lawton's M.O. He is the sniper that I stopped." He finished, looking Digg in the eye._

_"Are you trying to tell me that you took down Andy's killer?" he asked, unbelievingly._

_"I'm…I'm giving you the chance, a chance to help other people's families." Oliver replied. He looked at the body guard earnestly. "Do you remember when the people in this city helped each other? They can't do that anymore, because a group of people- people like my father- they see nothing wrong with raising themselves up by stepping on other people's throats." Diggle sat back, considering his words. "It does need to stop, and if it's not gonna be the courts and it's not gonna be the cops, then it's gonna be me." He stood, taking the notebook. He looked at Diggle. "And, I hope, you." He finished._

“He certainly knows how to make a persuasive argument, I’ll give him that.” Diggle admitted grudgingly.

 

“So, you think you’ll join him now?” Laurel asked curiously.

 

“At the very least, I’ll seriously be considering it.” Diggle noted.

 

_Rob walked over to Oliver, who stopped him with a raised hand. "I'm gonna go to the washroom, Rob." He said, then turned and headed to the restrooms. Rob took up position next to Diggle, who was mulling over his words. After a few moments, Digg looked up at the hapless bodyguard._

_"Oh, that boy's long gone, man." He said. Rob looked up in consternation._

Tommy, Roy, and Diggle snickered as Thea and Laurel giggled quietly.

 

_The scene changed to later that night at Queen Manor, where Walter was busy working on his laptop._

_"You still following the money trail?" Moira asked, coming into the room_

_"Mm-hmm." Walter said absently._

_"Don't we have accountants for that sort of thing?"_

_"They're being singularly ineffective in this instance." Walter noted sourly._

_"Well, then it's fortunate that I've solved the mystery." Moira said with a guilty smile. "I think I'm the culprit." Walter looked up in confusion. Moira perched herself on the edge of the opposite couch and continued. "$2.6 million is a rather specific figure. That's the exact amount the company invested in a friend's start-up venture 3 years ago." Walter chuckled, and Moira smiled. "I will call accounting. They'll clean it all up." She announced. "Then there's nothing to worry about."_

_"Ok." Walter said, smiling back at his wife. Moira turned and left the room, and Walter sat back into the couch, his smile fading to a look of concern._

“He’s not buying it.” Laurel noted.

 

“Neither am I,” Diggle said and looked over at Thea, “these recordings have proven that your mother is involved with something, someone that is very dangerous. I think this could be another piece of the puzzle, so to speak.”

 

Thea nodded, her face a mix of curiosity and dread. Laurel took her hand as she and Tommy exchanged a worried look. What exactly was Moira involved with?

 

_The scene changed to CNRI. Joanna walked up to Laurel, who had her nose buried in a file. "You really are putting a lot of hours into this Declan thing." She noted. "You actually think he's innocent."_

_"Someone does." Laurel replied absently._

_"So you said, but you didn't say who." Laurel looked around, then came up close to Joanna._

_"The guardian angel." She whispered._

In the control room, Arsenal burst out laughing.

 

“Thinking of his reaction if he had heard me say that?” Dinah asked sheepishly and Arsenal nodded.

 

“Well, you have to admit, it would certainly be amusing.” Kal said and Dinah chuckled lightly as she nodded.

 

_Joana's face lit up in comprehension._

_"The guy in the hood?" she exclaimed quietly. "Look, you're-- you're kidding…"_

_"He tracked me down and asked me to look into the Declan case." Laurel confided._

_"But you've met him?" Joanna interrupted._

_"But he goes against everything that I was ever taught to believe in." Laurel said. "He breaks the law and God knows what else."_

_"How are you not afraid that he is gonna do God knows what to you?" her friend demanded. Laurel shook her head._

_"He won't." she said confidently. "I don't know. I can feel it."_

“A few years later, this would have date night for you two,” Arsenal noted and Dinah, without looking, punched him in the shoulder, “ow!”

 

“Keep your mouth shut.” Dinah grumbled.

 

_"You know, when I told you to meet someone, this is far, far away from what I meant." Joanna remarked. Laurel just shrugged her shoulders._

_The scene changed to a rooftop later that night, where Laurel stood across from The Hood._

_"I got your message." She called across the room. "Is there a reason we can't do this face to face?"_

_"You've met with Peter Declan." He ignored her question._

_"You were right." She said, walking closer to him. He stubbornly kept his face out of direct view. "He might be innocent. Declan said his wife blew the whistle on Brodeur the day she was murdered."_

_Oliver paced past Laurel, keeping his face as concealed as possible. "Then we need to get whoever she told about Brodeur to testify." He determined._

_"He already has." Laurel replied. "Matt Istook, Camille's supervisor. Only, he says that she didn't say a word to him."_

_"He could be lying." Oliver said._

_"Well, if he is, then he's very convincing. He had the jury and police believing him."_

_"He hasn't been questioned by me." Oliver said harshly._

_"I didn't become a lawyer to break the law or hurt anybody." Laurel argued._

_"I do what's necessary, what people like Peter Declan need." Oliver stated plainly._

_"If what you're doing isn't wrong, then why are you hiding your face with a hood?" Laurel countered._

_"To protect the ones I care about." The Hood replied softly._

“How is that protecting us?”  Thea wondered.

 

“It stops his enemies from coming after you.” Diggle pointed ou and Thea was silent as the recording continued.

 

_That sounds lonely."_

_"It can be." He agreed, his tone hardening "But not today." With that, he shot an arrow at a neighboring building and jumped off the roof, swinging away on the line that had been attached as Laurel looked on in astonishment._

_The scene shifted to later that night at Queen Consolidated. The elevator opened on the empty executive floor, and Felicity stalked off and headed towards Walter's office. Without knocking, she barged in and confronted the man, who was sitting behind his desk._

_"I've got one question. Why am I being fired?" she demanded._

_"Ms. Smoak, isn't it?" he clarified._

_"Yes." She responded, and then pressed on. "And I am without a doubt the single most valuable member of your technical division. That's including my so-called 'supervisor'. Letting me go would be a major error for this company."_

“I realize that is probably true, but she just sounds conceited there,” Thea pointed out, “and if that were anyone else she had talked to but Walter, she’d be fired on the spot for talking to him like that.”

 

“She really needs to reign in her temper.” Laurel noted.

 

_"I agree, which is why you're not being fired." Walter replied calmly, bringing Felicity up short. The righteous indignation died._

_"Uh, I assumed when you brought me up here, it was because-" she drew her thumb across her throat, miming her throat being slit._

_"It's because I wanted you to look into something for me." Walter said, handing Felicity a folder. She took it at once. "A variance of $2.6 million on a failed investment from 3 years ago. It was authorized by my wife. I was hoping you could find out some of the details of the transaction for me."_

_"Find out…" Felicity looked up from the folder at Walter._

_"Dig up discreetly." He said, giving her a look._

“You were right, he didn’t buy it.” Tommy told Diggle who simply nodded.

 

_Felicity smiled. "I'm your girl." She said, turning to leave. She paused on the way out and turned back to Walter. "I mean, I'm not your girl. I wasn't making a pass at you." She clarified. Walter gave her a thin smile. "Thank you for not firing me." She said as she walked out the door. Walter leaned back in his chair, a look on his face that screamed 'What an odd girl'._

_The scene changed to a parking lot, as Matt Istook turned off the alarm for his Porsche 911. He put his bag in the passenger seat and opened the door to get in, when he felt a sudden sting at the back of his neck. He reached back, and pulled free a dart. He looked at it, uncomprehending. "What the…" he started, before the tranquilizer took effect and he passed out._

_When he awoke, he was laying on a set of railroad tracks. Blearily he started to sit up, reaching up to rub his face. His arm jerked to a stop and he stared, seeing the handcuff that chained him to the rail._

“Holy crap.” Tommy breathed as they all stared at the screen stunned.

 

_"Matt Istook."_

_He looked up in alarm to see The Hood standing there, bow in hand, his face hidden in the shadow of his hood._

_"You're him, that hood guy." He observed. "You're the guy that's been terrorizing the city."_

_"Peter Declan, your lies helped put him on death row." He snarled. A train whistle sounded in the near distance. "Now, either it's time to tell me the truth, or it's time for the 10:15 to Blüdhaven."_

_"O-ok. Ok, I—" he stuttered, seeing the train closing in on them far behind the Hood. "Brodeur paid me to…to say that Camille never spoke to me, but I didn't have anything to do with her death." The train grew closer. "Oh, God, please. I'll do anything." He pleaded. "Y-you could have the file!"_

_"What file?" The Hood demanded._

_"Camille gave me a file of evidence against Jason Brodeur." The train grew larger behind the Hood._

_"Where is it?!" The hood demanded._

_"Let me go, and I'll tell you!" Istook pleaded. The Hood ignored his pleas and walked past him, leaving him to the approaching train. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't go! It's in my desk! The file, it's in my desk at the office! You can have it!" The train was mere feet in front of him. "Get me out of here!" Suddenly an arrow broke the cuff, and Istook threw himself to the side off the tracks, just as the train whizzed by._

“Do you think he really would’ve let the train…?” Thea t railed off looking green at her brother’s brutality.

 

“I doubt it,” Diggle said and they looked over at him, “men like Istook are weak and spineless, it doesn’t take much to break them. Oliver probably knew that Istook would break and was waiting for that before he freed him.”

 

Thea nodded, still unconvinced as the recording continued.

 

_Oliver watched the sobbing man through the passing train cars, and remembered when he once begged._

_The scene flashed back to Lian Yu. In the cave, Yao Fei was cooking a rat on a stick. Oliver, near delirious with hunger, took notice._

_"What is that?" he asked wearily, crawling over to the man who sat stoically in front of the fire. "I'm so hungry. It smells really good." He reached a hand out towards the cooking rat-_

_And Yao Fei's hand suddenly lashed out, grabbing and twisting Oliver's hand away. With a shove he sent the boy crashing to the floor of the cave._

_"Aah!" Oliver exclaimed, more in surprise than in pain. "Hey, fine. Don't share."_

_Yao Fei grunted. He looked at the boy, then pointed to the bird. He mimed ringing the bird's neck. "Shengcún." He repeated._

_Oliver looked at the bird, then back at Yao Fei. "I'm not gonna kill the bird." He said, indignant._

_The Asian man just stared back, and popped a bit of cooked rat into his mouth. "Shengcún." He said once more._

_Back in the present, Laurel was working late at CNRI. Alone in the office, she was startled when the lights suddenly went out. She glanced around nervously, and then jumped slightly when a file folder landed on her desk. Tentatively, she picked it up and gave it a cursory look._

_"Compliments of Matt Istook." The Hood said from across the room._

_"What's in here?" she asked._

_"Leverage on Jason Brodeur, enough to help save Peter Declan's life."_

_Laurel looked through the file. "As an attorney, I never would have gotten a file like this." She looked up at The Hood. "I always thought the law was sacred, I-it fixed everything." She explained._

“That couldn’t be further from the truth.” Roy scoffed and Laurel sighed.

 

“I’m starting to realize that.” Laurel admitted.

 

_"And now, Laurel?" he asked. "Now what do you think?"_

_"I think there are too many people in this city who only care about themselves… people who are selfish. I think they need someone who cares about the lives of other people someone like you." She looked back down at the file to study it some more. Suddenly the lights came back on, and she looked up to see The Hood had vanished._

_The scene shifted back to Queen Manor, where Oliver came in. He was smiling, observing the pictures on the small table by the door._

_"What is wrong with your face?" she asked._

_"What do you mean?" Oliver replied, worried that some of the grease paint was still over his eyes. Her next words dispelled his fears and caused a broad grin to break out on his face_

_"There's something really weird on it, like this thing with your mouth." She said, grinning herself. "It…it looks like it's in the shape of a smile." She teased._

_"That's cute." He said._

_"So why are you grinning?" Thea asked._

_"I took your advice with Laurel to be myself." He said simply. "And it's helping."_

_Thea grinned triumphantly. "Got mad relationship skills, bro." she said. "Let me know if you need trendy places to propose."_

“I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself.” Laurel said amused despite herself.

 

_"I think you're getting a little bit ahead of yourself." He said. She looked at him slyly, and he held up his thumb and forefinger, pinching them together. "Little bit."_

“Oh god.” Laurel put her head in her hands as Thea and Roy laughed at her expense.

 

_The front door burst opened, and Rob strolled in wearily, his jacket over his arm and a defeated expression on his face. "Rob." Oliver smiled. "You gotta keep up." He said, heading for his room, leaving the broken man behind._

Everyone laughed for a minute, the tense atmosphere brought on by the recording vanishing for an instant.

 

_The scene shifted to the next day at CNRI. Quentin Lance hurriedly walked in, heading straight for Laurel, who was busily typing away. "Hey, you look busy." He stated. "Is that the Declan case? You know, it was a funny development on that. Matt Istook." He noted, "He, uh, filed a police report. He said The Hood harassed him last night." He looked at Laurel. "And that's funny, because I gave my daughter Istook's name."_

“Oh boy.” Laurel sighed, the tense atmosphere returning in an instant.

 

_"Dad-" she started, but Quentin cut her off. "He's a vigilante." He snarled. "He's a damn criminal, and you working with him, that makes you an accessory!"_

_"I am trying to save an innocent man's life." Laurel argued._

_"No. You're breaking the law."_

_"Well, I wouldn't have to if the police would have done their job right in the first place." She shot back. Quentin looked stricken._

_"I asked you how you got this case." He started. "You lied to me straight to my face, eh? I thought you and I didn't do that." He gave her one last look. "Guess I was wrong." he finished, turning and walking out of the building._

“Maybe if you weren’t so hardheaded, I wouldn’t have to,” Laurel said tersely and Thea coughed something that sounded suspiciously like ‘hypocrite’, “what was that Speedy?”

 

 “Nothing, nothing at all.” Thea smiled at Laurel innocently.

 

_The scene shifted to the courthouse, where Laurel was arguing her case before Judge Moss._

_"The mere existence of the file proves that Mr. Istook perjured himself for Jason Brodeur's benefit." She was arguing._

_"That's slander." A voice cut her off. She turned to see Brodeur, with his lawyer and two bodyguards, walk in the room. "Jared Swanstrom, Your Honor." The man who spoke said. "I represent Jason Brodeur and Brodeur Chemical."_

_"The interest of justice requires you to stay the defendant's execution pending exploration of the newly discovered evidence." Laurel continued, ignoring the new people in the room._

_Judge Moss looked at Laurel evenly. "Ours isn't a court of justice, Ms. Lance." She stated. "It's a court of law, and under the law, I don't think your evidence is sufficient to warrant a stay of execution. Your motion for habeas corpus is denied." She finished, returning to her paperwork._

“Not a court of justice? Is she kidding me?” Laurel demanded angrily.

 

“Unfortunately, no. he was probably bought off. That’s how most of the system works in Starling, if they’re not criminals, they’re corrupt.” Roy said scornfully.

 

_Laurel turned and walked out. Before she left, though, she stopped in front of Brodeur._

_"This isn't over." She said defiantly. "I've got the loose end now, and no matter what happens, I am going to pull on it until your whole world unravels." She threatened, walking out and leaving a very worried Brodeur behind._

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Diggle said and Laurel looked over at him curiously, “now he knows you’re not gonna let this go. He’s became scared and desperate now, and men who are scared and desperate are even more dangerous.”

 

Laurel looked stricken, barely noticing as Thea gripped her arm tightly and Tommy looked over at her fearfully.

 

_The scene changed to Brodeur's office later that day, where the businessman was worriedly ranting to his bodyguard. "Declan's lawyer's pulling me into this!" he exclaimed. "I'm gonna go to prison, if not for murder, then this-- this dumping thing."_

_"That won't happen." The bodyguard assured him. "There are steps we can take."_

_"You saw her." He argued. "She's going after me."_

_The bodyguard sighed. "She's gonna want to meet with her client after what happened in court today. We have friends up in Iron Heights. Prison can be a dangerous place." He remarked calmly._

“Ms. Lance, I admire you’re bravery, but there’s a time to be brave and a time to be smart,” Roy said with surprising gentleness as she looked over at him, “if you go after men like this, they will strike back.”

 

“You sound like you have experience with that.” Tommy noted and Roy looked down, a sad look in his eyes.

 

“My dad worked for this construction company. He found out that they were building on an unstable area, so he went to his supervisor. The supervisor told his boss and a week later, my dad was gunned down in front of our house. I was eight years old. My mom tried to get justice but no one would listen to her, it was her word against the CEO’s. So she got depressed, developed a drug and alcohol problem… And she overdosed on my fourteenth birthday. I buried her alone in my backyard. So yeah, I have some experience with this.” Roy sighed as he ran a hand over his face.1

 

There was not a person in the room that did not feel for the young man. However, they knew him enough by now that they knew he would reject any offers of condolences. So Diggle unpaused the recording. 

 

_The scene changed to later that night, where Laurel was meeting with the Hood on the roof of CNRI._

_"We're not done yet." The Hood stated._

_"I'm an attorney." Laurel countered with a sigh. "Trust me. We're done."_

_"What do you need to free Peter Declan?" he asked._

_"At this point, nothing short of a signed confession from Brodeur." The Hood turned to leave. "Where are you going?" she asked._

_"To get a confession." He replied._

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated, where Felicity was filling Walter in on what she found._

_"The company Mrs. Queen-- or Steele." She paused, a stray thought catching her attention, "Mrs. Queen-Steele. Does she hyphenate? She seems like a woman who would hyphenate." Walter cleared his throat and sat back at his desk, looking at her expectantly. "Right. The company she invested in doesn't exist."_

_"I don't understand." Walter said, confused._

_"There was no investment." Felicity explained. "The money was used to set up an offshore LLC called Tempest."_

_"I don't recall that name being under the Queen Consolidated banner." He remarked._

_"'Cause it's not." She replied. "There's nothing registered with the Secretary of State, no federal tax records, no patent applications filed. But in 2009, Tempest purchased a warehouse in Starling City." She handed the folder to Walter, who smiled in gratitude. Felicity smiled and left as Walter looked over the file._

“So she was lying.” Thea said, angry and disappointed.

 

“But why? And what is Tempest?” Laurel wondered.

 

“I have a feeling we’re going to find out.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_The scene changed to Big Belly Burger, where Diggle was once again eating. Carly came up to him._

_"Enough moping." She stated. Diggle smiled at her as she took a seat across from him. "You quit. It's done. My advice would be to move on."_

_"Well, if it were only that easy." Dig said, rubbing his face._

_"Except it is." Carly said. "Personal security is dangerous. Your nephew already lost his father. He can't lose his uncle, too."_

_Dig thought for a long moment. "Does it ever bother you," he began, "that they never caught the guy who killed Andy?" He paused, gathering his thoughts. "You know, when I was in Afghanistan, I had a job, and I did it. And when I could, I would help out the people there so that, in some small way, when I left, I could believe I left it a better place." He sighed. "But ever since I've been home, all I do is protect punks and spoiled one percenters."_

_Carly smiled. "Yeah."_

_"I miss feeling like I'm making a difference in the world." He announced, seeming to just come to the realization._

_"Then get out of personal security and go do something you believe in." Carly said._

_"Yeah, what if it's wrong?" he countered._

_"John, if you believe in something, how can it be wrong?" she asked simply._

 

“And now I’ll be joining him.” Diggle confirmed.

 

_The scene changed to Brodeur's office, where the businessman was being held at arrow-point by The Hood._

_"What do you want?" he asked fearfully._

_"You're gonna confess that you arranged to have Peter Declan's wife murdered." The Hood growled._

_"What, so I can take his place in prison?"_

_"So you can avoid the death penalty."_

_"Except if I'm dead, well, then, you've got no one to pin Camille's murder on." Brodeur realized, confidence slowly returning. "You need me to exonerate Peter Declan. Maybe you could try to force me to sign a confession or something-" his boasting cut off with a scream as The Hood shot an arrow through his hand._

_"That might be difficult." The Hood remarked._

“Damn.” Tommy whistled.

 

“Just deserts, you bastard.” Roy grinned savagely.

 

_Bordure was saved by the bell, literally, as his phone began to ring. The Hood walked over and pulled the phone out of his jacket. "Just answer it." He connected the call._

_"What?" Brodeur said pain in his voice._

_"It's Ankov." His bodyguard said over the phone. "It's going down, one hour." The Hood snarled and hung up the phone._

_"What's going down in an hour?" he demanded. "What?!"_

_"Let's just say Peter Declan's execution, it's getting moved up." Brodeur replied. Oliver hit him with the bow, knocking him out._

_The scene changed to Iron Heights, where Laurel was talking with Declan._

_"We still have a shot." Laurel was telling him. "Do you remember the friend that I mentioned, the one who believes in you? He is working on something."_

“It won’t matter if you’re both dead.” Tommy said worriedly.

 

_Outside, The Hood put a guard in a sleeper hold, knocking him out. He then quickly stripped the guard and started to put on the uniform._

_"I told you, Jason Brodeur is powerful." Declan told Laurel._

_At a back door, a guard opened it to reveal Ankov, Brodeur's bodyguard. Ankov handed the guard an envelope and took a bundle of clothes from him. "Time to unlock the cages." He said._

_"I've been here before." Declan continued. "These lawyers holding out these little nuggets of hope."_

_And then the lights went out, alarms started blaring, and the shouting began as Declan and Laurel looked on helplessly. The guard in the room was listening to his radio._

_'Secure all corners in cell block "C".' he looked to Laurel. "The warden's setting up a secure perimeter in "C" block." He said. "Stay here, Ms. Lance." He ordered, leaving the room._

“Bad idea, very bad idea!” Tommy shouted at the screen.

 

“He should stay with you; otherwise you’re defenseless against anyone who comes in to get you.” Diggle agreed.

 

_Wait!" Laurel yelled. She looked out the door and saw prisoners running through the halls, jumping guards. Making a decision, she gestured to Declan and the two fled the visitors' room._

“And that’s stupid as well. You’re best option would be to barricade the door until they get the riot under control.” Roy noted.

 

_They ran down a hall and landed in a juncture filled with prisoners. She watches as they beat a guard unconscious. One of the goons looked up._

_"There's Lance." He said, picking up the guards gun._

Thea’s hand tightened on Laurel’s arm to the point that it left a bruise. Not that Laurel noticed, as she stared at the screen, wondering if this was her end. Tommy gripped his pants legs tightly, staring at the screen fearfully.

 

_Before he could point it at her, an arrow hit him in the shoulder, sending him to the ground. Laurel turned to see a disguised Hood, wearing a guards uniform with a ski mask, holding his bow._

_"Let's go."_

“Thank god Ollie.” Tommy sighed in relief as everyone became slightly less tense.

 

_He led them back into the hall, stopping briefly only to beat back some of the prisoners to give them room. "Go!" he called out, leading them down the hall. At the far end he saw cops with riot shields moving in formation towards them. He steered them to an open doorway. "In here."_

_The three entered the room, The Hood leading the way. Suddenly The Hood was sucker punched by Ankov, who sent him sprawling to the ground, dazed. Next the muscle grabbed Laurel, throwing her into a chain link fence that portioned the room, and then flung her back to the floor. She hit hard, dazed, and Ankov got on top of her, putting his hands around her throat._

And then they tensed back up, Laurel final noticing how tightly Thea was gripping her arm. Laurel wrapped an arm around her, attempting to bring her comfort as Tommy stared at the screen with the utmost attention.

 

_Oliver cleared his head and looked over. Seeing Laurel being choked, he saw red and launched himself at Ankov, tackling him off the lawyer. He started throwing elbows and forearms at the bodyguards face, not stopping, not letting up. Laurel shakily got to her feet and staggered over, placing a hand on his arm. "Stop!" she said hoarsely, Oliver shot up, backing away from her and slowly coming back to his senses. Before anything else could happen, though, the riot cops entered. Laurel immediately back to the wall._

_"Laurel." He whispered brokenly as Declan and Ankov were secured. Then he faded into the background, mixing in among the other guards and making his way out of the prison._

“My god.” Laurel breathed as she, Thea, and Tommy stared at the screen, stunned by what they had just seen.

 

“Not even the most trained soldier can control their emotions all the time,” Diggle said as they looked over at him, “when you’re in the battlefield, its kill or be killed. If someone had threatened someone I cared about the way Oliver clearly cares about Laurel…I can’t say I would have acted differently.”

 

The three looked away, matching thoughtful looks on their faces as the recording continued.

 

_The scene changed to later outside the entrance to Iron Heights. Laurel was seated on the hood of a police car as Quentin ran up to her._

_"Laurel" he called out, breathless, pulling her into a hug, "Sweetie. What are you-" he started._

_"I'm all right." Laurel cut him off._

_"You sure?"_

_"I'm sorry about what I said to you." She said. Quentin sighed._

_"Yeah, well, you were right." He told her. "Ankov just confessed to Camille Declan's murder. We got the wrong guy." He finished sadly. The he looked at his daughter. "Now, listen to me, Laurel. I'm right, too, about him. He's dangerous. He's outside the law."_

_"I know." She said, surprising him. "He's a killer." From the roof of the prison, Oliver watched Laurel and Quentin talk. He pulled off the ski mask as she continued. "He would have killed that man. I looked in his eyes—it was like he had no remorse."_

Both versions of Laurel winced but neither made a comment.

 

_Oliver closed his eye in pain, and once more the scene flashed back to the cave._

_Oliver stared at the bird in the cage, and then looked back up at Yao Fei. "Hey, please." He pleaded. "I'm starving. I never killed anything before." The man continued to ignore him. Oliver looked back at the bird, and slowly he took it out of the cage. "I'm sorry." He whispered. He looked up at the ceiling of the cave as he put his hand around the bird's neck and twisted, snapping the spine and killing the bird. Yao Fei glanced at him, before he went back to work on making new traps._

Laurel and Thea clung to each other as they cried for Oliver. Tommy wiped his eyes as he felt the beginning of tears. Roy looked down, feeling kindship for Oliver, as he had been forced to steal to survive before and after his mother’s death. Diggle remembered the first time he had killed in the battlefield, it had nearly broken him. He had only been held together by his brothers and later Lyla. His heart went out to Oliver.

 

_Back in the present, Quentin put his jacket on Laurel. "Let's get you home, sweetie." He said, walking with her back to his car. "How'd he get into that prison, anyway, huh?" he asked suddenly, stopping and looking at Laurel. "A grown man in an outfit and a hood, that kind of stands out a little, doesn't it?"_

_"He actually wasn't wearing the outfit this time." Laurel said. "He was in a prison guard uniform and a ski mask." Quentin looked at her, and then looked away, thinking. "What?" she asked._

_Quentin shook his head and smiled. "Nothing." He said. "I just had an idea." He opened the door to his cruiser. "Get in the car." He said. Laurel got in and Lance closed the door, still thinking._

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Tommy quipped.

 

_The scene shifted to an isolated warehouse. Walter walked up to the door. He tried it, but found it locked. He then looked at the electronic keypad. He thought for a few moments, then typed in TEMPEST. It buzzed, indicating wrong code. The screen cleared, and Walter nest tried Oliver. It buzzed again. He tried Thea, and it buzzed again. He thought for a moment, pausing only briefly as he typed ROBERT. The pad beeped and the door opened. He hesitantly walked inside. Opening the inside door, he was greeted by a pitch black expanse. He spied some light switches on the wall next to him and flipped them. As the lights came on, he found himself on a catwalk twenty feet above the floor of the warehouse- and laid out before him was the wreckage of the Queen's Gambit._

“What the hell?!” Tommy shouted as he jumped to his feet.

 

“Why on earth does my mom have the remains of the Gambit in storage?!” Thea demanded angrily, her mind whirling.

 

“How did she even get it?” Laurel asked, her mind too stunned to feel anger right now.

 

“I’m sure we’ll find out. In the meantime, calm down and let’s keep watching.” Diggle said and Tommy reluctantly sat down, grumbling along with Thea.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD, where Lance, Hilton and the computer expert Kelton were looking at his screens as he pulled up footage._

_"Ok, here's the security footage from the Exchange building shooting," Kelton said, "but I've already scrubbed through all of it."_

_"Yeah? Well, we're gonna do it again." Lance stated. "So, listen, when you went through the camera security tapes, you were looking for a guy in a green outfit and a green hood, right?" he asked._

_"What do you want me to look for, a man in a wig and a tutu?" Kelton said sarcastically._

_"I want you to look for anything that's out of the ordinary, ok?" the detective replied irritably. "Just look." The three cops watched for a few minutes before something caught Lance's eye. "Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa." He said, getting their attention. He pointed to one of the monitors. "Wait. Go back 10 seconds." He did so, and as the footage rewound, Lance saw an easily recognizable Oliver Queen pulling a duffle bag out of a trashcan, and extracting a hood from the bag._

“Oh no.” Laurel groaned, feeling guilty that she had unwittingly helped her father get this evidence.

 

“Well shit. This won’t end well.” Tommy muttered.

 

_"What is that?" Kelton asked. Quentin leaned forward._

_"I'll be damned." He said. "Play that again."_

_The scene changed to the next day, where Laurel was walking with Peter Declan through the park._

_"Thank you, Laurel." Declan said sincerely._

_"Don't thank me." She countered with a smile. "Thank Brodeur's bodyguard Ankov for flipping him." She looked over to a bench, where an elderly woman and a small child were waiting. "I think there's someone that wants to see you."_

_"Izzy." Declan breathed, looking at his baby girl. The girl, hesitantly at first, then with growing confidence ran to her father, who knelt down and took her in his arms, crying tears of joy._

Everyone smiled at the scene, happy for the father and daughter. Laurel made a mental note to hurry the process for this when she got home.

 

_The scene changed to the lair, where Oliver was watching a news broadcast of Brodeur being led away in handcuffs. 'At least 5 federal, state, and local agencies are seeking millions of dollars in fines and environmental cleanup costs from Brodeur Chemical. New facts have come to light that Brodeur Chemical employee Camille Declan had discovered Brodeur was illegally disposing waste and had collected a file of evidence against her employer before her murder in 2007. Peter Declan, who was convicted of killing his wife, has been released, and the case has been reopened."_

_He crossed Brodeur's name off the list, then looked sadly at Laurel's picture. He put it back in the book and closed it as he thought back to the island._

_Flashback to the cave, where Oliver is now eating cooked pheasant. Yao Fei walked in and sat across from him._

_"Shengcún." He said. Oliver nodded._

_"Yeah." He said a mouth full of pheasant. "Bird. I know."_

_"Shengcún not mean 'bird'." Oliver looked up in shock. "Shengcún mean 'survive'."_

“He knows English?” Tommy asked incredulously.

 

_"You speak English." Oliver asked incredulously._

“Don’t say it.” Tommy said as Thea opened her mouth.

 

Smirking, Thea leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms.

 

_"You want survive this place, bird not last thing you kill." He pulled Laurel's picture out from his shirt. "And forget her." He advised. "You look at that all day, you not survive this place."_

_The scene shifted to the present. Moira walked up to a limo and climbed inside. "You wanted to see me?" she asked, looking across to Malcolm Merlyn._

_"You look nervous, Moira." He noted. She hummed noncommittally._

_"Do I have a reason to be?" she asked._

_"We all do." Malcolm pulled out the sketch of The Hood and handed it to her. She looked at it, uninterested._

_"A modern-day Robin hood." She decided. She looked at Malcolm. "What, are you worried that your net worth makes you a target?"_

_Malcolm tuned and leaned in close. "Jason Brodeur, Adam Hunt, Warren Patel." He listed off. "Tell me you see a connection, Moira."_

_The realization was instant. "He's not targeting the rich."_

_"No, he's not." He agreed. "He's targeting the list."_

“What exactly is the list? And how are my dad and Ms. Queen involved with it?” Tommy wondered suspiciously.

 

_The scene shifted to Queen Manor. Oliver walked in to the sitting room, where Diggle was standing by the windows. He cleared his throat._

_"You here for the bodyguard position?" he asked, "'Cause the new guy just quit."_

_Digg smiled. "No, I'm not." He said, turning to face Oliver. "I'm here about the other position." Oliver held out his hand, but Digg stayed where he was. "Just to be clear, I'm not signing on to be a sidekick." He said. Oliver put his hand down and Diggle started walking towards him. "But you're right. Fighting for this city needs to be done, and you're gonna do this with or without me."_

_"Yeah." Oliver agreed._

_"But with me, there'll be fewer casualties, including you." He stopped in front of the man. Oliver looked at him with a wan smile._

_"Diggle, I'm not looking for anybody to save me." He argued._

_"Maybe not, but you need someone just the same." Digg said. "You fighting a war, Queen, except you have no idea what war does to you, how it scrapes off little pieces of your soul." Digg held out his hand. "And you need someone to remind you of who you are, not this thing you're becoming." Oliver nodded and took his hand, shaking it._

“Thank you, for looking out for my brother.” Thea told Diggle sincerely and he nodded.

 

_Just then the front doors burst open and half a dozen cops, including Lance and Hilton, barged in past a very upset Walter._

_"Oliver Queen." Lance yelled. Oliver walked out of the sitting room as the cops came in the foyer._

_"What is this?" Walter demanded. "You can't just barge in here."_

_Lance stopped in front of the Brit and gave him a satisfied smile. "Yeah? Well, I got a badge and a gun that say different." He noted._

“So because he’s a police officer, he’s above the law. Isn’t that abuse of power Ms. Lance?” Roy asked idly.

 

“Yes, it is.” Laurel sighed.

 

“Your dad may be less corrupt than the other officers by miles, but he is not uncorrupt.” Roy told her.2

 

_"Hey, what the hell's going on?!" Oliver asked, spotting Lance for the first time. "Detective Lance--"_

_"Oliver Queen," he cut him off, moving to cuff the man just as Moira came in, "you're under arrest on suspicion of obstruction of justice, aggravated assault," Moira looked at her husband in panic. "What is going on?" she asked. Thea, having heard the commotion, watched it all from the top of the stairs. "Walter, stop them!" she shouted. Lance continued through all the interruptions. "Trespassing, acting as a vigilante…" "Are you out of your mind?!" Oliver shouted at the cop. "And murder." He finished, He gave the younger man a victorious look. As he led him out of the house, he began to read him his rights. "You have the right to remain silent. Give up that right……."_

 

“Well this isn’t good. Not at all.” Tommy muttered.

 

Everyone became started when the automatic doors opened behind them. They looked over their shoulders to see Kal standing there, smiling pleasantly.

 

“So, who wants lunch?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: One thing that annoys me about Arrow’s depiction of Roy is that they never give us his backstory; we never learn what makes Roy Harper tick. 
> 
> 2: This is not my opinion about Quentin; I do not think he is corrupt in the slightest, he just lets his emotions get the better of him. But I do think that this is something that Roy would see as corrupt police behavior.


	6. Break one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The viewers discus what they have learned so far while Dinah and Arsenal visit the kids. A flashback reveals a tragedy that sent Oliver to the breaking point.

Kal led Tommy, Laurel, and Thea out of the room and into the dining all. Under normal circumstances, they would all be largely impressed by the size and futuristic look of the hall. However, only Diggle was at the moment, as Laurel, Thea, and Tommy were all still in shock at the revelations that the day had brought forth.

 

“So, here’s the dining hall,” Kal gestured around, “the chiefs will help you to anything you want, we have every kind of food in the world available here. Once you’re finished, you can go back to the viewing room and continue the recordings.”

 

“So are you in charge here?” Diggle asked and Kal paused mid-step.

 

“The public likes to think so but no,” Kal chuckled lightly, “I am second in command. You’ll meet our leader later, she’s currently…preoccupied.”

 

In another part of the Watchtower, Dinah and Arsenal walked into another room, unseen by the occupants. Olivia and a black haired girl around her age giggled as they hovered above the ground. Above them, holding their hands so they were above ground was a woman with straight blond hair and blue green eyes. She was wearing a costume similar to Kal’s, right down to the cape. As she spotted her mother, Olivia squealed, causing her companions to look where was. The woman lowered the girl to the floor and the girls took off towards Dinah and Arsenal.

 

“Momma!” Olivia shouted happily as she wrapped herself around Dinah’s legs.

 

“Hi baby,” Dinah pried her daughter of her legs and knelt down to her level, “are you and Lian having a good time with Aunt Kara?”

 

“Uh huh!” Olivia nodded eagerly.

 

“She let us fly Daddy.” Lian smiled at her father and Arsenal laughed.

 

“Do you like it better than flying with me?” He asked and Lian’s eyes widened as though he’d canceled Christmas.

 

“No daddy! I like it with you better!” Lian said fiercely.

 

Barely had the words left her mouth than Lian was scooped up and placed on Arsenal’s back. Lian laughed as she and Arsenal began to ‘fly’ around the room. Dinah laughed as Kara walked over to her.

 

“I hope they haven’t been too much trouble for you Kara.” Dinah said as she looked over at the Kryptonian who just smiled.

 

“Not at all, they were perfect little angels.” Kara assured her.

 

“I find that hard to believe.” Dinah said teasingly as she bopped her daughter’s nose and Olivia laughed.

 

“So…what a day huh?” Tommy asked idly as the viewing party picked at their food.

 

“Finding out my brother is alive, a murdering vigilante, and there’s some sort of conspiracy going on that had the Gambit sabotaged. And let’s not forget the part where my mom and your dad are involved in it.” Thea groused as they all nodded.

 

“We were brought here for a reason,” Diggle reminded them and was awarded their undivided attention, “I know this is all very upsetting for you, your lives have all been affected by this conspiracy if what we’re finding out is any indication, but we don’t have all the facts yet. But I think we will soon, just be patient.”

 

In the security room, Bruce Wayne, dressed in the Batman suit sans cowl, watched this on the monitors. It was odd, he mused, seeing Laurel, Roy, and John so fresh, so free of darkness and loss. So into his musings was he that he almost did not notice her approach behind him. It was only his years of training alerted him.

 

“It is…strange, isn’t it? I have not seen Laurel and Roy so free of burden, of darkness since the days I first met them.” Nyssa mused.

 

“How do you think Dinah and Arsenal are handling it?” Bruce inquired.    

 

“They have not come out to meet them yet.” Nyssa pointed out and Bruce nodded.

 

“Are you okay?” Bruce asked as he looked over at her and she smiled slightly.

 

“I shall endure it. But thank you.” She leaned down and they kissed.

 

“So, will you be okay?” Arsenal asked as he and Dinah left the room after spending half an hour with their daughters.

 

“Will you?” She asked rhetorically.

 

“I wasn’t there the night it happened.” He pointed out and Dinah couldn’t help but remember that terrible night.

 

_Iron Heights Prison, 2016_

_Night_

_“You took something precious from me Mr. Queen,” Damien Darhk walked away from Green Arrow, “I think it’s only fair that I…take something equally precious from you.”_

 

_Stopping, he suddenly turned and touched Speedy by the throat, causing Team Arrow to cry out in horror. Malcolm rushed forward but with a wall of Darhk’s hand, Malcolm was thrown back. After a moment longer, Darhk pulled his hand back and Speedy fell to the floor. He and his entourage left and Team Arrow could move again. Green Arrow rushed to his sister with Spartan and Black Canary behind him. He pulled her into his arms and searched for signs of life but it was no use…she was gone._

_“I’m…I’m sorry.” Malcolm said in his grief._

_Suddenly overcome with rage, Oliver lowered Speedy to the ground before standing up. He whirled around and lunged at Malcolm. Malcolm was thrown on his back as Oliver picked up his sword. With a roar of rage and pain, Oliver brought the sword down on Malcolm and blood sprayed into the air._

Watchtower

Present

 

“No, I won’t be okay…but ii can handle it. What we’re trying to do…it’s worth a little pain here.” Dinah said and Arsenal nodded.

 

“Yeah, it is.” Arsenal agreed.

 


	7. Damaged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the recordings continue, Laurel and Tommy become disappointed and disgusted by the actions of their fathers.

Once they had finished their lunch, the viewers had returned to the viewing room. Retaking their seats, Diggle picked up the remote and started the next recording.

 

_The next 'episode', as it were, opened with a scene on the Island. A rabbit stood in the distance in the forest- and was suddenly cut down by an arrow. Several yards away stood Yao Fei, bow in hand, with Oliver standing next to him. He indicated to the rabbit._

_"Dinner." he said._

_Oliver looked at him, and then groaned. "Ah, come-- hey, I got an idea, why don't you let me shoot that thing and you can go pick up the bloody, dead, disgusting animal." He whined._

_Yao Fei looked him over, and then indicated to his bow. "What?" Oliver asked, confused._

_"Try." He said simply, handing the bow over. Oliver took it, unsure. "Breathe." Yao Fei advised. Everything, breathe. Breathe, aim, fire." He instructed. He handed him an arrow. "Here." He said, then pointed at a far off tree. "Aim that tree."_

_Oliver nocked the arrow and took aim. "Breathe." Yao Fei advised again, and Oliver took a slow, steadying breath. He released it, then shot the arrow-_

_That went wide to the right._

“That was pathetic.” Thea said, the only person in the room who had experience in archery.

 

_"Nǐ huì sǐ de hěn cǎn" Yao Fei muttered._

_"What does that mean?" Oliver asked, annoyed._

_"You will die badly." He translated dryly. He pointed in the direction the arrow went. "Get."_

_Oliver sighed in annoyance, but walked off in search of the wayward arrow. He moved deeper into the forest, and he finally spotted it, sticking out of a fallen tree. He moved to get it, when suddenly a hand covered his mouth._

_Arms grabbed him and dragged him further into the trees. Soon his hands were bound in front of him, and he was led by three men in black tactical gear and ski masks to a pit covered by a makeshift bamboo grate. They opened the grate and shoved him into the hole. Oliver crashed down, barely able to break his fall, and turned over to see the men close the grate and secure it, locking him in._

Thea stiffened as Laurel took her hand, worry for Oliver flooding both their minds. Tommy tightened his hands around his pants legs, reminding himself that Oliver was still alive.

 

_"Wait, wait! You can't leave me here!" he cried out, grasping at the grate. One of the men smashed his fingers with the butt of his assault rifle. Oliver screamed in pain, letting go and falling back down. "Don't do this to me, please! Oh-oh! No! Please! I didn't do anything!"_

_The scene flashed back to present as Oliver was led out of a squad car in cuffs and into the SCPD headquarters through a sea of reporters._

_'The police think they know who I am.' Oliver's' voice sounded, playing over his booking. 'They think I'm the vigilante. The man in the hood terrorizing the city's criminals. They also think they have me trapped. That I have no way out. They're only half right.'_

“What does he mean by that?” Tommy asked confused.

 

“Oliver obviously has a plan to get out of this. We’ve seen he’s smart, let’s see what he’s got planned.” Diggle suggested.

 

_"This is a mistake."_

_The scene had changed to an interrogation room, where Lance sat across a table from Oliver. Lance didn't even look up from his forms at Oliver's declaration._

_"I'll be asking you a few questions, standard stuff for the report." He said. "Have you been arrested before? That's ok, I know the answer to that one, plenty of times." he put in sarcastically._

“I get why he hates Ollie, but your dad is taking this whole thing too far.” Thea told Laurel heatedly and Laurel could offer no defense, as Thea was right.1

 

_"Like I said, this is a mistake." Oliver repeated._

_"Far as I can tell, the only mistake I made was not shooting you down at the docks when I had a chance." Lance snarled in reply._

_"I am not who you think I am." He tried. Lance scoffed._

_"Oh, you're exactly who I think you are." He stated. "You're a dangerous menace who doesn't care about who he hurts, except now you're doing it with bows and arrows instead of trust funds and yachts."_

“He’s letting his personal feelings cloud his judgement,” Diggle noted, “if the city wasn’t so corrupt, the argument could be made that Detective Lance is on a personal vendetta against Oliver. The only solid evidence he has on Oliver is that security footage and if Oliver could get that disproven, he has no grounds for a case.”

 

“Which, in a city less corrupt than Starling, would be the end of my dad’s career, considering all the laws he broke by arresting Oliver.” Laurel sighed.

 

_Oliver sat back in his chair. "Detective, you hate me. I get it. But that doesn't make me a vigilante." He reasoned._

_"No." Lance agreed, and then pressed on. "The security camera footage of you at the UNIDAC auction with a green hood does that pretty well."_

_"And as I said again, I ran into the stairwell once I heard the shooting." Oliver stated, leaning forward. "I saw a duffel bag that I thought maybe belonged to the shooter. I grabbed it, looked inside and saw a hood." He finished._

_"And what- you took it home with you? 'Cause we can't find it." Lance retorted. "And what about harassing Adam Hunt? That just happened to take place right across the street from your little homecoming bash."_

_"Those were coincidences." Oliver argued._

_"No. When they pile up like that, it becomes evidence." Lance replied. He began to work on the forms again when a patrol man opened the door._

_"His parents are here." The cop announced._

_"Tell them to wait." Lance ordered._

_"I want to see my son." Moira demanded, storming into the room with Walter right behind her._

_"I'm in the middle of an interrogation here!" Lance yelled, getting up from his chair._

_"Detective Lance," Moira started, fury etched on her face, "I know you hate my family, but I had no idea that you'd go so far to arrest my son without any grounds whatsoever!"_

_"I have solid grounds, and I have evidence." Lance argued coldly._

“Barely.” Roy sneered.

 

_"Which you can present to Mr. Queen's attorney when he gets here." Walter countered. "Until then, this interrogation is over, Detective."_

_Lance looked at Moira and Walter, then down at Oliver, still seated at the table. "Sure." He said finally, walking out of the room "You have fifteen minutes." He closed the door, leaving the family alone in the room._

_"Detective Lance appears to be on some personal vendetta." Walter noted._

_"He is." Oliver agrees, looking at the man. "He blames me for the death of his daughter. He also thinks that I dress up in a green hood and shoot people with arrows." He finished dryly._

_"The important thing is not to say anything until your attorney gets here." Walter advised._

_"Fine." He agreed. "I want Laurel."_

“…Really?” Laurel asked stunned.

 

“He has a one-track mind when it comes to you.” Thea said amused and Laurel lightly swatted her on the shoulder.

 

_Both Moira and Walter scoffed. "Brilliant." Walter muttered._

_"Oliver I don't think your ex-girlfriend can be counted on to be objective here." Moira argued. Oliver looked at her, unflinching._

_"She knows me better than anyone. She knows that I could never be this guy." He reasoned. He looked to his stepfather. "Walter, you say Lance has a vendetta?"_

_"Yes." He replied._

_"I think Laurel can get him off of it." Oliver continued. "He raised her to do the right thing. That includes representing an innocent man. So Mom," He looked to Moira. "Please." He asked plainly. Moira sighed._

“I hate to admit it but he’s not wrong,” Laurel admitted, “I would probably be the only person dad would listen to at this point.”

 

“Your dad’s pretty hardheaded. I’m not sure he’ll listen to anyone right now, as focused and determined as he is to see Oliver behind bars.” Diggle warned her.

 

_The scene changed to CNRI. Moira entered and looked around, finally finding her target. "Laurel." She said, walking up to the attorney that was busily reading a file. Laurel looked up in surprise._

_"Mrs. Queen!" she exclaimed, confusion on her face. "What are you--"_

_"It's Oliver. Something's happened." She began. Laurel looked at her sympathetically._

_"I know." She glanced at a TV that was re-airing Oliver's walk up the precinct stairs. "It's been all over the news."_

_Moira sighed. "These charges are ludicrous." She stated._

_"I know." Laurel agreed, walking them back to her desk. "Can I ask you, who's representing him?"_

_Moira looked at her awkwardly. "Well, that's why I'm here." She looked at the younger woman. "He wants you to represent him."_

_"Me?" Laurel asked in confusion._

_"Yes." Moira replied, slightly embarrassed. "I told him it was a bad idea, but to be frank, I am desperate. He says if you don't represent him, then he doesn't want any attorney."_

“Do you think you’ll do it?” Thea asked as she looked at the girl she had always considered an older sister with a pleading look.

 

“Probably.” Laurel admitted and Thea beamed.

 

_"Mrs. Queen," she began slowly, "my father is the arresting officer."_

_"Yes." Moira agreed._

_"And I don't think it's a good idea for me to represent someone who I've been involved with." she finished with a sympathetic look. "Listen, I am sorry for what your family is going through--"_

_"No apologies." Moira interrupted with a smile. "Your idealism, I think, is why my son, for all his mistakes, is so smitten with you." She sighed. "Regardless, it was a bad idea on his part, and I am sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable."_

_The scene shifted to the courthouse, where Oliver was being led into the courtroom by an officer._

_"Docket 81941, People vs. Oliver Queen." The bailiff intoned. Oliver walked past his family, and Tommy, to sit at the defendants table. "Murder, aggravated assault, assault with intent, menacing and trespassing."_

_Judge Moss looked at Oliver, then looked around "Where's your attorney, Mr. Queen?" she asked._

_"I'm representing myself, Judge." He stood and replied calmly._

_"I'm not sure that's the wisest course, Mr. Queen." The Judge argued._

_"I think it is." He countered. "I'm innocent."_

_"Then we'll consider that your plea." Moss said._

_"Thank you." Oliver said sitting back down._

_"Now, as to bail--"_

_"Your Honor," said District Attorney Kate Spencer as she stood to address the Judge."Mr. Queen's family owns a pair of private jets, and, well, on the subject of their wealth, I would point out that there is virtually no bail amount that can guarantee his presence at trial." She argued._

_"So then I guess it's a good thing that the people's case is so circumstantial." Heads turned and Oliver allowed himself a satisfied smile as Laurel made her way into the court. She walked past Oliver's stunned family, and her even more stunned father, to stand next to the defendant's table. "Dinah Laurel Lance, Your Honor." She announced. "I'd like to file my appearance on behalf of the defendant."_

_Oliver gratefully slipped over to the second chair so Laurel could take her rightful place at the table. "Mr. Queen's wealth should not deprive him of the right to be released on bail while under the presumption of innocence." She argued._

_"He is a flight risk." Spencer countered._

_"Then minimize the risk." Laurel reasoned. "The defendant is willing to submit to home confinement and electronic monitoring through the wearing of a UKG45 administrated ankle device."_

_The smile fell completely off Oliver's face. "No, he wouldn't." he argued._

“That must not fall into his plan.” Diggle noted.

 

_"Sold." The Judge said, ignoring him._

_"Your Honor--"Spencer tried to argue, but the judge cut her off, too. "Bail is set at $15 million. $5 million bond." She announced. "Defendant to see probation for the fitting of a GPS device." She banged the gavel to close out the hearing._

_Oliver leaned back in his chair and looked at his ex-girlfriend. "I knew you couldn't resist saving my ass." He said with a smile._

_"You're going to make me regret this, aren't you?" she asked wryly._

_"No." he denied. "It's going to be like old times."_

“Hopefully not too much like old times.” Thea said cheekily and Laurel blushed as she remembered a lot of what she and Oliver had gotten up to in ‘old times.’

 

_"Fortunately for you with the legal case, there's no way that you're this vigilante." She noted, closing her briefcase._

_"I agree."_

_She looked him dead in the eye. "Because he's actually trying to make a difference. We both know that's not really your style." She stated, rising to leave. She didn't see the hurt look in his eyes that he masked almost immediately._

“Ouch.” Roy quipped as Laurel winced.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor later that day, where Oliver was getting fitted with his ankle bracelet as Moira, Walter, and Tommy looked on._

_"Mom." He said calmingly to his mother, "It's not that bad."_

_The cop finished. "Ok. This device has a direct line into the precinct. Stay on the property, you're golden." He instructed. "Any questions?"_

_"Yes." Oliver said immediately. "I'm having a sizeable get together here tomorrow evening, and there is a better than likely chance it spills into the outdoor pool." Tommy and Moira looked at him in disbelief. The cop didn't bat an eye._

“A party? Really?” Thea asked in disbelief and anger.

 

“It’s brilliant.” Diggle muttered to himself and everyone turned to him.

 

“What’s brilliant?” Tommy inquired.

 

“Oliver throws a party, with multiple witnesses there to be his alibi. Then he slips out as The Hood and gets back before anyone notices he’s gone.” Diggle explained with everyone’s eyes lighting up in understanding.

 

“There’s just one flaw: the ankle bracelet.” Roy pointed out.

 

“He’s gonna have to adapt the plan, he wouldn’t have thrown the party if he hadn’t already figured out a way.” Diggle said calmly.

 

_"Pool deck's fine." He said. "Step on the grass, they're sending a SWAT team to forcibly subdue you." He finished wryly._

_"Thank you, officer." Oliver said. The cop showed himself out._

_"A 'sizeable get together'?" Moira asked in disbelief._

_"I'm confined to this house for the foreseeable future. I might as well make the most of it." He announced. He looked over at Tommy. "And this party is going to be themed." He decided. "I'm thinking prison, uh, burning man meets 'Shawshank Redemption'. The invite says, 'come before Oliver Queen gets off'._

_"Maybe a party's not in the best of taste, you know, considering the circumstances." Tommy said, trying to be the voice of reason as he sat down next to his friend._

_"Tommy, the circumstances are why we're having the party in the first place." Oliver said. He looked at the three of them. "I want people to know that I'm not worried about any of this."_

_"Well, that makes one of us." Moira said archly._

“He needs to think more about how his actions affect the people close to him.” Laurel said stiffly.

 

“He’s still on the island,” Diggle said and everyone looked over at him confused, “mentally; he’s still on the island. You’re all holding him to a certain standard, of the Oliver he once was. He went through something highly traumatic; he’s not the same person he was. I’ve seen it in a lot of the guys I’ve served with, he’s still in the mindset of ‘how do I survive?’ Mentally, he is still on that island.”

 

Everyone was quiet, considering Diggle’s words as the recording continued.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment, where Quentin was having a 'conversation' with his daughter._

_"Before you start yelling-"_

_"Why would I yell?" he asked harshly. "You're only defending the man that killed your sister."_

_"Oliver did not kill Sara!" Laurel exclaimed, exasperated._

_"If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have been on that boat." Quentin shot back._

_"Have you considered the possibility that that's the reason you're trying to make him out to be this--this menace?" Laurel reasoned hotly._

_"No." Quentin denied. "It is the videotape; it's the suspicious timing, that is the reason!"_

_"This is Oliver Queen we're talking about." Laurel exploded. "He wrecks fancy cars and he dates models. He doesn't kill people."_

_"No, he just uses them, like he used Sara and like he used you, and he's only asked you to be his lawyer to get at me." Quentin stated angrily._

“Yes, because this whole thing is just some way for Oliver to get back at you for all the times you threatened him when he was dating Laurel.” Tommy said sarcastically.

 

_"No, he asked me to be his lawyer to get through to you." Laurel explained._

_"You hate the Hood and you hate Oliver, and you want more than anything for them to be the same person. But Oliver isn't the reason why Sara died. Or the reason mom left." She added._

_"I don't have to listen to this." Quentin said, storming past her._

_"And by the way," she added, "You're not the only one who misses them."_

_Quentin sighed, and then left as Laurel looked on sadly._

Laurel looked down sadly and Thea took her hand.

 

_The scene changed back to Queen Manor. Oliver was in his room, working on his laptop and looking through the notebook when there was a knock on the door._

_"Yup?" Oliver called. Diggle opened the door and walked into the room. "Thank you for coming." Oliver said, and then added quietly "Shut the door."_

_Diggle did so and walked over to Oliver. "I guess it was just a matter of time before the police caught up with you."_

_"Except they didn't."_

_"Oliver, they got you on video." Diggle protested._

_"I knew the security camera was there, just like I knew the police would review the footage and arrest me." Oliver explained. "All part of the plan."_

_"So you wanted to get arrested?" Digg asked, confused._

_"Well, I returned to Starling City and a few days later, the vigilante appears." Oliver reasoned. "Sooner or later, somebody was going to make the connection."_

_"So what part of serving yourself up to the cops will help you avoid going to prison for the rest of your life?" Digg demanded._

_"There's more to it."_

_"Well, there better be, for your sake, because your family is freaking out downstairs." He said, and then added "Oliver, your mother and your sister just got you back, and now you're going to put them through a trial, maybe even worse? Don't you care?" he pleaded._

_"Of course I care." Oliver stated, looking at the man. "The mission comes first."_

“He’s still on the island.” Diggle reminded Thea as she got a hurt look on her face.

 

Thea nodded as Laurel wrapped an arm around her. Still, it hurt the young woman how little Oliver seemed to care about her feelings.

 

_He leant forward and turned the laptop around to show a news article, complete with photo, to Digg._

_"Who is he?" the bodyguard asked._

_"Leo Mueller." Oliver started explaining. "German arms dealer. Suspected in the theft of a hundred M249 Squad Automatic Weapons."_

_"Ok." Digg said._

_"Last night he arrived in Starling City to sell the guns." Oliver finished._

_"Oliver, don't you imagine there's enough trouble you're in this week than to go after this guy?" Digg argued._

_"I imagine what would happen if a street gang got their hands on military-grade hardware. I imagine our city's streets turned into a war zone." Oliver stated bluntly._

“He’s right. A city wide gang war would erupt. Men, women, and children would be caught in the crossover. By the numbers.” Diggle said as dread flowed through all of them

“Let’s hope that Oliver’s plan works, otherwise this’ll be bad for Starling City. Really bad.” Laurel said worriedly.

 

_"But you're under house arrest, Oliver, which means you can't just go after this guy." Digg pointed out._

_"Look, for now, I would just like you to shadow Mueller." Oliver said. "I would like you to track his movements. I want to know where the buy is happening."_

_Digg sighed. "Ok." He agreed. "And how am I supposed to track him?"_

_Oliver smiled and leaned back in his chair. "Well, you know us billionaire vigilantes" he said. "We do love our toys."_

_The scene changed to the Foundry. Digg flipped on the lights, illuminating Oliver's lair. He took his first clear look at the space and stared in wonder. He walked over to one of the work tables, stopping by a row of arrows that Oliver had made. Hesitantly, he touched his finger to the tip of the arrow. "Ow!" he shook his finger, then started looking around. Finally he found what he had been looking for, a small black case. He hefted it up onto a nearby table, then opened the lid. "Oooh." He said in admiration at the three magnetic GPS transponders. He pulled one out and turned it on, testing it. It beeped happily at him. "Oh, well, that's sweet." He said._

“Sweet is right.” Tommy said as he and Roy looked in awe and slight envy of the gadgets.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Josiah Hudson, the head of security, entered Walter's office._

_"You wanted to see me, sir?" he asked Walter, who was standing behind his desk looking out the window. Walter turned and looked at the man._

_"No, I didn't." he said, giving the other man a meaningful look. "In fact, this meeting isn't taking place." Hudson nodded, and Walter indicated the seat in front of his desk. He took his own seat. "How long have you been head of security at Queen Consolidated, Josiah?" he asked._

_"Going on seven years now, sir." Josiah replied._

_Walter nodded to himself. "Sounds about right." He noted, leaning forward. "But what I'm about to tell you will test the bounds of your discretion." At the other man's nod, he continued. "You're aware of the 'Queen's Gambit', Robert Queen's ill-fated yacht?" he nodded again. "Well, I found it."_

_Josiah blinked. "Sir, the boat went down in the North China Sea five years ago."_

_"Which is why my discovery of its remains in a warehouse downtown was unexpected, to say the least." He handed the man a slip of paper with an address on it. "I want you to transfer those remains to a secure location. Can I count on you?"_

“Why do I have a feeling this will end badly for Josiah?” Tommy asked as he watched the recording uneasily.

 

“Because you’re catching on.” Roy said dryly, feeling the same unease as Tommy.

 

_Josiah nodded and chuckled. "What's going on, sir?" he asked, half concerned, half amused. Walter gave him a look that killed his amusement._

_"That's very much what I'm trying to determine." Walter said, ending the meeting._

_The scene shifted to SCPD. Laurel and Oliver made their way into the integration room, where Detective Lance and Kate Spencer were waiting for them._

_"Thank you both for coming." Spencer said as the two sat down across the table._

_"No, thank you." Oliver replied glibly. "It's nice to get out of the house."_

_"I'll cut right to it." Spencer glanced at Quentin, and then leaned forward. "Detective Lance arrested your client without consulting my office first. So congratulations. I am willing to consider a plea in this case."_

_"Absolutely not." Oliver replied at once, garnering a look from Laurel._

_"Mr. Queen spent five years in seclusion on a deserted island, cut off from civilization." Spencer went on. "It is quite possible he's suffering from some form of post-traumatic stress."_

“She’s not exactly wrong about that part.” Diggle pointed out with the others nodding almost absentmindedly.

 

_She sat back. "Given that, we would support a plea of insanity." She offered. Oliver scoffed, even as she continued. "Conditional on a period of indeterminate incarceration at a psychiatric facility."_

_"No, thank you." Oliver said again. "I'm not crazy."_

_"Finally something we agree on." Lance muttered. "He's not a nut, he's a killing machine." He glared at the younger man._

_"Actually, I'm neither." Oliver replied._

 

_"There is nothing you can say to me that I would believe." Lance declared, giving Oliver an idea._

_"I'll take a polygraph." He offered._

“But won’t that just show that he’s lying?” Thea asked confused but Diggle and Laurel both shook their heads.

 

“With enough training, you can be able to fool the polygraph. That’s why polygraphs are inadmissible.” Laurel explained.

 

“And if your brother had any doubts that he could fool the machine, he wouldn’t have suggested it.” Diggle explained.

 

_Laurel leaned back. "Uh, polygraphs are inadmissible." She told him over her shoulder._

_"In front of the jury." Oliver agreed. He nodded at Quentin. "I'll take a polygraph in front of him. He's the one I need to convince."_

_"I'm going to need a minute." Laurel declared. The other two left the room, with Quentin shooting his daughter a look that she chose to ignore. When the door closed, she whirled around to Oliver. "You're looking at life in prison." She announced. "What Spencer just offered you is a gift."_

_"I'm not crazy. I am innocent." He reiterated. "I kind of want to take the polygraph." He added cheerfully, and then said "And if I take it and I fail, then I will consider making a deal."_

_Laurel looked at him and saw the sincerity in his face. "Fine." She said. "I'll set up the poly. And I will tell Spencer that we're not pleading out; but Oliver, you have a family .Friends. People who actually care about you." She reminded him. "So don't, for one second, think you're the only person with something to lose here." She paused for a moment, then let out a long breath. "I'll be right back."_

_The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver, his hands still tied, was being led into a military-style camp by two masked soldiers. He was guided into a large tent and pushed up against the support pole. He winced as his bad shoulder shit._

_Before him, seated behind a table, was a man in the same black uniform as everyone else, sans the mask. He was middle-aged and blonde, and when he spoke it was with a British accent._

_"Please, sit." The man said, indicating a chair. "You're making me feel rude." Oliver dropped heavily into the chair. "I do apologize for my men's treatment of you." He continued, opening a soda and pouring it into a glass with ice. Oliver eyed the drink longingly. "They're trained to view any stranger as hostile. I’m Edward Fyers, by the way." He introduced himself. "And you are?"_

_"I'm Oliver Queen." Oliver said after a moment. "I was shipwrecked here. I don't know for how long. My family has money." He said suddenly, desperately. "They have lots of money you would be you'd be really well compensated for my rescue." He assured him._

“He won’t care,” Diggle said and everyone looked at him, “there are some men that can’t be bought, who want more than money. I think this is such a man.”

 

_"Well, I look forward to that." Fyers replied casually. "But for the moment, let's just talk."_

_"About what?" Oliver asked tiredly._

_"Well, for instance this gentleman." Fyers reached behind him and pulled a photo off a crate. He showed it to Oliver. "Do you know him?"_

_The picture showed a younger and much cleaner Yao Fei, dressed in full PLA uniform. Oliver recognized him almost instantly, and for a second thought about saying so; but something about Fyers, his men and this whole camp was setting off alarm bells in the back of his mind._

_"No." he said after a pause._

“He didn’t say anything.” Laurel said, surprised by Oliver’s selflessness so early on.

 

“That won’t stop Fryers.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_"No?"_

_"No." he repeated firmly. "Who's he?"_

_Fyers smiled tightly. "You're a poor liar." He declared. He sat back in his chair and crossed him arms. "I've been polite. I’ll offer you one more chance before my manners leave me."_

_"Hey, hey…I don't know this guy." Oliver again argued. "I thought I was on this island all by myself."_

_"Do you know what this island is named?" Fyers asked. Oliver shook his head, and he continued. "We're on Lian Yu-- Mandarin for 'Purgatory'," he leaned forward, his gaze boring into Oliver's eyes, "and I can make it feel like hell."_

_Fyers got up and walked around the table so that he was standing by Oliver. "I don't know why you're protecting him." He said, looking down at the boy. "You're young, foolish. Perhaps you don't know why, either." He considered, then in a harsher voice, "Think on that when you're begging for death." He walked out of the tent. As he went through the flap, he called out "He's yours now."_

_Oliver turned to see a large man, dressed in black body armor and a balaclava that was half orange, and half black. He carried an Uzi in his hand, wore a bandoleer across his chest with M433 grenades, a knife in his boot, and a sword slung across his back. Oliver wasn't paying attention to the weapons; however, he was looking at the man's eyes, the only human part he could see- eyes blacker than the body armor he wore._

Thea suddenly gripped Laurel’s hand tightly, not that the older woman noticed. She was almost as worried about Oliver as Thea was. Tommy stared at the screen, begging for all this to end, to be some terrible dream. But he knew it wasn’t.

 

_The scene flashed back to Queen Manor. Workmen were busy setting up for the party. Thea was sitting out on the pool deck starring absently at the Hōzen Oliver had given her, lost in thought._

_"Hey, Speedy," Oliver called, poking his head out the door. "One of the workers left a keg too far from the bar. Can you ask them to move it please?" he smiled and lifted his leg a bit, shaking the ankle monitor. "I got the ankle thingie. I don't want to set off a SWAT invasion." He joked. Thea gave him a devastated look. "Hey!" he said, coming out and sitting in the chair next to her. "All this stuff? It's going to be fine, I promise." He said sincerely._

_"Yeah, well, when you and dad left on the yacht, you promised me I'd see you in a few days." Thea pointed out sadly. "Which didn't happen."_

_"This is different than that." He countered. "I didn't do any of this stuff, you know that." He paused, seeing her hesitancy. "Right?"_

_"You're out all the time." She said sadly. "You have those scars, and since you've been back, you've been acting really weird."_

_"None of this makes me some Robin Hood wannabe."_

_"And you get me this." She lifted up the Hōzen. "I mean, it's an arrowhead."_

_"Oh, man." He sighed. "Thea, I bought that in the gift shop of the Beijing airport." He lied._

 

“I wonder where he really got it.” Thea wondered but no one had an answer.

 

_. Oliver smiled. "Now I'm sort of happy I didn't buy you the shot glass with the panda on it, 'cause then you'd be worried I was panda man." He joked, finally drawing a smile out of Thea._

_"You know, I knew you couldn't be this person." She chuckled. "I-I just… I can't lose you again."_

_"Deal." He agreed._

_The scene changed to downtown Starling City. Moira walked into an office where Malcolm Merlyn sat, signing papers at his desk._

_"Moira." He said pleasantly, putting down his pen. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."_

_"Yes. Could you please make this quick?" she asked, "I'm in the midst of somewhat of a family emergency."_

_"Yes, of course. It’s all over the local news." He chuckled. “Possibly even national."_

_"Well, I know what you're thinking." Moira began._

_"Do you?" he replied, the smile still on his face but an edge to his voice._

_"My son is not the man targeting the list." She assured him. "The charges are preposterous."_

_"Not according to the district attorney, assistant district attorney, investigating detective in the police department that filed charges against him." He said harshly._

_"That detective has a vendetta against my family." Moira argued._

_"Why? Is there something untoward about your family?" Malcolm asked. Moira's eyes flickered to the second man in the room, Malcolm's bodyguard. Then she returned her gaze to Malcolm. "If so, something really needs to be done about that." He finished._

“Did he just threaten my brother?” Thea snarled.

 

“I’m gonna kill him.” Tommy snarled, his own temper flaring.

 

“I’ll help.” Laurel said darkly.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD, where Oliver was hooked up to the polygraph. Laurel was seated beside him, while Quentin and the polygraph tech sat across the table._

_"Is your name Oliver Queen?" Quentin asked._

_"You don't know who I am, Detective?" Oliver joked._

_"The questions are to calibrate the polygraph. Is your name Oliver Queen?" Quentin demanded._

_"Yes."_

_"Were you born in Starling City May 16th, 1985?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Is your hair blue?"_

_"No."_

_"Have you ever been to Iron Heights prison?" Quentin asked, looking at Oliver._

_"No." Oliver replied calmly. Laurel looked over at him, surprise registering on her face for a moment before she schooled her expression._

“Something wrong?” Diggle asked as he noticed the interaction on screen.

 

“In the eighth grade, Ollie, Tommy and I had a field trip there.” Laurel revealed.

 

“Oh yeah, forgot about that.” Tommy said lowly.

 

_Quentin pulled out the sketch of the Hood. "Are you the man in this picture?"_

_Oliver flashed back to his interrogation on the island by Fyers and Bill Wintergreen. "Where can I find the man in this picture?" Fyers demanded of Oliver, who was tied with his arms above his head to the support post in the middle of the tent. The masked man loomed menacingly behind him._

_Back in the present, Olive answered "No."_

_Quentin looked at the tech, who nodded, showing Oliver was telling the truth. Lance licked his teeth, then tried a different approach. "You steal 40 million dollars off Adam Hunt?" Quentin demanded._

_"No, I didn't." Oliver answered._

_"Were you marooned on an island called Lian Yu for 5 years?" Quentin asked._

_"Yes."_

_"How is that even relevant?" Laurel demanded, cutting in. Quentin glared at her._

_"I don't need to show relevance, but since you asked, whatever happened to your client on that island turned him into a cold blooded killer."_

_Oliver thought back to his torture on the island, of Wintergreen's sword cutting into his flesh as he screamed in pain._

Thea gripped Laurel’s arm as she buried her face in Laurel’s shoulder. Laurel wrapped an arm around the younger woman, stroking her hair soothingly as she felt Thea cry into her shoulder. All the while trying to hold her own tears at bay. Oliver had betrayed her and she had been hurt and angry and even hated him for a time, or at least attempted to convince herself that she hated him. But he had never deserved this.

 

Tommy couldn’t tear his eyes away, as much as he wanted to. It was like a car wreck, he couldn’t stop. He would deny it later, but a single tear rolled down his cheek at his best friend’s suffering. Diggle put a hand on Tommy’s shoulder as he remembered the first time he had been tortured.

 

_"The physician that examined you reported that is covered in scar tissue." Quentin stated coldly. Laurel glanced at Oliver in shock, then looked back to her father._

_"The machine won't work unless you ask a question." Laurel said._

_"Did that happen to you there?" Quentin asked bluntly._

_His mind still on the torture, nevertheless Oliver managed to answer calmly "Yes."_

_"When you came back, you told everyone that you were alone on that island." Quentin noted. "Are you claiming that your scars were self-inflicted?"_

_"No." Oliver admitted. "I wasn't alone. I didn't want to talk about what happened to me on the island." He said._

_"Why not?" Quentin asked._

_Oliver looked at the man steadily. "Because the people that were there tortured me." He admitted, to both Laurel and Quentin's shock._

_"Have you killed anyone?" Quentin asked._

“That son of a bitch. Knowing everything Oliver’s gone through and still going through with his vendetta.” Tommy snarled, disgusted with Quentin.

 

_Oliver paused for a long moment, before looking back up at Lance. "Yes." He admitted._

Everyone stared at the screen in shock, wondering if Oliver was really about to do it.

 

_Quentin's eyes flickered towards Laurel, satisfaction clearly evident in his eyes. He looked back at Oliver. "When I asked your daughter Sara to come on my father's yacht with me." The young man finished brokenly, the very tenuous grip on his control slipping briefly. "I killed your daughter." He admitted again. He tore the sensors off his body, ignoring the look of rage and pain on Quentin's face and the look of sadness on Laurel's as he stormed out of the room._

“Oh Ollie.” Laurel sighed, finally seeing past herself and knowing it was not his fault what happened to Sara.

 

_After the door closed, the Tech looked at Quentin. "I'd have to study the data, but just eyeballing it, he's telling the truth." He stated. Quentin hummed noncommittally._

_"Can I assume that you'll be recommending Ms. Spencer to drop all charges against my client?" Laurel asked, rising from her seat. Quentin shook his head._

_"No." he said. "I know a guilty man when I see one. He is guilty, whether you can see it or not." Laurel glared at her father, and then stormed out of the room, leaving Quentin there with his thoughts._

“Laurel, I used to respect your dad,” Tommy said as he looked over at her, “even more than I did my own. No more. He’s using his power as an officer of the law to carry out his vendetta against Oliver, not caring who he hurts in the process. You better talk to him when we get back because if he pulls this crap when we do, I will have my dad use his influence to remove him from the police!”2

 

Laurel sighed but nodded. She herself was disgusted with her father’s actions in the recordings. She had tried to reach her father before, make him get sober, but no luck. She realized now she have to give him some tough love when they got back.

 

_The scene cut to Queen Manor later that night, and Oliver's party was in full swing. Oliver himself came out, dressed in a faux prison jumpsuit, and hopped on top of the small stage that had been erected. He mimed to the DJ to cut off the music, which she did promptly._

_"Hi, everybody!" he yelled. The crowd yelled back in return. Quentin Lance looked up from the crowd in thinly veiled disgust. "I'm very touched that you came to celebrate with me before I am sent up the river! Closest neighbors are six miles away, so don't worry about the noise." He paused. "Actually, on second thought, let's wake those losers up!" The crowd roared and the DJ turned the music back on._

“It’s scary how he does that.” Tommy muttered with Laurel and Thea nodding in agreement.

 

_Oliver jumped down and walked through the crowd, careful to stay on the pool deck lest Lance have a reason to arrest him (again). He walked over to Diggle._

_"If you think this is what prison's like, you are in for a rude awakening." He joked as the two headed back inside._

_Secured in Oliver's room, he showed Diggle his phone, which was tied into the GPS tracker. "Mueller's car has been parked in the warehouse district of the Glades for 45 minutes." Oliver stated._

_"Yeah, that's a good place for an arms deal." Digg noted. "Ok, since this is going down tonight, what do we do, drop a dime on Mueller with the cops?" he asked._

_"No, the man in the Hood." Oliver announced. "He's going to stop them."_

_"Oliver, you can't leave the house." Diggle argued._

_"It doesn't have to be me in the hood." He replied, giving Diggle a significant look. Diggle chuckled, more out of annoyance than amusement._

“So that how he plans on doing it…would’ve been nice if he had just asked.” Diggle grumbled.

 

_"That's why you threw this ridiculous party? So you have a hundred witnesses placing you here at the house while I'm supposed to be across town dressed as a vigilante?"_

_"I thought that it was going to be good enough just for you to be seen in the hood." Oliver explained. "I didn't count on Mueller showing up and I didn't count on the possibility that the Glades could be flooded with machine guns." At Diggle's glare, he softened his tone. "Look. I promise, it was never my intention to put you in harm's way." He said apologetically._

_"Oliver, I didn't think joining your crusade was ever going to be risk-free." Diggle said after a moment. "I just don't like being played. Now you might have gotten used to lying to everyone else in your life, but I'm the one guy you don't lie to." He told him sternly. Oliver nodded in acceptance._

_"You're right. I’m sorry." He said sincerely. They stared at one another, and then Diggle walked past him. "So am I going to jail?" Oliver asked, a little desperation creeping into his voice. Dig turned to him._

_"No, man." He said. "I got to stop an arms deal."_

“Thank you.” Thea finally gained control of her emotions and looked over at Diggle, who nodded silently.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated, where Walter was working late. His phone rang and he picked it up._

_"Hello?"_

_"Mr. Steele," the voice on the other end of the call said, "I'm sorry to bother you, sir. This is Mike Vogel down in security. I'm afraid I have some sad news for you. The company's head of security, Josiah Hudson, was in a car accident tonight. He's dead, sir." Walter stared at the phone in shock._

“I hate it when I’m right.” Tommy said as a feeling of dread descended on all of them.

 

“Me to. But especially about this.” Laurel agreed grimly.

 

_Back at Queen Manor, Oliver was getting a drink at one of the bars set up in the foyer. He turned around to see Laurel walk in the door_

_"Hello." He said pleasantly. "Do we have a legal meeting or something? Because I have friends over."_

_Laurel looked around in bemusement. "Do you think maybe you can tear yourself away from this inappropriately themed rave for a couple minutes?" she asked wryly._

_Oliver led her up to his bedroom "Wow." She remarked upon seeing it. "I can't remember the last time that I've been in this room."_

_"I can." Oliver replied instantly. "Halloween, 2005.We were getting ready for Tommy's party."_

_"Ah, Yes." She remembered, walking into the room. "I wore those horrible fishnets."_

“Don’t say it.” Laurel snapped at Tommy and Thea opened their mouths.

 

With almost matching smirks, Thea and Tommy turned their attention back to the recording.

 

_"I thought you looked good." Oliver remarked, closing the door. They both smiled at the memory._

_"Listen," Laurel began, turning to face him. "I just wanted to come by and apologize for my father's behavior today. During the polygraph."_

_"You don't have to apologize for him." Oliver said. "He has a right to feel any way that he wants."_

“He can feel anyway he wants,” Thea agreed, “but he’s doing exactly what he’s accusing my brother of doing: using his power and status to do what he wants and not caring who he hurts.”

 

“I agree,” Laurel sighed, “but can you lay off a bit? That is my father you’re talking about.”

 

“For you.” Thea agreed.

 

_"It wasn't just Sara, Ollie."_

_"What do you mean?" he asked. Laurel took a moment to gather her thoughts._

_"After Sara died, my father threw himself into his work. I think that's part of the reason I'm an attorney. He ran to the law and I followed. But my mother couldn't." she explained. "So she left him." She sighed. "Left us." She stepped closer to him. "Look, I'm not trying to tell you this to make you feel bad, or worse. I just--I really want you to understand him."_

_"Why don't you hate me?" Oliver asked plaintively. "You should."_

_"I did." Laurel agreed. "For so long, I did, Ollie. But after today, I realized that I was so focused on what happened to my family that I didn't even stop and wonder what could have happened to you." She exhaled loudly. "I didn't know about the torture, or your scars. What happened to you on that island was far more than you deserved. And I was wrong that I didn't ask you before, but I'm asking you now. I need to know .I need to see." she pleaded._

_"Are you sure?" he asked._

_"Yes." At her answer, he slowly undid the buttons on his shirt, but he couldn't bring himself to open it. Laurel did that, reaching up hesitantly and gently parting the shirt halves to reveal the scared tissue underneath._

“Good god.” Tommy said, still highly disturbed and saddened by how much his best friend had suffered.

 

_She gasped softly. "How did you survive this?" she asked softly._

_"There were times when I wanted to die." Oliver said truthfully. "In the end there was something I wanted more."_

“I think we all know what that was.” Thea smiled cheekily at Laurel, who shifted uncomfortably.

 

_Slowly they came together, until finally they were kissing. It was at once both sweet and desperate; a fulfillment of a longing both had long ago resigned to the past._

_Laurel was the one to finally break the kiss. "No." she gasped, backing away, shocked by her own actions. She practically ran past Oliver. Grabbing her purse from the ground as she opened the door._

_"Laurel, you don't have to go." Oliver said, pain and sadness creeping into his voice, but she was already gone._

Laurel was becoming very uncomfortable from the smug look Thea was shooting her as Tommy looked down so no one would see the pained look in his eyes.

 

_The scene flashed back to Lian Yu. Oliver as hanging by his wrests limply, blood oozing from several deep cut inflected by Wintergreen._

_"Amazing." Fyers said. Oliver forced himself to open his eyes, glaring weakly at the man. "You have resolve I didn't credit you for." He complimented, then considered. "Or perhaps he truly doesn't know anything._

Everyone was surprised that Oliver had kept quiet, especially those who knew him. Diggle especially, as he knew if his team hadn’t rescued him, he would have told them everything the first time he had been tortured. Fryers was right, Oliver had stronger resolve and nerve than anyone could imagine.

 

_“We should put him out of his misery." He told his masked assistant. Wintergreen moved forward-_

_Then suddenly Yao Fei was there. He took down one guard and Fyers, fired one arrow that severed the rope holding Oliver up, sending him crashing to the ground. Then he shot an arrow at Wintergreen- who caught is mere centimeters from his face. He snapped the arrowhead off with his thumb and drew his sword, and the two went back and forth furiously for several minutes. Yao Fei was able to use his bow to block the sword, and finally managed to get one good hit in on the masked man's face. The Asian then pulled up Oliver and dragged him out of the tent._

 

“Oh thank god.” Thea sighed in relief, knowing her brother was safe…at least for now.

 

“No, thank Yao-Fei.” Tommy joked and Thea glared at him half-heartedly.

 

_The scene shifted to the present. Down at the docks, Mueller was showing off his merchandise to a couple of gang bangers._

_"It's an M249 machine gun." He described, taking the weapon in question from his assistant and showing it off. "Gas-powered, air-cooled, fires up to 800 rounds per minute." He tossed it to the gang leader, who whistled in appreciation. Suddenly, the lights went out. Mueller looked around in alarm. He grabbed the gun out of the teen's hands. "We need to move, now!" he shouted, just as The Hood came out of the shadows. He took out the three gangbangers with fists and feet, finally catching the third in a chokehold and holding him until the boy passed out. Mueller and his men sped off in a Mercedes, leaving the tuck and his merchandise behind. With three gang members on the ground, Diggle looked around, satisfied._

“Well done Mr. Diggle, well done.” Laurel told him appreciatively and he just shrugged.

 

“Just doing my job.” Diggle said simply.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Walter was sitting behind his desk, steeling himself for the conversation that was soon to come. He looked up as Moira walked into the office._

_"I'm not accustomed to being summoned to the office in the middle of the night." She began, putting her purse down on a chair, "Well, what was it that was so important that I had to race down here?"_

_"I found the 'Queen's Gambit', Moira." Walter said. A look of panic and fear flitted across her face. "I know you secretly had the boat salvaged." He went on. "I wanted to move it to a more secure location before confronting you about it. In fact, I sent Josiah Hudson to the warehouse for precisely that purpose." He took a breath. "But he died mysteriously in a car accident." He looked at his wife. "I hope you now have a better understanding of why it is I've been so distant of late." He continued as she took a seat. "It's very disconcerting to discover that the person with whom you share your home, your bed and your heart has been lying to you so convincingly, and I would be a fool not to consider all the things that you have told me were lies."_

_"Walter, you're my husband, I-" she tried, but he cut her off._

_"Yes, I am." He said coldly._

_"Walter, please." Moira stood. She looked pleadingly at her husband, "You've got to stop looking into this, it's not safe. You'll be--you'll be upsetting people, people with influence. You are very far out of your depth." She warned._

“Walter won’t stop, he won’t stop until he knows everything…or he’s been killed.” Thea said as a pit of dread settled in her stomach.

 

“Whatever happens Thea, we’re being shown this so we can change it.” Diggle reminded her and she nodded slowly as Laurel wrapped her arm around her once more.

 

_Back at Queen Manor, Oliver was still holed up in his room when his phone rang. He answered it._

_"Man in the hood, one, gangbangers, zero." Diggle said._

_There was a knock at the door. "Hang on." He said to the phone, then put it to his chest. "Yeah?"_

_"Mr. Queen," outside the door, Malcolm Merlyn's bodyguard, dressed as a bartender, was quietly attaching a silencer to his pistol. "If you're entertaining guests upstairs, should I have some drinks sent up?" he called through the door._

“Shit.” Roy cursed.

 

“Dad.” Tommy said with such contempt that it surprised even him.

 

“This is bad, this is bad right?” Thea began to panic, not wanting to watch her brother die.

 

“Let’s see what happens, remember, Oliver can take care of himself.” Diggle tried to calm them.

 

_"No." Oliver responded, getting up to rejoin the party. "It's just me up here and I'm on my way back down." Into his phone, he said quietly. "Good job. Now get back here." He went to open the door as he hung up his phone, and he was briefly startled by the bartender that was standing there. He was even more startled when the man brought his gun up. Acting on instinct, he grabbed the gunman's hand, forcing the gun away from his face, and punched him solidly on the jaw. He dragged the man into the room, quickly disarming him, but soon the man fought back. The two flew over the love seat and crashed through a coffee table, smashing it to bits. He tossed the killer across the room, inadvertently right to his gun. The man got up and was about to shoot Oliver when suddenly he was shot from behind by a charging Lance. The two men looked at one another in shock._

“How’s that for irony?” Roy drawled.

 

Thea punched him in the soldier, smiling slightly as she did.

 

_Later downstairs, Oliver and Thea were sitting on one of the couches in the sitting room, Oliver with an ice pack in hand. Tommy sat across from them in a chair. Lance was busy talking on his phone._

_"Yeah." Lance grunted into the phone. "Yep." He hung up and looked over at Oliver._

_"How did you know I was in trouble?" Oliver asked curiously._

_"Because when the guy was fighting you, he broke the ankle monitor." Lance responded truthfully._

“Of course.” Laurel rolled her eyes, her irritation with her father rising as her patience ran its limit.

 

_Just then, Moira and Walter walked in briskly. "Are you all right?!" she asked her son, panicked._

_"I'm fine."_

_"Oliver…"_

_"Mom. I promise." He assured her. That fear aside, she whirled around and pointe an accusing finger at Lance. "This is on you." She practically snarled. "By accusing my son publicly, you've made him a target."_

“She’s not wrong.” Laurel admitted, disappointed in her father’s bloodthirstiness.

 

_"Do you have any idea who attacked Oliver?" Walter demanded._

_"We haven't identified him." Lance admitted. "Though it must be someone with a grudge against the Hood, obviously." Lance moved towards Oliver and removed the ankle monitor._

_"What are you doing?" Oliver asked as he did it._

_"I got a call from my lieutenant. An arms dealer was attacked across town tonight." He paused, and then said reluctantly "By the vigilante. Multiple witnesses put him there." He turned to Moira. "In light of that, all charges against your son are being dropped."_

_"I'm truly sorry for what's happened to your family, Quentin." She said softly, and then her voice hardened. "But would you kindly get the hell out of my house." It was a statement, not a question._

_"Mr. Lance," Oliver called out. "Thank you." He said sincerely._

“Oliver’s a better man than me, I wouldn’t be so forgiving.” Tommy said with Roy nodding in agreement.

 

“At last we agree.” Roy drawled.

 

_Lance nodded in reply, and then left._

_The scene changed to the next day. Moira entered Malcolm's office as he was preparing to leave._

_"Moira." He said pleasantly. "Did we have an appointment?"_

_"No, but I decided to screw propriety after you tried to have my son killed." Moira shot back._

_Malcolm smiled slightly at the fire in her voice. "I'm sure you understand, I was justified in suspecting your son of being the vigilante targeting our associates." He explained calmly. "I had to take steps."_

“That’s his defense, he had to take steps? It’s like I don’t know him at all.” Tommy said disgusted.

 

_"And now that you know your steps were taken in error, that Oliver is not your enemy." She asked. Malcolm chuckled._

_"I offer my sincerest apologies."_

_Moira glared at him. "I know you found out I had the yacht salvaged, just as I know you had Josiah Hudson killed." She said pointedly._

 

_"Well, accidents tend to befall people who are too curious." He replied, equally pointed._

_"I've been the good soldier." She shot back. "I've done everything you asked. But if any member of my family so much as gets a paper cut, I will burn your entire world to ashes." She threatened before turning and walking out of the room. Malcolm smiled as she left._

“Oh god, is he-is he attracted to my mom?” Thea asked looking green.

 

“I hope not.” Tommy said, not looking much better.

 

_The scene changed back to the Manor. As Oliver was picking through the wreckage in his room, he found the small leather pouch that contained his healing herbs. He sat back down on his bed and stared at the bag, remembering._

_Flashback to the island, where Yao Fei helps a struggling Oliver into the cave. He laid him down on the cot._

_"I tell you, island dangerous, but you not tell them where to find me." He said in admiration, "You stronger than I thought." He held out the leather pouch containing the herbs. "Take it." He said, and Oliver did so. "I lead them off, you stay." He moved to the cave' entrance. "Remember, breathe." He called back. "You breathe, you survive here longer."_

_Oliver struggled to get to his feet. "No! I'm coming with you!" he called out, just as Yao Fei triggered a large rock to fall in front of the entrance, hiding it._

_Back in the present, there was a knock on Oliver's door. It opened to reveal Laurel._

“You always come back.” Thea joked and Laurel rolled her eyes.

 

_"Rough party." He joked._

_"My father told me what happened." Laurel said. "Are you ok?"_

_"Yeah, I'm fine." He assured her._

_Laurel held up a white envelope. "These are your polygraph results." She said, stepping closer. "My father asked you if you'd ever been to Iron Heights." She continued. "It's the prison where the vigilante saved me last week. It's also where you and I went on our eighth grade field trip." She added. Oliver kept his face blank. "When you said that you had never been there, I thought maybe you were just nervous, or that you'd forgotten. But then I looked at your results, and there is a slight flutter in your answer to that question. And if you lied on one, you could have lied on others." She finished._

_"What happened to me being too selfish to be a masked crusader?" he asked coldly._

_"Oliver! I saw your scars!" she exclaimed. Oliver looked away, and then moved to stand right in front of her. Though he didn't look at her; instead he kept his eyes on the ground._

_"Do you want to know why I don't talk about what happened to me there?" he asked. He finally looked right at her. "Because if people knew; if you knew… you'd see me differently. And not as some vigilante guy. As damaged." He sighed. "I don't sleep. I barely eat. I can barely sign my name, let alone aim a bow and arrow." He said emotionally, only partially lying._

“There’s probably some truth to that,” Diggle mused as they looked over at him, “the Oliver Queen you all knew…he wouldn’t be able to handle what happened to him. But he died when he washed up on Lian Yu. The person who returned is someone else entirely.”

 

_Laurel took a breath. "After last night clearly we're still attracted to one another." She said. "Oliver. Nothing can ever happen between us." She stated._

_"I know." He replied. She handed him the results, then turned and left._

_The scene changed to the lair. Oliver was moving his munitions crate to the top of one of the work tables._

_"So you lied to her." Digg said, then added, "Or maybe you just gave her a version of the truth."_

_"I told her what she needed to hear, Diggle." Oliver argued. "She was too close."_

_"Sad thing is, I think you actually believe that." Digg countered. "I think things didn't go down exactly how you planned."_

_Diggle's voice continued as we see Thea, seated at her desk in her room, looking over an article about Oliver. She looked over, then picked up the Hōzen, studying it._

_"You didn't count on so many people having questions, doubting you. You didn't think about what happens when you lie. Especially when you lie to the ones you love the most."_

_Walter was in the Foyer, pulling a wheeled suitcase that he handed over to his driver. "Thank you, Chris." He said as Moira, clad in her pajamas, ran down the stairs. "Walter?" she called, stopping halfway down the stairs. "What is this?"_

_"Business trip." Walter announced. "I decided it's long overdue for me to inspect our holdings in Melbourne."_

_Moira read between the lines. "And how long will you be?" she asked, trying to reign in her emotions and failing._

_"I don't know." He said sadly, then walked out to his car._

“Great, now I’m from a broken home.” Thea grumbled as Laurel put a hand on her shoulder.

 

_Diggle's voice continued. "When you were stuck on that island plotting your grand plan to save the city, I don't think you stopped to consider the effect it would have on the people in your life."_

_The scene cut to a bar, where a very drunk Lance sat slumped over the bar, chewing on a straw. Laurel came in, spotted her dad, and walked over to him. "Let's go." She announced, helping him to his feet. Lance grunted drunkenly. "You're ok. No, no, no." Laurel said as Lance reached for his drink, downing the last of it before he allowed her to guide him out of the bar._

_Back at the Lair, Diggle finished. "Or how it might hurt them."_

_"You're wrong." Oliver denied. "I think about it all the time. And just to be clear, not being able to tell my family the truth…it doesn't hurt anyone worse than it hurts me." He finished, opening the case and pulling out the hood._

_"Where are you going?" Diggle asked worriedly._

_"Mueller still has to sell those guns and I have to stop him." He said coldly._

_"Oliver--" Digg called out._

_"He had his chance."_

_The scene changed to another warehouse down by the docks. Mueller was pitching his deal to another gang._

_"28 crates, four guns in each crate, $250,000 cash. Take it or leave it. That's the deal." He said. Then suddenly, The Hood- the REAL Hood was on them. He managed to take out the guards and the gang in under a minute, disabling them all with arrows and stiff blows. He finished and drew the bow back once more, his eyes locked on to Mueller's._

_"Leo Mueller, you have failed this city." The Hood intoned, and then let loose an arrow, right into Mueller's heart._

“Well, that was certainly enlightening,” Tommy said in a false cheerful voice, “onto the next one!”

 

Nodding silently, Diggle picked up the remote and started the next recording.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: I like Quentin, but his behavior up to this point was inexcusable. Being continuously hostile and unprofessional towards Oliver, as understandable as that is, I’m pretty sure that’s harassment. But Quentin didn’t just limit himself to Oliver; he was the same way with Oliver’s family and Tommy, just to a lesser extent. And judging by season three’s flashback special, this has been going on since he first fell into alcoholism. In any other city, he would be regulated to desk duty at the very least.
> 
> 2: Quentin was super lucky that he still had a job by the second half of season one. At various points in the first half of the season, the Queen’s and Merlyns could have used their influence to have Quentin removed from the SCPD and they would have had the grounds to do that. It was only by Oliver, Moira, and Tommy’s grace that he was still a cop.


	8. Legacies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laurel and Tommy argue about his attempts to woo her, Roy and Diggle argue about the criminals in the city as they meet one of the most vile creatures in Starling City: Carter Bowen.

_The scene opens as 3 men in hockey masks, each painted with a different playing card, storm into a bank at midday. All three carried AK-47's, and one carried a jackhammer on his back. Ace of spades raised his AK-47 and fired several shots into the ceiling._

_"As Kanye says, get 'em high!" Ace of Spades screamed._

“A bank robbery, huh.” Roy observed.

 

_"As Kanye says, get 'em high!" Ace of Spades screamed._

_"You better move! Move! Nobody lift their head, nobody gets hurt!" King of Spades said, leading the people out from behind the counter at gun point, directing them to lay with the other customers on the lobby floor._

_"Get down! Get on the floor right now!" Jack of Spades yelled. The bank manager looked up at him._

_"You can't jackhammer into the safe." He said. "It's too thick."_

_Ace of Spades slugged him. "Shut up!" he snarled. He began pacing, watching over the hostages as the other two members ran into the open safe._

_"We're through!" one of them yelled out. "We got three minutes!"_

_"Make it 2!" Ace called back._

_On the ground, one man was slowly reaching back to a hidden ankle holster. A woman who was on the floor next to him stared at him with panicked eyes._

_"Are you trying to get us killed?" she whispered._

_"Don't worry." He assured her, using his other hand to pull his jacket away far enough to show his badge. "I'm a cop."_

“Why do I have a feeling this won’t end well for him?” Tommy asked beginning to feel uneasy.

 

“Because you’re not as dumb as you look.” Roy quipped.

 

Tommy glared at Roy before turning to look at Laurel and Thea, betrayed as the two women attempted to stifle their giggles.

 

_"Please don't do anything." She pleaded, her voice getting louder. "I don't want to die. Please!" her pleading drew the attention of Ace, who looked at the cop coldly before lowering his gun and shooting him several times in the back._

“Son of a bitch!” Tommy exclaimed as they all stared, horrified at Ace’s brutality.

 

_King came rushing out of the vault. "What the hell's going on?" he demanded._

_"He was a freakin' cop." Ace snarled. King shoved him._

_"Enough throwing shots." He ordered. Suddenly the sounds of police sirens could be heard._

_"You hear that?" King asked._

_"Someone triggered the alarm!" Ace raged, beginning to lower his AK once more. King shoved it up into the air._

_"Don't!" he ordered. "That's it. Let's go."_

Laurel breathed a sigh of relief, glad no one else was going to get hurt…today.

 

_Outside the bank, the police were setting up a barricade. Detective Hilton raised a megaphone and began to speak._

_"This is the Starling City police department." He announced. "Lay down your weapons and come out with your hands up."_

“Yeah, ‘cause that _always_ works.” Roy said sarcastically.

 

_Hilton and a small squad moved into the bank, guns drawn. One of the officers stopped at the shot cop and checked for a pulse, which he found. He immediately called for an ambulance as Hilton and the rest moved further into the back. They made their way into the vault, where a hole had been cut in the floor._

_A block away, the robbers crawled out of an open manhole next to a waiting van._

_"Come here." King demanded, grabbing Ace's arm. "You shot a cop! This is not how we do things!"_

_"Me getting killed isn't how we do things, either, is it? Is it!" Ace demanded, pulling off his mask. King pulled his off as well, and immediately you could see the resemblance between the two men._

“Father started out, brought the son in later?” Roy guessed.

 

“We don’t know that yet.” Diggle pointed out and Roy nodded.

 

_"Get in the van!" he said, pushing his son onto the waiting van. He paused to look around to make sure there was no one watching. Seeing nothing, he closed the door, and the van sped off._

_The scene changed to the lair, where a shirtless Oliver was sparring with Diggle with escrima sticks._

“And the inferiority returns.” Tommy said as he looked down at himself.

 

_"Anchor the rear hand, Diggle." He advised. "Come on."_

_"Ok." Diggle responded, and the two started again, only for Oliver to quicken suddenly and smack the side of Diggle's jaw._

_"Uhh!" he exclaimed, touching his hand to his mouth._

_"Variable acceleration." Oliver explained, still circling his opponent. "Most fighters work at the same pace. You switch it up, you throw your opponent off his game."_

_"That was nice." Digg noted dryly. "Where'd you learn that?"_

_Oliver paused a moment before answering. "His name's Yao Fei." He said finally._

_"He give you those scars?"_

_"One of them."_

_"Any others?" At his silence, Digg pressed on. "You know, one day you're gonna be straight with me about what really happened on that island."_

_"Absolutely." Oliver said, and the two began again. This time Digg lasted six whole seconds before Oliver spun out of the way of his shot and took out Digg's knee. "But not today!" Oliver said jovially, walking away from the sparing area and back to his computer._

“I’m a little worried by how much joy he seems to take in that.” Tommy spoke up.

 

“You and me a me both.” Thea muttered.

 

_"Yep." Oliver said, pulling up a profile on his computer. "Tonight I'm gonna use them on him. Scott Morgan runs water and power in the Glades." He showed the screen to Diggle. "Jacks up the prices when people can't pay, shuts them down even in the dead of winter."_

_"Which is at least a month away." Diggle noted. "Look at this." Digg pulled up a news article showing the bank robbery. "These guys started at Keystone 3 years ago, then began moving west, hitting banks along the way. This morning they hit Starling City Trust." At Oliver's blank look, he continued. "Shot an off-duty cop. He's in a coma and the doctors are saying it's a coin toss whether he'll make it."_

“That poor man.” Laurel said sadly.

 

“Known a lot of guys like that, who are willing to lay down their lives for the sake of others. Not a whole lot of people realize the cost of it though.” Diggle noted grimly.

 

_"If he's a cop, SCPD will be all over it." Oliver reasoned, turning his attention back to Scott Morgan._

_"Overwhelmed? Underfunded?" Digg argued. "Listen, these guys don't hit one time. They hit 2 or 3 banks per city, which means right now they're planning their next job."_

_"I think you have the wrong impression about what it is I do." Oliver said pointedly, starting down the bigger man._

_"You take out bad guys with a bow and arrow." Digg replied sarcastically, not backing down._

_"I don't fight street crime." Oliver explained. "That's a symptom of what's wrong with this city. I'm trying to cure the disease."_

“Somehow, I don’t think Oliver will be able to just walk away from this.” Laurel noted.

 

“Oliver’s a good man, just a little jaded…okay; a lot jaded,” Diggle said after everyone gave him incredulous looks, “my point is, he’s a good man, he just needs someone to give him some perspective outside the list.”

 

_"CEOs and crooked entrepreneurs. I get it." Digg tried. "Listen, Oliver, I'm just saying, maybe you can make a difference if you think beyond the scope of those pages. I'm sure your father wouldn't mind."_

_"No, you don't get it." Oliver replied angrily. "My father died so that I could live. Live and make a difference by fixing the city that he and the people in this book ruined. Every name that I cross off this list honors that sacrifice."_

_"There's more than one way to save this city."_

_"Not for me." He replied coldly. "Crime happens in this city every day. What do you want me to do, stop all of it?"_

_Digg shook his head and walked past him, heading for the shower. "It sounds like you have a narrow definition of being a hero." He said as he passed._

_Oliver never bothered to look back at the man but quietly he responded "I'm not a hero."_

“He was hero; he just never seemed to see himself that way.” Arsenal mentioned to Dinah and Kal.

 

“In a way, he was right,” Dinah said and the other two looked at her stunned, “he wasn’t the hero in the typical sense. He was a lot like Bruce; he could be hated and scorned but he could endure. He was the person who could make the hard choices no one else was willing to make. Then Felicity convinced him he could be a hero like Barry and you Clark. He set the bar so high for himself; all he could do was fail.”

 

“You may have a point there.” Kal admitted.

 

_The scene flashed back to the cave. Oliver is laying by a small fire, trying to stay warm. The fire dims, so he tears a page out of his father's notebook, crumples it up, and throws it in._

“Wait, does this mean he doesn’t have the complete list?” Tommy asked, alarmed.

 

“It would appear so Tommy.” Diggle said grimly.

_He settles back down- but then is suddenly startled by a hand clamping down on his shoulder. Panicked, he staggers to his feet, only to see the last person he ever expected to see looking back at him._

_"Dad?" Oliver asked of Robert Queen, confused._

“Dad!” Thea said brightly before deflating as she remembered her father shooting himself.

 

Roy, despite himself, reached out and took her hand. She looked up at him and smiled slightly in thanks. As Roy smiled back, Tommy noted this with narrowed eyes. He felt the overprotective big brother in him rise up. If Roy laid as much as a hand on Thea…

 

_The scene flashed back to the present at CNRI._

_"Please tell me that this is a nightmare and I'm about to wake up." Laurel said despondently. "How can Stagg Industries pull out completely? They're our largest donor."_

“Oh great.” Laurel groaned.

 

“Problem?” Roy raised an eyebrow.

 

“If you don’t consider losing our biggest financial backer a problem, then no.” Laurel groused.

 

“I’m pretty sure I could casually mention to Walter how CNRI is in need of funding.” Thea began casually.

 

“Thanks Speedy,” Laurel smiled before frowning, “why are you two holding hands?”

 

Thea and Roy looked down to see they were indeed holding hands. Their hands sprang apart like they were on fire, their faces beginning to look lie tomatoes. Diggle and Laurel smiled in amusement while Tommy glared at Roy. If looks could kill…

 

In the control room, Arsenal smiled sadly as he remembered the good times with Thea. Dinah put a hand on his shoulder, knowing what he was going through.

 

_"No, it's the stupid economy." Laurel sighed. "Ok, without Stagg, how long can CNRI keep the doors open?" she asked._

_"It depends." Joanna said as they walked back to Laurel's desk. "What time you got?"_

_"I have fiesta time." Tommy joked, walking into the office towards the two women. "Or is it siesta time? Which one means a party and which one means a nap?"_

“So not the time Tommy.” Laurel growled, annoyed and he winced at her tone.

 

_Joanna shook her head and walked back to her own desk. Laurel sighed again, this time in annoyance. "Tommy, as much as I would love to relive 'Intro to Spanish' with you, today is not a good day."_

_"Of course not. Working in this tiny brick office is intolerable." He said as they walked over to her desk._

_He leaned against a file cabinet. "Now, you know where is a spectacular place to spend the day? Coast City. Here's what I am thinking. Sunset flight on my private plane, dinner at Broome's, I'll have you home by midnight. Or maybe in the morning."_

_"What is this?" Laurel asked, half confused and half annoyed._

_"This is what we talked about." Tommy replied. "This is you getting to know the real me."_

“Word of advice Tommy: if you’re gonna try to woo me, treating me like one of those bimbos you’re trying to impress won’t work.” Laurel said a hard edge to her voice and Tommy winced again.

 

“I remember Ollie trying that at first. He learned pretty quickly it didn’t impress you.” Thea remembered.

 

“Yeah, he did.” A slight smile spread across Laurel’s face as she remembered some of the good times in the beginning of her and Oliver’s relationship.

 

_"Tommy, so you don't misunderstand, CNRI just lost its largest single donor." She explained. "Which means all of the hard work and sacrifices that I have made to help this legal clinic survive, it may have been for nothing."_

_Tommy looked at her, sitting at her desk despondently, and an idea starting to form. "Maybe another time. Yeah?" He said, then turned and left._

Laurel shifted, feeling a little guilty that she had hurt Tommy’s feelings. But there wasn’t a whole lot she could do about it; she didn’t have time for Tommy if CNRI was in jeopardy.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor, where Oliver and Thea were walking the halls._

_"I mean, haven't you noticed she's been acting a little down lately?" Thea asked her brother, then scoffed. "What am I saying? Of course you haven't."_

_"Well, who are you to judge? Since when do you pay attention to how mom's feeling?" Oliver shot back._

_"Since our stepfather suddenly decided to take a business trip halfway across the world." She replied as they headed down the stairs._

_"I think when someone at Walter's pay grade takes a business trip, it's always sudden, Thea." Oliver reasoned. "I wouldn't worry."_

“He’s got a point. My dad takes out of nowhere business trips all the time.” Tommy pointed out.

 

_"Ah," Moira said, spotting her two children as she but some fresh flowers on the small table in the entry hall. "Guess who I just hung up with?" she asked. Oliver shrugged his shoulders. "Janice Bowen. Carter's mother." She explained._

Tommy and Thea groaned while Laurel rolled her eyes.

 

“I take it he’s not very popular with you three.” Diggle said dryly.

 

“He’s a self-righteous, smug, son of a-”

 

“Tommy,” Laurel cut him off, “I think they get it.”

 

With a tight smile, Tommy smiled as everyone was uncomfortable now. Hoping to relieve the tension, Diggle unpaused the recording.

 

_"Oh." The two said._

_"Carter Bowen. The perfect son." Oliver joked._

_"Is he perfect?" Moira asked teasingly._

_"According to you." He smiled. "Carter Bowen just won the national chess championship." He began reciting. "Carter Bowen is anchoring the debate team." He turned to Thea._

_"I'm sure I didn't make that big of a fuss." Moira objected lightly._

_"Oliver, Carter just got accepted into Harvard and Princeton." Thea continued._

_"Well, that's because Carter got a perfect score on his SATs." Oliver replied._

“Good god, I would kill myself if my dad went on about him as much your mom.” Tommy complained.

 

“I was sorely tempted.” Thea said darkly.

 

_"All right, all right, all right." Moira laughed. "I get it, I get it. Well, they're coming for brunch and I expect you to be there."_

“And the temptation returns.” Thea muttered darkly.

 

_"I have plans." Oliver said immediately. Moira smiled._

_"That's fine." She said. "Brunch is tomorrow."_

_Thea smiled wickedly at her brother. "Hmm. Inches from a clean getaway." She mocked._

_"Well, you, too, Thea." Moira added, looking at her daughter whose face fell._

_"Snap." Oliver said. Thea shot an annoyed glare at him._

_"Nobody says that anymore." She groused._

_"What?" he asked, then shook his head and turned back to Moira. "Mom. I can't actually go."_

_Moira looked at Oliver seriously. "I haven't seen the Bowens in years." She said calmly. "So whatever it is that you have planned, I'm sure the two of you can make the sacrifice just this once."_

“If she wants to see them, why doesn’t she just go over? Why do Ollie and I have to suffer?” Thea grumbled.

 

“Good question.” Tommy agreed.

 

_Oliver sighed, then set his shoulders. "We'll be there."_

“Don’t give in man!” Tommy shouted uselessly at the screen.

 

_Thea gave a wan smile as she dropped her head, surrendering to the inevitable. Moira smiled at her two children and walked away._

_"I hate you." Thea told Oliver, not even looking at him before she too left. Oliver's phone rang._

_"Yeah." He answered._

_"You know your friend Scott Morgan from your father's list?" Digg said over the phone. "He tried to kill himself. Maybe he was afraid of getting a visit from you. How fast can you make it to Starling General?"_

_"On my way." Oliver replied, cutting the call. As he moved to walk out, Tommy walked in._

_"Hey, just the man I wanted to see." He said. "I just picked up a new sports car, and I'm thinking we can open her up, pick up a few speeding tickets--"_

_"That sounds great, but something's come up." Oliver interrupted, patting him on the shoulder. "I gotta jet." With that, he walked out the door to Tommy's disappointment and bewilderment._

“Way to help a brother out.” Tommy said dryly.

 

_"Oh. Uh, okay. Nice talk. Thanks." Tommy shook his head._

_"He moves fast, doesn't he?"_

_Tommy turned to see Thea walking back into the foyer. He gave her a smile. "It's ironic, really, since you're the one we call Speedy."_

_Thea rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. For the love of God." She moaned. She gave him a compassionate look. "But if you need somebody to talk to, I'm here."_

“This can only end well.” Roy drawled.

 

“Please tell me you are not about to talk to a teenage girl, Thea no less, about your love life? That is inappropriate on so many levels.” Laurel snapped and Tommy winced.

 

“Well, I was never the smartest guy out there.” Tommy smiled weakly.

 

_Tommy considered her offer. "You know, maybe you could help." He started. "There's this girl that I'm interested in. And I am really not sure how to pursue it."_

_Thea gave him a smile. "Have you tried using your usual lines? Hi, my name is Tommy Merlyn and I'm a billionaire, but I don't look like Warren Buffet."_

_"Yeah. She is aware of that, and she doesn't care." He said. Thea eyed him with interest now. "You know, money really isn't a big deal to her."_

_"Why don't you just tell her how you feel?" she asked._

_"Well, I've--I-- I've known her for a long time, and I'm not sure the direct approach is really the right way to go." He explained._

_"Maybe you just have to figure out what's a big deal to her and make it a big deal to you." Thea suggested, a warm look in her eyes._

Thea groaned internally, knowing how she was probably going to take this. Enter embarrassment.

 

_"Yeah." Tommy pepped up. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You are amazing. Love you!" he called as he ran out the door._

_The scene changed to Starling General Hospital. Oliver got off of his bike by the ER and walked up to Diggle, who was standing next to a newly-arrived ambulance._

_"You sure?" he asked his body man quietly as he joined him. "Scott Morgan doesn't seem like the type who would try to kill himself."_

_"True, but it's the best lie I could come up with on short notice." Diggle said as Stan Washington was pulled out of the ambulance on a stretcher. His wife followed shortly behind._

 

“You are a mad genius Dig, a mad genius.” Tommy praised and Diggle shrugged.

 

“I have my moments.” Diggle shrugged it off.

 

_Mr. Diggle," she said, "I can't thank you enough for arranging to move my husband from County Ward to Starling General. Now I know he's getting the b_

_best care available."_

_Diggle smiled and indicated to Oliver. "You really should be thanking this man, Oliver Queen. He's paying the bill." He explained, more to Oliver than the distraught wife. He turned to Oliver, who was holding his anger at being played in check. "Jana's husband Stan is a police officer, who happened to have been making a deposit at Starling Trust Bank."_

_"The bank that was robbed." He said to Diggle shortly. He turned to Jana, sympathy now showing in his eyes. "I was so sorry to hear about your husband. Is he gonna be okay?" he asked._

_"The doctors say the next 24 hours are crucial." She said tearfully. She sighed. "He should have just kept his head down, you know?"_

_"I've known a few police officers in my day." Digg noted, looking at Oliver now. "Always willing to help others even if that means putting themselves at risk."_

“You made a point while using emotional blackmail. Not bad.” Roy admitted.

 

_"Thank you." She said again._

_"You're welcome." Oliver replied, and Jana moved to walk next to her husband as he was wheeled in. Oliver turned to Diggle with a scowl on his face._

“And here comes the anger.” Laurel noted.

 

_"You lied to me."_

_Digg just gave him a look. "You asked me to work with you, not for you." He said plainly. "And when you did, you said it was because you understand the kind of man I am. Well, Oliver, I'm the kind of man who doesn't walk away when there's a chance to make a difference. And neither does Stan Washington." Oliver shook his head and walked back towards his bike. "Oliver, I'm not finished talking." He called after him. "Where are you going?"_

_"To go make a difference." He replied. "Let's catch some bank robbers."_

“Wow, he sure changed his mind fast.” Tommy said surprised.

 

“He’s a good man. He just needed a little push.” Diggle explained.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair, where Oliver and Digg were going over surveillance footage from the bank._

_"See that guy right there?" he indicated Ace. "He's got a temper."_

“No kidding.” Thea muttered as they all remembered how Ace ruthlessly shot Officer Washington in the head.

 

_"And he shot Officer Washington." Oliver noted, studying the frozen footage._

_"That's right." Diggle agreed._

_"College ring." Oliver noted, looking at Ace's raised hand._

_"Or high school, more likely." Diggle offered._

_"That ring will get us an I.D." Oliver decided._

_"Yeah, but even with photo enhancement, you're gonna have a problem getting a clear shot of that ring."_

_"No, but it left an impression the police would have photographed." Oliver said. "It'll be in evidence lockup." Oliver stood and walked back towards his munitions box._

_Digg sat back down and began to study the footage some more, then suddenly looked up. "Please tell me you're not going where I think you're going."_

“Do you even have to ask?” Roy asked in amusement.

 

_"Diggle, why do you even ask?"_

“Huh, that’s…creepy.” Roy decided.

 

_Later that night, The Hood found himself sneaking into the police station, crawling in through an unlocked window. And moving stealthily through the halls. He was forced to hide briefly from Detective Hilton by bracing himself on the ceiling; once the detective was gone; he crept into the bullpen and hacked into the S.C.P.D.'s evidence files, saving it to a flash drive. Once that was done, he left as silently as he entered, the cops none the wiser._

“Man he got lucky.” Tommy breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“Not luck, skill.” Diggle corrected.

 

_The scene changed to CNRI the next day. Laurel walked in to find Tommy leaning against Joanna's desk._

_"So, where are you gonna take me today? Monte Carlo?" she asked sarcastically._

_"Actually, I was just telling Jo here that the Merlyn Global Group is looking to expand its local philanthropy, and I thought that we could start by sponsoring a benefit for CNRI." He said with a smile._

“Unbelievable.” Laurel snapped.

 

“It’s my money and you guys could really use it. I don’t see the problem.” Tommy said not getting it.

 

“You are using your money to try and get into my pants Tommy. You know how that makes me feel? It makes me feel like a hooker, like a slut. That is the problem.” Laurel snapped angrily.

 

“…Oh.” Tommy said lamely.

 

_"Thank you, Tommy, but I think we can manage without your family's finances." Laurel said frostily. Tommy's smile fell, and Joanna looked between the two._

_"Laurel, a word?" she asked her friend, pulling her away. "Come on. What are you doing?" She asked._

_"He's not interested in throwing us a fundraiser." Laurel hissed. "What he wants to have is the first annual attempt to get back into my pants gala."_

_"Who cares why he's doing it? We need the money." Joanna stated._

_"Not like that we don't." Laurel denied._

_"We really do." She reiterated. They both looked to Tommy, who flashed a hopeful grin. "So you're gonna listen to your best friend's advice." She continued. "You are gonna go over there and say, 'Thank you, Tommy, we'd be honored if you'd throw us a fundraiser'." She looked at Laurel expectantly._

_Laurel sighed in annoyance and turned back to her would-be suitor. "Thank you, Tommy. We would be honored for you to throw us a fundraiser." She deadpanned._

“And there goes my self-respect.” Laurel said irritably and Tommy shifted guiltily.

 

_Tommy gave a genuine smile._

_The scene changed to the Foundry, where Oliver and Diggle were going over the forensic evidence from the shooting._

_"The bank manager Ace punched, his ring left a mark." Oliver stated, pulling up the picture. He ran the image through a few databases, and finally came up with a hit. "Larchmont High." He said, looking at Diggle. "High school." He noted, and Diggle smiled._

Diggle smiled in satisfaction.

 

_. "I cross-referenced his height and relative age with a list of students and alumni."_

_"Still, that's a pretty long list." Digg noted. Oliver nodded._

_"It was." He said, pulling up another file. "I dug a little deeper and found Kyle Reston." The two stared at the picture on the screen. "Right before Kyle's senior year, not only did he drop out, he dropped off the grid. Along with his family-- father, mother, younger brother."_

_"There are two other guys involved in this robbery." Digg said._

_"And a woman." Oliver pulled up the footage from the robbery again. "Aside from Stan Washington, there were 22 customers and employees that came out of the bank- 9 men, 13 women. Inside the bank, 9 men, 14 women."_

“They put a ringer in.” Diggle realized.

 

“That’s pretty clever.” Roy admitted grudgingly.

 

_"They put a ringer in." Digg realized._

_"The mom." Oliver agreed._

_"The police are looking for a crew, we're gonna look for a family. Speaking of which," he rose from the desk, "I'm incredibly late for mine."_

“Oh god, do they have to show this?” Thea groaned.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor, where Moira and Thea were entertaining the Bowens._

_"Well, I'm sorry Walter couldn't join us." Janice was saying to Moira. Moira shrugged._

_"Oh, yes, well, the Australian trip came up suddenly." She explained smoothly. "He sends his apologies."_

_"Where's Oliver?" Carter asked. "He's not out of town, too, is he?"_

_"Oh, I'm sure he's just--"_

_"Stuck in traffic." Oliver said, cutting off his mom as he strode into the room. "One of the things I didn't miss on the island-- Sunday drivers." He smiled, and then gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry I'm late." He told her, and then hugged Thea._

_"Thank God you're here." She whispered, relieved. They parted and all three Queens looked at the Bowens, all smiles._

_"It is so good to see you." Janice said, kissing Oliver on the cheek. "We all thought you were--"_

_"Oh, well, we are just happy he's home." Moira said, rubbing his back._

_He and Carter shook hands. "And returning a celebrity, too." Carter noted._

_"How do you mean?" Oliver asked pleasantly._

_"Billionaire scion, castaway for 5 years." Carter started as they took their places at the dining room table. "You know, there is a bidding war for the rights to your life story. At least that's what my agent says." He finished with a chuckle._

_"Agent? I thought you were a neurosurgeon, Carter." Oliver asked._

_"I know. It's crazy, right? One minute I'm publishing this book on how long-term potentiation initiates the creation of a slow-moving protein synthesis, and the next, there's an agent trying to make me the next Dr. Oz." Carter said, completely unaware how pretentious he sounded._

“Good god, I want to stab my ears out just from listening to him for a couple minutes. How did you all put up with it?” Roy asked as he looked around at Laurel, Thea, and Tommy.

 

“Lots of self-control.” Laurel told him.

 

“Plus, I sometimes fantasized about holding him under the water during gym class until the bubbles stopped.” Tommy said darkly and everyone looked at him startled.

 

“That’s pretty dark man.” Roy told him creeped out.

 

Tommy simply shrugged.

 

_Oliver looked confused. "Why would he want you to be a wizard?" he asked, and everyone laughed._

_"Oh, Oliver." His mother said with a smile, shaking her head._

_Thea leaned into the table, looking at her brother. "For all our sakes, start reading Us Weekly." She advised. Oliver looked annoyed._

_"Well, the truth is, I just feel it's our duty as Starling City's more fortunate to help those most in need." Carter said._

“Yes, you’re a real humanitarian.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

_"Oh, of course." Moira agreed._

_"Wouldn't you agree, Oliver?" Carter asked the man. Oliver looked at him, a fake smile on his face._

_"You're the hero, Carter."_

_"So now that you're back, what are your plans?" Janice asked. "Will you be taking a job with Queen Consolidated?"_

_"I'm opening a night club." Oliver replied. Thea let out a surprised snort of laughter; Moira just looked surprised. Before anyone could say anything, though, Diggle walked in with a phone in his hand._

_"Sir, your liquor distributor's on the line." He said, leaning over to hand him the phone. With his back to the others, he whispered "First Bank of Starling was hit two minutes ago."_

_Oliver smiled pleasantly at the group. "Sorry," He said, rising from his chair, "business." He explained as he left to Moira's disappointment._

“For the first time since this started, I’m jealous of my brother. He got to leave that hell.” Thea complained.

 

“That’ll probably come back to bite him with Mrs. Queen.” Tommy pointed out.

 

_The two walked out into the foyer. "If the Restons' M.O. holds, they'll make their escape underground." Diggle explained softly. "First Bank of Starling is located right above the water treatment tunnels. The entrance is located here." He handed the phone to Oliver who studied it for a moment._

_Moira strode out of the dining room towards her son. "Oliver." She said sharply. "Where are you going?"_

“Told ya.” Tommy said.

 

“No one disagreed with you.” Roy pointed out and Tommy shrugged.

 

_Oliver looked back at his mother with not a little sadness. "Something's come up." He said shortly. "I'm really sorry." He said as he and Diggle walked out, leaving an angry and hurt Moira behind._

_The scene changed to First Bank of Starling. Hilton and his cops pulled up outside. Instead of going into the bank, though, they found the entrance to the service tunnel under the bank several feet away and went inside. They made their way in just as the three Reston's were making their way through the tunnel._

_"SCPD! Don't move!" Hilton screamed, gun drawn. Ace lifted his AK-47 and opened fire, causing he cops to duck for cover._

_"Enough!" King shouted, pushing his son behind cover as the police opened fire. "What are you doing?!" he demanded of Ace as he continued to fire on the cops._

“He doesn’t seem to want to fight the cops.” Diggle noted as he narrowed his eyes.

 

“Then why is he robbing banks?” Thea asked confused.

 

“I don’t have an answer for that Thea.” Diggle admitted.

 

_The Hood made his way down the hall, staying in the shadows and out of the line of fire. He spotted one back of cash on the ground and fired a special arrow at it. Upon impact, six thin but highly durable wires came out of the tip and bound secured the bag to the ground._

“Wow, cool.” Tommy said impressed.

 

_He fired another, conventional arrow at Ace, knocking the gun out of his hands._

_"Let's get out of here!" Jack yelled, even as a third arrow knocked the bag from his shoulders and secured it to the ground like the first. Ace ran to the bag and tried to break the cables; he couldn't._

“The son is greedy, very greedy.” Diggle noted.

 

_"Forget it!" King yelled, pulling his son from the bag._

_"The cash!" Ace wailed._

_"Let's go!" King shouted, hauling his son away and towards their exit. The Hood watched them leave, but before he could pursue, he heard the cops behind him._

_"All right, let's move!" Hilton yelled to his men. Suddenly he spotted the Hood. "It's the vigilante!" he called out._

“They’re more interested in catching him than the serial bank robbers?” Tommy asked in disbelief.

 

“Below and behold, out police department people.” Roy said his voice full of scorn.

 

_The Hood spun and fired an arrow into an electrical box, shorting out the lights. Then he melded into the shadows, even as Hilton and his men continued to search for the robbers, and him._

_The scene changed to the next day at Queen Consolidated. Oliver had borrowed Walter's office, and sat across from Felicity as Diggle perched on Walter's desk._

_"I should add "personal Internet researcher for Oliver Queen" to my job title." Felicity mumbled out loud as she opened up her laptop._

 

“Oh get over it; it’s for a good cause.” Tommy snapped.

 

“She is so lucky that Oliver isn’t the same spoiled brat he was five years ago, otherwise she’d be in big trouble.” Laurel noted.

_Oliver cleared his throat lightly and she looked up and smiled. "Happily, I mean." She assured him as she pushed her glasses back up._

_"His name is Derek Reston." Oliver told her. "We were close before I went away. And I want to get back in touch."_

_"I guess you didn't have Facebook on that island." She said as she ran the search._

_"Nope. Not even a Myspace account." Digg joked. "It was a very dark time."_

_Felicity finished her search and started going through the data. "Well, there's not much here that's recent. No credit activity. No utility bills." An old image of Derek Reston's Staff ID card popped up. "Well, I guess you guys must have met at the factory." She guessed._

_"Wait. What--what factory?" he asked, leaning forward._

_"The Queen Steel Factory." She replied. "Derek Reston worked there for 15 years until it shut down in '07."_

“Wait, the dad worked in my family’s steel factory?” Thea asked surprised.

 

“I have a feeling I know where this is headed.” Laurel muttered.

 

_"Derek Reston worked for my father?" Oliver asked, surprised._

_"You weren't really close friends, huh?" she noted wryly. Oliver gave her a look, and she continued. "It looks like Derek was the factory Foreman until your dad outsourced production to China. About 1,500 employees got laid off. Looks like the finance guys even found a loophole in the union contract, so, they didn't have to pay severance packages and pensions to their employees. They all pretty much lost their homes. Including your friend." She finished, looking him in the eye._

“Wow, your dad was really a douche.” Roy mentioned and Thea glared at him, which didn’t affect him.

 

_The scene flashed back to the cave, where a stunned Oliver stood across from his father._

_"You died." He whispered._

_"I asked you, I begged you to survive." Robert stated. But if you don't think you can…" he stepped up to Oliver, pulling the gun out from behind his back. He held it out to his son. "There's still one bullet left." He told him. Oliver reached out for the gun. "But, Oliver, my death is made meaningless by yours."_

_Oliver took the gun, held it in his hands, looked at it. He looked up at his dad. "I'm starving. I'm gonna die anyway, and I just want it to be quick. I want it to be quick, like yours was."_

_"You can survive this." Robert pleaded._

_"No, I can't. I'm not as strong as you think I am. And I'm sorry." He put the gun to his temple…_

Roy, without thinking, grabbed Thea’s hand again. She turned and buried her face in his shoulder as he unconsciously wrapped his free arm around her, looking only a little uncomfortable. Laurel turned away, wiping the tears from her eyes as Tommy put a hand over his face.

 

_"The Restons just got home after 5 years of being away." Oliver was saying to Diggle. "Those factory guys hung out at a bar after work. I'm going down there. Hopefully Derek Reston wants to take a stroll down memory lane."_

_"And if by some miracle Reston's there?" Digg asked._

_"I'm gonna give him the chance to do the right thing." He replied, waiting for the elevator._

_"Oliver, he already had his chance to do the right thing. It's called not being a criminal."_

“Don’t judge until you’ve been where he’s at. Until you’re at a place where the law can’t, refuses to help you.” Roy snapped as Thea let go of him.

 

“There’s right, and there’s wrong. Being a criminal is wrong.” Diggle said firmly.

 

“Take a stroll through the Glades. I think you’ll see why it’s so rundown.” Roy sneered.

 

“Enough, both of you. We weren’t brought here to argue.” Laurel chided them.

 

Nodding slowly, Diggle turned away and unpaused the recording.

 

_"This is happening because of my father." Oliver said plainly. "Because of my family."_

_"No." Diggle argued. "You're worried about the wrong thing. It's not your fault. The Restons aren't the victims."_

_"My family stole from this city." Oliver explained. "They hurt the people in it. And I am hell-bent on making that right." The elevator door opened, and Oliver stepped in alone. "For Derek Reston, that means giving him the chance to make it right."_

Tommy felt a swell of pride at his friend’s growth. He remembered Oliver before the gambit, how he didn’t seem concerned about anything or anyone but himself. He was happy to see how much Oliver had changed. However, he also couldn’t help but feel jealous as he saw Laurel gazing at Oliver with admiration and-he thought feared dreaded-infatuation.

 

_The scene changed to CNRI, where Tommy and Laurel were pouring over details for the upcoming fundraiser._

_"Hey, don't fade on me now." Tommy said as Laurel sighed. "We have about 10,000 more decisions to make." She smiled at him; he smiled in return. "Now, cake-- chocolate or mocha?"_

_"Mmm…. Carrot." she decided._

_"Are you sure about that? Because Bugs Bunny hasn't RSVP'd yet." Tommy joked, and they both laughed quietly. Laurel looked him over, a serious look in her eyes._

_"Tell me, why the full-court press? Asking me to Coast City, the fundraiser-- why now?" she finally asked._

_Tommy let out a long breath, gathering his thoughts. He leaned back in his chair and began. "You know, I was in a bar last week, and I was talking to this girl, and things were progressing, if you know what I mean."_

_"No. You're too subtle." They both laughed again, but the smile quickly fell off his face._

“Understatement of the century.” Thea deadpanned and Laurel laughed lightly as Tommy smiled slightly at her.

 

_"Anyway, we finally go back to her place, and I realize all of a sudden-- That I'd been there before." He sighed. "Been with her before. Two years ago. Just didn't remember. So I left." He leaned in, elbows on the table, a small smile on his face again. "You know, I remember some of the mornings when you and I were together and I made you omelets." Laurel smiled at the memory. "And I'd be in your kitchen and I would think to myself, this isn't just fun. This is more than fun. This is this is different. I never felt that way with anybody else. And I miss it." He ended, leaning back in his chair. The two stare at each other for a moment before Tommy went back to the fundraiser papers._

_"Not mocha. Carrot."_

_"Carrot." She agreed._

Laurel gazed over at Tommy, considering. He’s always been a great friend. She had kept him at arm’s length the last few years out of fear of getting hurt again. But maybe it was time to let him in.

 

In the control room, Arsenal glanced over at Dinah. She had a reflective look on her face.

 

“Did you love him?” He blurted out and she looked at him sharply. “Wow, sorry. I did not mean to blurt that out. And it’s none of my business, sorry.”

 

“It’s okay Roy,” Dinah sighed, “did I love him? Yes, but it was never enough.”1

 

_The scene changed to a bar in the Glades. Derek Reston was finishing up a game of poker with some of his old coworkers. Everyone was smiles and handshakes as Derek started gathering the deck up and the men got up._

_"Ok, fellas. Thanks for playing." Derek said with a smile. He absently shuffled the deck, but looked up when someone took the seat across from him._

_"Mind if I sit in?"_

_Derek looked across coldly at the younger man. "Oliver Queen. The prodigal son returns." He declared. "I didn't figure you for someone who would hang out in the Glades."_

_"My father used to bring me here after we visited the factory." Oliver said wistfully. "There was a Pac-man machine in the back. I had the high score for two months."_

_Derek gave him a grim smile. "The last time I saw your dad, he was making a speech, telling my crew not to believe all the gossip, that there was no way Queen Consolidated was moving production to China." He leans in closer. "A week later, they closed the doors. I didn't even get the two week's vacation pay due to me."_

“You might be right about my dad.” Thea reluctantly admitted to Roy glumly.

 

“He was a good man Speedy,” Laurel told her gently, “but even good men have their flaws.”

 

_"My father made mistakes." Oliver stated simply. "He hurt people. When people are hurt, people are in trouble, they tend to make the wrong choices. Right, Derek?" Derek leaned back, considering the man before him. "But those choices don't have to define you; they don't have to define who your family will be, because there's always one moment when you can turn it all around." Oliver continued. "If my father had another chance, I think he'd do things differently. But time ran out for him."_

_"How poetic." Derek spat. "That doesn't help me get my house back, now, does it?"_

_"No, it doesn't." Oliver granted. "No, all I can offer you is an apology and a job. Queen Consolidated has subsidiaries all over the country. I make one phone call, you start next week. So what do you say?" he offered._

_Derek seemed to consider it for just a moment, before his face hardened once more. "How about I still have some pride left? I don't need charity from the son of the man who screwed me over."_

_"Ok. If you change your mind…" he pulled out a business card. Oliver stood and moved next to Derek. "You and I have one thing in common." He stated. "We're both dealing with the consequences of my fathers' actions. What he did then, that's on him. What we do now," he placed the card on the table in front of the man, "that's on us." As he walked past, he dropped a small bug into the pocket of his jacket._

“You think Reston’ll take it?” Thea wondered.

 

“Maybe.” Roy allowed.

 

“He might…if it was just him,” Diggle said and they all turned to him, “but the son is too greedy. He’ll never be satisfied with an honest living. And that will prevent Reston from taking Oliver’s offer.”

 

_Later that night, Oliver sat in the lair, listening to the conversation Derek was having with his wife._

_"I've been thinking, baby, maybe you were right. Maybe it's time to hang it up, retire." He was saying._

_"But Kyle says we do one more or he'll go out on his own." His wife argued._

_"Well, if that's what he wants to do, that's his right, but you and me and Teddy, we're out."_

_"I want to quit, too, but I am not leaving without Kyle."_

_"What's this?" Digg asked as he came into the lair._

_"I dropped a bug in Derek Reston's jacket."_

_Digg looked at Oliver. "I thought you were going to give the man a second chance."_

_"That's what I believe in." Oliver replied. "I also believe in covering all my bases."_

“Smart move.” Roy nodded in approval.

 

_"Derek, we can't abandon our son. After all this time, he wants to end up a winner. Set for life. Otherwise what was the point?" she asked._

_"All right." Derek said. "One more." Oliver turned off the recording and sighed._

“Told ya.” Diggle said softly, not sounding happy about it.

 

_"Now what?" Digg asked._

_"We take them down."_

_The scene changed to a swank downtown ballroom where Tommy had set up the CNRI Benefit Gala. Outside the doors, Oliver was handing Diggle a radio with earpiece._

_"We monitor the Reston's with this." He said as Digg put the earpiece into his ear. "When you get a line on their plans, we move."_

_"And you're gonna do another abrupt exit?" Digg asked._

_"I'm getting better at it with practice." Oliver replied with a smile._

In the control room, Dinah and Arsenal could not contain their laughter.

 

_Inside, Tommy was talking to the hostess. "Honey, keep the alcohol flowing." He told her. He turned and saw Laurel walking in. He smiled widely at her. "I can't--wow." He stumbled as she came up to him, a smile on her face as well. "You look just really lovely."_

_"Lovely." Laurel noted with a teasing voice. "Well, it's nice that you've extended your vocabulary from words like hot and mega hot."_

_"You can just say thank you, you know."_

“Don’t hold your breath.” Laurel grumbled.

 

_Laurel smiled at him sincerely. "Thank you. You know?"_

Laurel stared at the screen in disbelief as Tommy smiled. He’ll take that as a victory.

 

_"You're welcome."_

_"Tommy." Joanne came up to the two. "This is wonderful. It means the world to us." She assured him. He smiled, and then saw someone he recognized._

_"Oh, God. Excuse me, just for a second." He said, moving off towards the coat check._

_Joanne turned to Laurel. "So?"_

_"You were right." She told her friend._

_At the coat check, a smiling Tommy came up to the newly arrived Thea Queen. "Thank you for coming." He told her, kissing her on the cheek._

_"Thank you for inviting me." She replied, smiling._

_"Well, I figured the entire Queen family and their checkbooks should be present."_

_"Oh, right. And how is that going for you so far?" she asked._

_"It is going amazing. And all thanks to you." He assured her. "You know- Thea Queen, the unlikely voice of reason."_

_"Little old me? What did I do?" she asked._

_"You gave me that great advice." He replied. "I thought about what the girl was interested in, and, uh…" he turned, looking at Laurel. Thea saw where he was looking, and instantly her heart broke._

Thea shifted, knowing where this was likely to lead. Laurel, Roy, and Diggle had also put the pieces together. Laurel looked uncomfortable while Roy attempted to hide his amused smirk. Diggle just rolled his eyes, why were they showing this petty drama, he wondered.

 

_"And you did this for Laurel." She said shakily. Tommy didn't notice._

_"And it's working. Thanks again, Speedy." He bumped her gently on the shoulder. She gave him a brittle smile._

_"Yeah. Anytime." She said, then as soon as he was away, found the roving waiter, grabbed a glass of champagne, and downed it._

“Oh, you thought I…oh.” Tommy finally caught on.

 

“Can we please move on?” Thea all but begged.

 

_Tommy walked back over to Laurel. "Oh, Tommy," she said, "do you remember Carter Bowen from high school?"_

“Oh my god, we have to put up with him here to? Is this hell?” Tommy groaned.

 

“Hey, at least you don’t have to suck up to him.” Laurel muttered.

 

_Tommy faked a smile. "Oh, yeah, sure I do." He shook his hand. "So glad you could make it."_

“And I’m not taking it well.” Tommy noticed.

 

_Carter nodded. Then turned back to Laurel. "It's so great to see you. You look amazing." Tommy's smile became even more forced as Carter continued. "I gotta say I'm so impressed with the work that you and CNRI are doing."_

_"Thanks, Carter." Laurel replied kindly._

_"You know, I've actually been thinking about starting a free clinic down here in the Glades."_

_"Really?" Tommy said. Carter nodded, and then turned back to Laurel. "Can we grab a couple drinks and I'll tell you what I'm thinking."_

_"That sounds great." Laurel said. She smiled at Tommy as Carter led her away. As her back turned, the smile slowly fell off his face, a look of melancholy replacing it._

“Tommy, I have to spend time with him to get the money for CNRI.” Laurel sighed.

 

“Yeah, I get that now.” Tommy told her.

 

_Oliver spotted his mother at the bar and headed towards her. "Hi." He said, coming up next to her. Moira glanced at her son, and then looked back at the bartender._

_"Excuse me." She said politely, and then turned back to Oliver. "Well. I'm surprised you made it tonight, given your hectic schedule."_

_"Mom, I messed up with the Bowens yesterday." Oliver said, not unkindly. "I made you a promise, I couldn't keep it."_

_"Well, it's nothing new for you, Oliver." She shot back. "I know you and I have had our difficulties, but despite all my many mistakes, I always thought that you and I had a connection. So can you imagine, just imagine, after being granted the miracle of having my child returned to me that you seem to have little or no interest in being with me or telling me the truth." Before she could continue, Diggle came up to Oliver. She glared at him._

“Bad timing man.” Tommy told him as Diggle winced.

 

“No kidding.” Diggle muttered.

 

_"Ma'am." He said politely, and then turned to face Oliver. "Redwood United Bank. They're gonna try a nighttime hit." He said quietly, and then moved off. Oliver steeled himself, sighing internally as he looked at the disappointment on his mother's face. "I have to go. I'm sorry--"_

_"No, don't bother apologizing." She sighed. "Honestly, Oliver, there are times when I wonder why you bother coming home at all."_

“Ouch.” Roy winced.

 

_The scene changed to Redwood United Bank. Derek and Kyle, in their masks, made their way into the bank and knocked out the guard while the other two family members waited in the van. The two laid a mall charge on the vault and blew it, destroying the lock and opening the vault. Once inside, both men lifted their masks and began to fill bags with money._

_"3 Minutes" Kyle said._

_"OK." Derek replied. They worked in silence for several seconds, but then a loud sound from the lobby caught their attention._

“And there’s Ollie.” Thea muttered.

 

_"You hear that?" Kyle asked his father. After a few seconds of listening, he said "I'll check it out."_

_"Alright." Derek agreed, going back to loading money in the bags. Kyle took the safety off his gun, picked up a surprise, and cautiously walked out into the lobby- where he saw The Hood._

_"Kyle Reston." The Hood growled, firing off an arrow. Kyle lifted the surprise- a plastic riot shield that blocked the arrow._

“Not good.” Tommy said nervously.

 

_"I came prepared." He snarled, firing his AK. The Hood dived over the counter, out of the line of fire. Inside the vault, Derek dropped the money, lifted his AK and pulled down his mask, heading out to check on Kyle. In the lobby, Kyle was looking over the counter for The Hood, but saw no one. He turned around- just in time to get an arrow in the shoulder. Kyle grunted in pain, then used the edge of the shield to break off the shaft of the arrow. He threw it to the ground in disgust and blocked a second arrow with the shield. Kyle charged at The Hood, ramming into him with the shield and forcing him back through several glass partitions to the far wall. The two started fighting, with The Hood pelting Kyle with blows from his bow which he blocked with his riot shield._

_In the lobby, the guard finally came around. Seeing what was going on, he reached for his pistol, only to find it wasn't there. He scrambled to his feet and ran into the security office to grab the shotgun. He came out just as The Hood knocked Kyle down to the floor._

_"Freeze!" she shouted, pointing the gun at The Hood._

_Oliver held up a placating hand. "No, hey, I got this." He started, but just then Derek Reston ran out of the vault, his gun level and ready to fire. The Hood spun and shot an arrow, knocking the gun from his hands just as Kyle grabbed his fallen AK. He got to his feet, raising the gun towards the guard._

_"Drop your weapon! Now!" The guard shouted, and then fired._

_"No!" Derek yelled, diving in front of his son and taking the blast to his chest._

Thea gasped, stunned at the development. Diggle remembered in Afghanistan where he had taken a bullet for one of his brother’s and his brothers had taken bullets for him. Roy wondered idly if he would ever meet someone who would care so much about him to do something like that for him.

 

_The Hood disarmed Kyle, flipped him to the ground, and then smashed him in the mask with his bow, knocking him out. Oliver got up and looked towards Kyle, while the guard stood, stunned, not knowing what to do._

_"He's bleeding out." The Hood said, moving to kneel next to Derek. He looked up at the guard. "Call an ambulance. Now!" The guard nodded and made his way back into the security office._

_"Kyle! Kyle." Derek gasped out._

_"He's okay." Oliver said, lowering his hood so that Derek could see his face. "He's just knocked out."_

_"It wasn't his fault. I turned my son into this." Oliver closed his eyes, remembering…_

“That may be so, but Kyle made his own choices.” Diggle noted.

 

_FLASHBACK_

_Oliver pulled the trigger; the gun clicked, empty._

_Frustrated he threw the gun to the ground._

_"Of course it doesn't work." Oliver said, realization dawning. "I'm hallucinating. Or I'm dreaming."_

_"But if you weren't… you betrayed me, Oliver." Robert said, disgusted. "I died so that you could live, and you threw that gift away. You made that sacrifice empty."_

_"I'm not you." Oliver argued. "I'm not. I'm not strong like you. I never was."_

_"I told you, I'm not the man you think I am. The things I've done. What I was about to do." Robert said._

“What does he mean by that? What was he going to do?” Thea wondered uneasily.

 

“I don’t know but I think we’ll find out.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_"Dad, what does that mean? Please?" Oliver pleaded. "I don't know what that means."_

_"I told you. I begged you. Right my wrongs!" Robert sighed. "This is your responsibility now."_

_"How? How do I do this? I can't even get off this island."_

_Robert came over to his son and put his hands on Oliver's shoulders. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth about me. But I hope… I hope that you know that I love you."_

“Dad.” Thea choked out, silent tears running down her face. Roy unconsciously took her hand again.

 

_The sounds of sirens drew Oliver back into the present. On the floor, Derek Reston died._

Diggle lowered his head. Whatever his faults, Reston was a good man who had tried to do right by his family. Roy was right; it wasn’t so black and white.

 

_Oliver looked at him sadly, then pulled up his hood and made his way out of the bank just as SWAT made their way in._

_The scene changed back to the CNRI gala. Tommy was sitting at the bar, sipping on a bourbon and watching Laurel dance happily with Carter Bowen with sad eyes._

_"Did you know that as a doctor, I was able to diagnose myself as a giant tool?" he said mockingly as he took another sip._

“Oh if only.” Laurel moaned.

 

_Suddenly a very drunk Thea came over and leaned on his shoulder._

_"How about a dance, handsome?" she asked liquor on her breath. Tommy hastily put down his drink and stood._

_"Hey, uh, I thought that we agreed that you were going to call me before you did something stupid." He said concerned. Thea scoffed._

_"You're no fun." She said, putting her arms on his shoulder, her fingers locking behind his head and pulling him closer. "I'm going to show you how to have some fun."_

_"Whoa, whoa!" Tommy hurriedly pulled her hands off his head, moving back slightly. "What are you doing?"_

_"You said I was amazing."_

_"Yeah, you are amazing," he agreed, "but you're also like my sister. My baby sister." He_ _emphasized._

“Oh boy.” Laurel said as Tommy and Thea both looked uncomfortable.

 

“This’ll make it better when they find out they’re related.” Arsenal said glibly.

 

“I know.” Dinah smirked.

 

_Well, I'm not a baby anymore." Thea replied drunkenly, a frown on her face. "Thank you for noticing." She looked past Tommy and saw Laurel dancing with Carter Bowen. "Laurel doesn't even like you! She doesn't understand you. I do. Why can't you just see that?"_

_"Thea." Tommy took a breath, then took her gently and started leading her towards the coat check. "Thea, it was a mistake to talk to you about girls and stuff." He said. "It was inappropriate, and I think it may have confused you."_

“At last he sees sense.” Laurel muttered and Tommy winced.

 

_Thea spun out of his grasp to face him. "Yeah, the rejection? It is pretty clear." She slurred. "Even if it wasn't, between my mom and Oliver and everybody in my entire life, I'm pretty much used to it by now, so…" she turned back towards the coat check, and ran head long into a waiter, causing him to drop his tray. The loud sounds of breaking glass and clanging metal drew everyone's attention._

Tommy and Laurel frowned. It was pretty clear that Moira wasn’t offering Thea the emotional support she needed. Perhaps she needed to talk to Moira about that when they got back, Laurel considered.

 

_"Whoa, whoa." Tommy said, gently taking Thea once more. "Ok, let's go, let's go. Come on."_

_A few minutes later, Laurel walked out of the building to the back alley where she'd seen the two head._

_"Tommy?" she called out. He was leaning against his car, his jacket off, watching over Thea as she puked against the wall._

_"Yep." He replied, glancing her way._

_"Is Thea okay?"_

_"Oh, yeah, she just ate some bad crab cakes." Tommy lied smoothly. Laurel didn't buy it for a second._

“Thanks for trying.” Thea sighed.

 

_"Are you sure it wasn't something she drank?" she asked wryly, her arms crossed. Tommy cleared his throat._

_"Don't worry. I got this." He assured her. "You can go back inside, keep having fun. Looked like you were having a nice little do-si-do with the good doctor."_

_"Tommy, I'm going to let you in on a little-known secret about Dr. Carter Bowen." She leaned in close. "The man is a gigantic ass." Tommy smiled. "And the only reason why I danced with him is because he wrote a massive check to CNRI. Why would you think anything else?"_

_"I guess when it comes to you; I tend not to think straight." He replied honestly._

“When it comes to women, men tend to lose communication with their brain.” Diggle told Laurel, who nodded.

 

_"Can you call me a cab?" Thea asked weakly, stumbling over to the two lovebirds._

_"Absolutely not." Tommy replied, opening the passenger door of his car. "I am taking you home. Get in."_

Laurel looked over at Tommy again. It was clear that there was more to him than just a spoiled trust fund party boy. But should she take the risk with her heart?

 

_"I apologize for making such a scene." She told Laurel as she climbed into the car._

_"Just feel better, okay?" the older woman replied as Tommy closed the door. As he moved around the car, Laurel called out, "Hey, Tommy."_

_"Yeah?" he asked, walking up to her._

_"I owe you a dance."_

_Tommy smiled. "Yeah?"_

_She kissed him on the cheek. "You earned it." She whispered, then turned and hurried back into the building, though she shot a flirtatious grin over her shoulder as she did so._

_Tommy smiled back, and then climbed into his car._

_"Please don't hate me." Thea asked timidly. Tommy gave her a look full of understanding and compassion._

_"No, no. Never." He assured her as he started the car and drove off._

Thea smiled weakly as Tommy gave her a brotherly smile.

 

_Back in the lair, Oliver was sitting, mostly in the dark. Diggle walked up to him._

_"What went down wasn't your fault." He assured the younger man._

_"I didn't say it was." Oliver said, not meeting the other man's gaze._

_"Oliver, it wasn't your fault, man." He repeated. "You gave Reston a chance. That was more than he deserved."_

_"I'm not so sure about that."_

_"Well, listen, I'll tell you this much." Dig pressed on. "You say going after the guys on that list is the way you honored your dad? Well, if your dad could have seen you this week, the way you cared about the people he had hurt, the way you stepped up to try to help them, I'd say he'd be pretty damn honored." He looked down at Oliver. "So maybe there is more than one way to save this city?"_

_After a few moments, Oliver nodded and looked up at the bodyguard. "Maybe."_

“Thank you for trying to reach him.” Tommy said gratefully as he glanced over at Diggle.

 

Diggle simply nodded as the recording continued.

 

_Dig nodded and moved to leave. He stopped and looked back. "By the way, Stan Washington woke up." He told him. "He's going to be fine."_

“Thank god.” Laurel said as they all breathed a sigh of relief for the man.

 

_Oliver nodded, and then retreated back to his thoughts._

_The scene flashed back again to the cave. Oliver, who had been sleeping, shot awake, breathing hard. The dream of his father had rattled him. Shaking his head, he noted the dying fire. Oliver picked up the notebook and tore another page out. He reached over, letting the paper hover just over the flames. He was about to drop it in when something caught his eye. He pulled the piece of paper back and saw writing suddenly appear, as if my magic. Curious, he took the book, opened it, and held the open pages high over the flames for a few moments. As he pulled the book back, more writing started to appear. It was a list of names. He gazed at the names, and then came to a realization._

_"My responsibility." He whispered to himself. "I promise, Dad. I promise."_

“So it all begins.” Tommy said ominously.

 

_Back in the present, Moira was pouring a drink in Queen Manor. Oliver walked in, dressed in his business suit, and leaned against the doorframe._

_"Nightcap?" he asked quietly._

_"Well, I thought it might help me." She replied. "I--I don't sleep well alone." She sighed and turned to face her son. "I'm sorry about what I said tonight."_

_Oliver shook his head. "No. You were being honest." He said, walking into the room._

_"No, not entirely." She disputed. "The truth is, with Walter being gone, I'm… I'm lonely." She walked up to him. "You know, you and I used to talk. I used to know what you were thinking. But now, even when you're home, you're somewhere else." She sighed, "I-- I guess I just miss my son."_

“The Oliver we lost is _not_ the one who returned.” Tommy said lowly, remembering the doctor’s words from the first recording.

 

_"I miss you, too." He replied honestly. "And I wish that…" he trailed off; trying to put into words how he felt. Suddenly, he had an idea. "Are you hungry?"_

“What?” Thea asked confused.

 

_The scene changed to Big Belly Burger. Oliver and Moira were sitting at a table as a waitress brought them their orders of hamburgers, fries and milk shakes. Moira, ever the proper lady, picked up her knife and fork and started to cut into the burger, but was stopped by Oliver's hand that he gently placed on hers._

_"Mom-- It's okay to get your hands dirty every once in a while." He said, smiling. "For me. Please."_

_Moira smiled at him and dropped the utensils. "All right." She said, picking up the burger with her hands and taking a large bite. "Mmm." She moaned in appreciation._

_"Mm-hmm." Oliver echoed, chewing on his own burger._

_"Mmm, yeah." Moira said, indicating her burger. "That is a great burger." She smiled at Oliver. "Thank you for this."_

_"Anytime." Oliver replied._

_"You know," Moira started, a teasing smile on her lips, "I'll bet Carter Bowen doesn't know where to find the best burger joint in Starling City."_

_"So I have one thing on him." Oliver said with a smile._

_"No." she patted him gently on the arm. "You have everything on him."_

“She has no idea.” Thea muttered.

“Absolutely none.” Laurel agreed as Diggle started the next recording.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: For the Tommy/Laurel fans out there, I am not dismissing Laurel’s feeling for him, alright. I do believe that Laurel genuinely loved Tommy. But it is obvious throughout season one, especially the last four episodes, that, as much as she loves Tommy, she just loves Oliver more.


	9. Muse of fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver goes up against a mafia princess with an axe to grind. Tommy learns about his father's plans for him while Thea realizes she can't judge Oliver on his past.

_The scene opened up with Oliver driving his Ducati downtown. He pulls to a stop in front of Q.C. and pulls off his helmet, answering his phone at the same time._

_"Hello?"_

_"Hi." Thea said over the line. "Mom said I'm supposed to remind you to pick her up for lunch."_

_"Was I supposed to have lunch with her today?" Oliver joked._

_"She said she left you like 5 messages." Thea sighed, lounging on a couch at home. "Just bite the bullet and have a Cobb salad with the woman."_

“You really don’t like spending time with your mom.” Roy noticed.

 

“Before all this, she didn’t really spend that much time with me. Once we get back, it’ll be a chore.” Thea muttered as Tommy and Laurel exchanged concerned looks.

 

_"You know, Thea, sometimes it's difficult to remember which one of you is my mother." He tapped off the Bluetooth headset and looked at the front doors, where his mother and another man were exiting._

_"Mrs. Queen, all I'm asking for is a chance to sit down and discuss our proposal." The man begged, talking and walking to try and keep up with the woman._

_"If that's all it is, then I can save us both the time." She replied, finally stopping to look at the man. "It's rejected."_

_"I see. May I ask why?"_

_Moira gave the man a look. "Do I really need to answer that, Mr. Copani?"_

“Can’t say I blame her.” Roy muttered with Diggle and Laurel nodding in agreement while Tommy and Thea looked confused.

 

“Why is that?” Tommy asked clueless.

 

“He’s a mobster Tommy.” Laurel explained and he and Thea stiffened.

 

_Moira saw Oliver on his bike across the street. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm meeting my son for lunch."_

_Oliver waved at his mother to let her know that he had seen here, but suddenly the sound of another motorcycle caught his attention. He looked over his shoulder to see a rider, dressed all in black and riding a Harley Davidson jump the curb. The rider pulled out a gun and aimed it at Moira and Copani._

 

Thea tensed. She may be angry at her mother for what she did to Oliver, but she didn’t want her mother to die.

 

_"Get down!" he shouted, jumping off his bike. Too late, the other rider opened fire, hitting Copani several times in the chest. As he fell back, he crashed into Moira, and both tumbled to the ground hard. The biker took off just as Oliver crossed the street. Ignoring the rider, he went to his mom._

_"Mom? Are you okay?" he asked her, looking her over for any wounds._

_"I'm all right." She gasped out._

_"Are you hurt?"_

_"No, I'm--I'm--" She saw Mr. Copani lying dead next to her, and quickly turned away._

_"Are you sure?" Oliver asked again._

_"I'm fine." She assured him._

_"You're sure you're fine?" at her nod, he stood and yelled at an oncoming security guard. "Call 9-1-1!" With that order, he took off through the plaza, running after the biker._

“Why is he leaving her there?!” Thea demanded, outraged.

 

“Because he’s going after the shooter.” Diggle explained.

 

“He should stay with her.” Thea grumbled and Diggle sighed, feeling a headache coming on.

 

_He ran parallel to the bike, dodging cars as he crossed the street. He saw the bike turn on to a side road, and ran down an alley. As he ran, he grabbed a piece of rebar in a dumpster and, timing it perfectly, threw the rebar like a spear, damaging the bike's rear tire as it went past. Before he could pursue, though, a large semi's horn blared and he stopped millimeters from being hit as the semi sped past. By the time the truck cleared and Olive could get a clear look, the bike was gone._

“Damn.” Tommy said what they were all thinking.

 

_The scene changed to Starling General Hospital. Moira was in a private room getting checked over by her doctor when Thea led Oliver into the room. "Hi." he said to the doctor, moving next to his mother's bed. "Are you okay?" he asked._

_"I'm fine." At his look, she repeated "I'm fine." Moira looked to Thea. "Did you reach Walter?"_

_"No." the girl replied quietly, leaning against the doorframe. "I'm sorry."_

_"As I was telling your mother and sister, the CAT-Scan showed a grade two concussion." The doctor explained. "She can go home so long as someone stays with her just to make sure there are no after effects."_

_"Thank you." Oliver said. After the doctor left, he looked sheepishly down at Moira. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you." He said._

“Damn right you shouldn’t have.” Thea grumbled.

 

Diggle was tempted to say something but he figured that it would be explained. If not, then he would say something.

 

_"I thought you were fine."_

_"What did you think you were doing anyway?" she asked. Oliver took a breath._

_"Yeah, I wanted to get the license plate of the guy who took a shot at you." He lied. Moira gave him a look._

_"Well, that was foolish." She said._

_"Yeah." Oliver agreed, then leaned down and hugged her._

_A short time later, Oliver left Moira's room. Thea followed closely behind, once again leaning against the doorframe._

_"So did you get the license plate?" she asked coldly._

_"No." Oliver said. "He got away."_

_"Maybe you should spend a little less time trying to be a hero. You're obviously not very good at it." She spat._

“And I’m back to being a bitch again.” Thea sighed.

 

_Oliver forced a grin. "That's cute."_

_"I wasn't trying to be." She replied instantly. She stared at him with cold, angry eyes. "You left her on the street, alone and hurt. In the street." She repeated, and then scoffed. "To get a license plate?"_

_A chill went down Oliver's spine, and he stepped forward, adopting an innocent, hurt look.  “You don't believe me?" he asked._

_"I love you." She affirmed. "Mom loves you. But it's getting hard when you won't be truthful with us." With that, she turned and went back into the room, closing the door in his face._

 

“Ouch.” Roy drawled as Thea winced.

 

_Oliver closed his eyes, burying the hurt deep down, before turning to leave. As he walked down the hall, Detective Lance and Hilton appeared._

_"Detectives." He greeted. "Do you have any leads on the shooter?"_

_"Not yet." Hilton said. "Did you get a good look at him?" he asked. Oliver shook his head._

_"No. He was wearing a helmet."_

_"Don't worry. We'll find him." Hilton promised._

_"My head of security is on his way." Oliver continued. "I want to make sure there are men outside my mother's door. She needs to be protected."_

_"Well, you know your family's at the tippy-toppy of my list of priorities," Lance said sarcastically, "but the guy that she was with was connected, mobbed up to the eyeballs connected. She wasn't the target." Oliver looked at the man, and then walked past the cops down the hall. "And you're welcome." Lance finished needlessly._

“Does your dad always have to be such an ass?” Tommy complained and Laurel sighed.

 

“That’s him on a good day.” Laurel said, ignoring the looks of sympathy she got.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment, where she was busy working on her laptop. A knock at the door caught her attention, and she rose to get it. Upon opening the door, she found Tommy holding a bag of take out, standing next to a delivery boy holding a pizza box._

“Well this is awkward.” Tommy joked, getting laughs out of Thea and Laurel. Which was his intention.

 

_"Technically I did get here like 10 seconds before this guy." Tommy joked._

_Laurel smiled, then handed the delivery boy a wad of cash. "Keep the change." She said, taking the box from him. The boy left, and Tommy walked in after Laurel. "So, Tommy, what brings you by so late?" she asked._

_"Well, I assumed, rightly, that you would be at home working tonight," he started, "And I also assumed that you might be hungry." He noted the box. "Also rightly."_

_"I don't know." Laurel held up the box. "This is a mushroom and olive pizza from Mario's."_

_Tommy made a show of wincing. "That is damn good pie."_

_Laurel put the box down on the table. "All right, what do you have to offer?"_

_Tommy held up the brown bag. "Spicy tuna on crispy rice from Toro's."_

“You know that’s my weakness.” Laurel groaned and Tommy smiled victoriously.

 

_Laurel's eyes narrowed. "Ohh. Damn you, Merlyn." She grabbed the bag. She headed to get some plates, then turned and looked at Tommy. "I hope Sushi was all you had in mind."_

_"Uh, actually, there was something that I wanted to ask you." He started nervously._

_"And what's that?"_

_"Will you go out with me?" he asked. "Like on a date."_

_Laurel raised an eyebrow. "You brought me dinner to ask me to dinner?"_

_"Well, I also did throw you a really big charity gala."_

“You would bring that up.” Laurel scoffed as Tommy shifted guiltily.

 

_"See, I thought you threw it for the hundreds of people it would benefit."_

_"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hundreds of people. Plus one more." He joked._

_"Tommy…" she laughed._

_"Laurel, I get it." He moved in front of her. "Okay, this is all happening for us in the wrong order. You know, first we're friends for many years, and then briefly we are friends with benefits, extremely excellent benefits." Laurel blushed._

_"And now I am just hoping that we can be two people sitting at the same restaurant at the same table at the same time." He smiled. "See, when I say it like that, it doesn't sound so scary, does it?"_

“Doesn’t sound very good either.” Laurel said irritably and Tommy looked down.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair, where Oliver was taking out his frustrations on a training dummy._

_"Oliver, your mom was nearly killed." Diggle said, coming into the lair. "I think you can take a day off from training."_

_"My mother wasn't the target." Oliver gasped, moving away from the dummy and dropping to his chair at the desk. "This man was." He indicated a picture on the screen. "Paul Copani. He was trying to close a deal with her when they were shot at. Copani works for Bertinelli Construction and Frank Bertinelli."_

_"The mob boss?" Dig asked._

_"I did some digging." Oliver said. "Copani isn't the first member of Bertinelli's crew who's been hit."_

_"You did some digging?" Dig asked, unbelieving._

_"Bertinelli has a lot of enemies. The best way to figure out who's trying to target his organization is to get inside of it." Oliver sat back in his chair as Dig continued to stare at him in disbelief._

_"So let me get this right, Oliver." He began. "Your mother's shot at, nearly killed, and the way you process this emotionally is by going undercover with the mob."_

_"I'm not trying to process anything emotionally." Oliver denied._

“Understatement of the century.” Roy drawled.

 

_"Yeah, well, maybe that's your problem, man." Dig retorted. "You ever thought about just being there for your family?"_

_"I tried that today with Thea." He started, his frustration finally showing. "She told me I wasn't being honest with her, and she's right. I can't very well explain to her that I left our mother alone and bleeding on the pavement because I'm fast enough to almost run down the attacker."_

“And now I feel even more like a bitch.” Thea sighed as her sense of guilt grew stronger.

 

“You couldn’t have known that.” Tommy tried to alleviate her guilt.

 

“Exactly, she couldn’t have known,” Diggle said and everyone turned to him, “what, do you expect he came back from some tropical resort. He went to war for five years; you don’t come out of that the same person you were before.”

 

“Okay, you’ve made your point.” Tommy snapped.

 

“I hope so.” Diggle grumbled as the recording continued.

 

_He turned back to the computer. "But what I can do is protect my family. And, Diggle, when I found out who this guy is, he's a dead man."_

_The scene changed to a garage across town. The rider rode the damaged Harley in, the rolling door closing behind her. She got off the bike and went up to a corkboard filled with pictures and, taking a sharpie, put an X through Copani's. The woman pulled off her helmet to reveal the face of Helena Bertinelli, and she stared at the picture of her father, loathing in her eyes._

 

“Who the hell is that?” Tommy asked curiously.

 

“That is Helena Bertinelli, Frank Bertinelli’s daughter.” Laurel said just as stunned as the others.

 

“Why is she targeting her father’s organization?” Thea asked, stunned by the turn of events.

 

“I think, like the other recordings, things will reveal themselves.” Diggle told her.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor the next night. Thea was dressed to kill, walking down the stair when…_

_"Speedy!"_

_She looked over to see Oliver, dressed in a business suit, walking down the opposite stairs. "Where you going?" he asked._

_"Clubbing." She replied. "Which is difficult to do when you're in a house and not in an actual club."_

_Oliver had the decency to look somewhat abashed. "I have to go out tonight. I thought you'd be watching mom."_

_Thea stared at her brother. "I spent the whole day with her. I thought you were taking the night shift."_

_"I'm sorry, but this thing, it's important."_

_Thea crossed her arms and shook her head in annoyance. "You know, sometimes, Ollie, I just don't get you. And by sometimes, I mean ever."_

_"You're actually not the first person to say that to me today." He said with an apologetic smile. Thea didn't return it._

_"Why am I not surprised?" She said as Tommy walked in the door._

_"Oh, nice dress." He complimented her. "Where you headed?"_

_"Upstairs. Apparently." She ground out as she turned and walked back upstairs._

“And I’m still a bitch.” Thea sighed.

 

“I’m sure if you knew, you’d of been more understanding.” Tommy tried to reassure her.

 

“No she wouldn’t!” A male voice and everyone jumped to their feet, looking around frantically.

 

“Who the hell is that?” Thea asked as they looked for the source.

 

“The name’s Arsenal. You and I know each other quite well Speedy.” Arsenal’s voice said as he laughed.

 

There was the sound of a smack.

 

“Please excuse my friend here, carry on.” Dinah’s voice said before it died down.

 

“And things just got weirder.” Roy said as they all sat down.

 

_Tommy looked to Oliver._

_"Long story." Oliver whispered, heading into the sitting room to get his car keys._

_"Hey, I heard about your mom." Tommy started. "Is she all right?"_

_"She's resting upstairs. More shaken up than anything." He smiled tightly at his friend. "I got to run to this business thing, but I do appreciate you stopping by."_

_"It's no problem." Tommy assured him. "Just so long as your mom's all right."_

_"Yeah." Oliver nodded, walking past him._

_"Hey, one more thing." Tommy said, stopping Oliver in his tracks. "Mainly because I don't want you to find this out from someone else, that someone else especially being Laurel." He paused for a moment, gathering his courage. "We're going to dinner. As in a date." He clarified._

_"That's good." Oliver finally said, a smile plastered on his face. "Laurel deserves someone special, and so do you."_

_Tommy smiled. "Thanks, man."_

_"I gotta run to this thing." Oliver said, heading out to his car._

_"All right. Absolutely. I'll catch you later." Tommy said._

_Oliver paused and turned back to his friend. "Oh, and, Tommy, if you hurt her, I'll snap your neck." He said deadpan. Then he smiled. "I'm just kidding." Tommy let out a laugh of his own as Oliver left._

“Do you ever wonder if he would’ve actually done that, if he got jealous enough?” Arsenal asked as he turned to Dinah.

 

“The only danger Tommy was in from Oliver was if he snuck up on Oliver while he was asleep, having a nightmare.” Dinah said firmly.

 

“You don’t he’d actually…” tommy trailed off nervously.

 

“You’re in no danger from him Tommy.” Dinah’s voice told him.

 

_The scene changed to the Bertinelli residence. Oliver rang the doorbell, and moments later a man opened the door. Oliver smiled._

_"Mr. Bertinelli." He said with a smile, extending his hand._

_"Call me Frank." He replied, shaking Oliver's hand and leading him into the house._

_"Call me Oliver." He countered with a smile._

_"Thank you for agreeing to meet me at my home." Frank started._

_"My father used to say that living rooms make the best conference rooms."_

_"Oh, I'm gonna steal that." Frank said with a small laugh. He indicated a tall gentleman standing nearby. "Nick Salvation, my associate."_

 

“More like hit-man.”  Roy sneered.

 

_"How do you do?" he said, shaking the man's hand._

_"Let's have a drink." Frank said, leading the way into the study. As they walked, movement from upstairs caught Oliver's eye. He looked up to see Helena walking past the stairs. Their eyes met briefly before she moved on._

“How long do you think it’ll take Ollie to figure out it’s her?” Thea wondered.

 

“Who knows. He thinks it’s a male, so he’s looking for a man, not a woman.” Laurel noted.

 

_The scene shifted back to Queen Manor. Thea and Moira were in Moira's bed in their pajamas, with Thea controlling the remote while Moira flipped through magazines._

_"So what are you in the mood for?" Thea asked her mother. "We could watch reality housewife cooking show… or cop docs." She looked at her mom and explained, "It's where doctors run around fighting crime when they're not all sleeping with each other."_

_Moira laughed lightly. "Whatever you want, sweetheart. You're the one who's given up your evening out."_

_"Oh, it's not like there's anybody else who could be staying with you." Thea said, then gasped in mock surprise. "Oh, wait, yes, there is."_

Thea winced but no one made a comment.

 

_"Don't be too harsh on your brother." Moira advised. Thea looked at her._

_"Why not?" she asked. " I mean, aren't you getting sick of his lies?"_

“Cause you’re such a model citizen.” Roy drawled and Thea glared at him.

 

“You got something to say, then say it.” Thea sneered.

 

“All I’m saying is on here and, if you hadn’t seen this, you would act like you’re some saint. But you are the furthest thing from it. Maybe you should spend a little less time judging your brother and a little more growing up.” Roy told her, almost laughing at Thea’s glare.

 

“I’ve got a point you know,” Arsenal said as he looked over at Dinah, “from what Oliver told me, for a while, you all judged him for keeping secrets but you all clearly had no problem doing it yourselves.”1

 

“Yeah,” Dinah winced, “well, to be fair, Thea and I mostly just followed John and Felicity’s leads. But I’m not proud of the way I acted for a lot of that year.”2

 

_"Thea, everyone has secrets." Moira began. "We all have things that we want to keep to ourselves."_

“Well you would know.” Thea sneered, turning her attention away from Roy.

 

_"I just don't get him sometimes." Thea groused. Moira pulled her closer. Thea leaned her head against Moira's shoulder._

_"I know, I know." She affirmed. "You know, being in that hospital and seeing Dr. Lamb again, it made me remember the day that Oliver came home. It was Dr. Lamb that told me that the Oliver we'd lost might not be the Oliver that they'd found." She explained. "I think it's easy to forget, but he lived apart from civilization for 5 years."_

_"So what, he gets like a free pass?"_

_"No. No, no, no, not at all. I just think we need to stop judging him for the Oliver he was and start accepting him for the Oliver that he is." Moira said softly._

“Words to live by.” Diggle said with Thea shifting, knowing it was her that his words were most directed at.

 

_The scene shifted back to the Bertinelli residence._

_"So, Oliver, I'll be honest with you." Frank was saying, handing Oliver a drink. "I was surprised to hear from you. It was my impression from the local news that you weren't going to be involved with your family's business."_

_"Well, apparently there were a few catch phrases that I missed while I was away for 5 years. One of them being 'lame-stream media'." The three men laughed. "The press never gets anything right."_

“No kidding.” Tommy scoffed.

 

_"Oh, I know a thing or two about that." Frank assured the man. Nick's phone rang, and he got up to answer it. Frank leaned back in his chair and stared at Oliver confidently. "So, Oliver, I'll be blunt. I want the contract to build Queen Consolidated's new Applied Sciences Division."_

“When pigs fly.” Thea sneered.

 

_"And I am inclined to give it to you." Oliver assured him._

_"Your mother wasn't quite so enthusiastic." Frank noted. "How is she, by the way?"_

_"She's recuperating at home." Oliver said. "Thank you."_

_"What a terrible thing that happened." Frank said sincerely. Oliver nodded._

_"And, Frank, I was very sorry to hear about what happened to Paul Copani."_

_"Paul was a good friend." Frank stated. "He was a good man." He sighed, rubbing his eye. "Yeah. The violence in this city. You know, sometimes I wonder why I stay." He said, taking a drink._

“Is-is he serious?” Tommy asked in disbelief.

 

“He’s putting on a front, trying to gain Oliver’s trust.” Diggle explained.

 

“If this were five years ago, this might have actually worked.” Laurel admitted.

 

_"I've had the same thought." Oliver confided._

_"So why did you come back?" Frank asked. "After that island, you could have settled anywhere in the world."_

_"Because starling city is my home." Oliver replied simply._

_"Chi si volta, e chi si gira, sempre a casa, va finire." Helena said, entering the room. "No matter which way you go or turn, you always end up at home." She translated. Oliver and Frank rose._

_"Oliver, this is my daughter Helena." He introduced._

_"Hello." Oliver said. Helena gave him a polite smile._

_"Nice to meet you." She said, and then turned to her father. "I'm heading out."_

_"All right. Take one of the guys with you."_

_"I can take care of myself." She protested._

_"I wasn't asking, sweetie." He replied, touching her lightly on the chin._

“Did he just threaten his own daughter?” Tommy asked incredulously.

 

“He’s a mobster, what did you expect?” Roy pointed out.

 

_Before she could argue further, Nick came back in._

_"Frank, that meeting you requested. They can do it." He told his boss, giving him a significant look. "Now."_

_"I can come back another time." Oliver started, but Frank shook his head._

_"No, no, no." he put his drink down, and then looked at his daughter thoughtfully. "Just, uh.. just excuse us for a moment, would you? Thank you."_

_Frank and Helena walked out into the Foyer, followed by Nick. "Oliver Queen." Helena harrumphed. "The rich man's Lindsay Lohan."_

Tommy, Laurel, Thea, and Roy all burst out laughing at that. Even Diggle couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

 

_"Look, um…" he started, "I've got to go to this other meeting, but I need someone to take him to dinner."_

_Helena gave him a disgusted look. "So you pimp out your daughter."_

_"No. I ask her to help me close a business deal." He countered. "A reminder that the family business is dying and that we need this contract, and Oliver Queen can give it to us. Please, Sweet Pea. For us. For me. Hmm?" she finally gave him a reluctant smile. "That's my girl." He said warmly. Just then Oliver walked into the foyer. "Oliver, I'm so sorry. Something has come up. But Helena would love to take you to dinner and discuss the deal further." He said, indicating his daughter._

_"Oh." Oliver didn't try to hide his disappointment. "I was hoping to speak with you."_

_"Well, as you speak for your family, my daughter also speaks for ours."_

_"It's…It's really not necessary." He looked curiously at Helena. There was an attraction there, and possibly something deeper. A look deep in her eyes that he recognized and that she, in turn, recognized in him._

“Please tell me he won’t.” Thea groaned.

 

“Lonely man will go places you wouldn’t think. But I admit, I am concerned.” Diggle admitted.

 

“About what?”  Laurel asked curiously.

 

“This Helena…she seems a lot like Oliver when he first came back, except she doesn’t seem to have any care for the people she hurts. She’s like Oliver if he had lost every scrap of humanity he had on the island. She could undo all the progress Oliver has made.” Diggle explained and Laurel, Thea and Tommy exchanged concerned looks at this.

 

_"It would be my pleasure." She lied._

_"Sure." Oliver finally agreed. Frank held out his hand, and Oliver shook it._

_"I look forward to working together." He told the younger man, patting him on the arm as he and Nick left._

_The scene changed to the Bertinelli Construction Yard. China White and her associates got out of her Mercedes and walked up to Frank and Nick, who stood waiting._

“Oh great, her again.” Laurel drawled.

 

_"Thank you for coming."_

_"Anything for a friend." China White replied. Her associate spoke in Mandarin, and she translated. "We're not responsible for the attacks on your people."_

_"These attacks on my business, on my family's life blood- they stop now, or I'm coming for you." He threatened. The four stared at each other for a moment before the two Asians headed back to their car._

“Oh my god. If Oliver doesn’t stop her, then we’ll have a full on Gang war on our hands.” Laurel said, blood running cold as she imagined all the innocent people caught in the crossfire.

 

“Let’s just hope he can.” Tommy said uneasily.

 

_"What does the Triad have to gain by provoking you now?" Nick asked Frank. Frank shrugged._

_"Well, no one ever credited the Triad with rational thinking." He noted, and then asked "If not them, then who?"_

_The scene changed to the SCPD, where Lance and Hilton were listening to the wiretap of the construction yard. 'Whoever it is, when I find out who's behind this, there will be blood.'_

_"Sounds like Bertinelli's ready to put the screws to everyone who pays him protection money." Hilton noted._

_"Yeah, well, 3 of his best earners have been murdered." Lance replied. "He's gotta make up the cash somewhere. Whoever is pruning the family tree is looking to make Bertinelli suffer." Lance got up and looked at the board that detailed Bertinelli's operation._

_"So you do think it's one of the other families." Hilton guessed._

_"No." Lance said._

_"Then who?"_

_Lance turned to look at his partner. "Well, according to the coroner's reports, none of the vics took a clean shot. Half the bullets missed." He shook his head. "Our killer's not a pro."_

_"That's not stopping him from pulling that trigger." Hilton stated._

_"That's up to us." Lance turned back to the board. "Or this is gonna blow up into an all-out mob war."_

“Let’s hope not.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_The scene changed to a small Italian restaurant. The owner, Mr. Russo sat Oliver and Helena at a small table in the corner and passed them menus._

_"You are an angel, Helena." Mr. Russo gushed._

Scoffs could be heard around the room.

 

_gushed "So beautiful. Well, we are gonna take good care of both of you tonight. You'll tell your father hello from us?"_

_Helena smiled at the man. "Of course, Mr. Russo."_

_"I'll give you a minute." He said, moving away._

_"Thank you." Helena said. She looked at Oliver. "I heard about your mother's accident. Is she gonna be okay?" she asked._

_Oliver smiled, picking up his menu. "She's gonna be fine. Thanks."_

_"I'm glad." She said sincerely._

“Well that’s nice considering YOU WERE THE ONE WHO INJURED HER!” Thea shouted steaming.

 

_They both took a moment to look at their menus. "So, why would you want to go into business with my father?" she asked suddenly. "You know who he is and how he made his money."_

_"You don't approve of your family's enterprises?" he asked._

_"We share a name, and that name defines us whether we want it to or not." She gave him a brittle smile. "You've already made judgments about me, just like I've already made judgments about you."_

_"Right. I'm the rich man's Lindsay Lohan." Her smile now looked apologetic._

“He heard that?” Tommy asked stunned.

 

“Five years on an island, he obviously had to hone his instincts to survive. That includes his hearing.” Diggle reasoned.

 

_"Sorry." She apologized._

_"That's okay." He assured her._

_"Hey, can I ask you something?" she asked suddenly._

_"Yeah."_

_"I know it must have been hell for you, alone on that island for 5 years, but I'm…"_

_Oliver looked at her curiously. "But what?" he prodded._

_She looked at him, a serious look in her eyes. "But was there ever a day when you were just… happy to be away from everything? No pressure from your family, no need to be the person everyone else expects you to be. Was there ever a day when—"_

_"When I didn't feel lost and I felt free?" he finished. She nodded slightly. "More than one." He admitted. "And, uh those are the days that I miss." Helena smiled and took a sip of her water._

“Free from being known as just Robert Queen’s son and al the expectations that comes with it…I can see it being a little freeing.” Tommy noted wistfully.

 

_The scene changed to an Indian restaurant where Tommy had taken Laurel on their date. Laurel was smirking at Tommy, who was suffering through very spicy curry._

_"What, is it too spicy for you, Merlyn?" Laurel joked, casually sipping her water._

_"No! No, not really" He denied, wiping his face with his napkin. "I'm just, um, I'm just crying because I was thinking of a Hallmark commercial I saw earlier today, featuring a sick kitty. It was very emotional." The two laughed._

_Their waiter came up to their table. "Will there be anything else?"_

_"No." Tommy said, handing him his credit card. "Thank you." He smiled at Laurel. "Thanks for letting me take you to dinner."_

_"Well, thank you for letting me choose Indian." Laurel replied._

_"You know, I read this article by a film critic once, who said if he could have one wish, it would be to watch his favorite movie again for the first time." Tommy said suddenly. "I kind of wish that was us."_

_"So you want dinner and a movie." Laurel joked._

_"No. I wish we had just met and that all this was just beginning and there wasn't so much of me I wish you'd forget." He admitted._

_"Well, keep saying nice things like that and maybe next time I'll let you choose the restaurant." She said with a smile._

_"Mr. Merlyn?" Tommy looked up at the waiter who had suddenly appeared._

_"Yeah?" he asked._

_"I'm sorry, I'm afraid you credit card has been declined."_

“…what?” Tommy asked, stunned as his mind reeled.

 

“You’re credit card has been declined.” Roy said slowly, as if talking to a three year old.

 

“That’s…not possible. My credit cards don’t have limits.”  Tommy said, trying to comprehend what was happening.

 

_Tommy looked up in confusion. "Did you swipe it a few times? You know, sometimes those things can be a little glitchy."_

_"I did, and, um, I'm afraid the credit card company wants me to confiscate it." The waiter replied. "Sorry."_

_The scene changed back to Russo’s. The restaurant was empty, all other tables cleared. But Oliver and Helena were still sitting, chatting amicably._

_"People are always asking me, what did I miss the most?" he was saying. "Air conditioning. Satellite radio. Tagliet--uh--ta—"_

_"Tagliatelle?" she supplied._

_"Mm. Right." He agreed. "But those are the answers that I give people because those are the answers they're expecting."_

_"Why can't you just be truthful?" she asked._

_"I don't know how truthful I can be." He admitted._

Thea, Tommy, and Laurel looked down, dad yet guilty that he thought he couldn’t be honest with them. No doubt the way they had acted towards him since he’d returned only enforced this feeling.

 

_Helena considered the man. "You've been through a crucible, and it changed you." She announced. "How can it not?"_

_Not knowing how to respond, Oliver just looked at the beautiful woman across from him. A glint of silver caught his eye. "That's beautiful." He said. "Your cross."_

_Here smile was almost a grimace. "It's a gift. From my fiancé."_

_Oliver smiled awkwardly. "Fiancé."_

_"Mm."_

_"I didn't know you were engaged." He began, but she cut him off._

_"I'm not, anymore. He died." She explained sadly._

_"I'm sorry."_

_"Me, too." She sat back, fingering her cross. "That was my crucible."_

“How much you wanna bet that daddy had her fiancé killed and she found out?” Roy offered.

 

“Nothing, you’d probably win that bet.” Diggle admitted.

 

_Oliver took a sip of water. "You know, it's nice to It's really nice to be with someone that I can be myself with." He said sincerely._

_"It's nice to be with someone who knows how hard it can be." She responded, equally sincere._

_"I'm really sorry." He said again._

_"It's okay." She assured it._

_Suddenly his phone rang. He looked at her apologetically as he pulled out his phone and answered. "Yeah."_

_"It's Diggle. Something came up. You gotta get out of there and call me back." Oliver sighed as he hung up. He looked sadly at Helena, sorry that the night was over._

_"Helena, I have to go." He said. "There's something that I have to do. It's about my mother, otherwise I would, uh, I would stay."_

_"And I would like that." She admitted. Oliver smiled at her and pulled out a wad of cash. He set it down on the table, but suddenly his hand was covered by hers._

_"My father would kill me if I let you pay." He just smiled, withdrawing his hand, but leaving the money._

_"I have a confession." Oliver said as he rose. "I didn't want to go out with you tonight."_

_Helena smiled. "That makes two of us."_

_"But I'm really glad that I did." He finished._

_"That makes two of us." She replied quietly. He gave her one last look, then turned to leave. "Oliver." She said suddenly, and he turned around. "Be careful with my father." She advised him._

“It’s you he should be careful with.” Thea grumbled.

 

_. He nodded, then left._

_The scene changed back to Queen Manor. Moira was in bed flipping through a magazine when there was a knock on the door._

_"Thea, you don't need to knock, sweetheart." She said absently._

_"What about me?" Moira looked up in alarm to see Malcolm Merlyn standing in her bedroom._

“Get out of my mother’s room, you son of a bitch.” Thea sneered as everyone tensed.

 

_"I hope you don't mind; Thea let me in."_

_"What are you doing here?" she asked with a tremor in her voice._

_"I wanted to see how your recovery was going."_

_"Well, surely someone of your means has a telephone." She argued._

_"I like to see someone when I have something important to talk about." Malcolm said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "We used to be friends, Moira. I still remember that time. You, me, and Robert." He said, almost wistfully. "Which is why I came by. You are a vital part of Starling City's future. Robert feared that future. He lost his conviction." His voice sharpened, tinged with threat. "It's been my experience that when someone has a brush with death like you experienced today, even their deepest held convictions can change. Have they?"_

“How dare you call yourself their friend.” Tommy snarled.

 

“He has one sick and twisted sense of friendship.” Laurel scoffed.

 

_Moira looked him in the eyes. "No." she assured him._

_Malcolm smiled. "You didn't have to say it." he said, suddenly her eyes couldn't meet his anymore. "I can see that they haven't." The implied threat clear, Malcolm rose and left a trembling Moira alone in her room._

_The scene changed to the Alley next to Russo's. Oliver quickly called Diggle back._

_"What happened?" he asked._

_"Yeah, it's what's about to happen." Dig began. "Bertinelli's enforcer Nick Salvati?"_

_"Yeah. We drank a scotch together. He seems like a real stand-up mobster." Oliver said dryly._

_"Yeah, well, he's been paying visits to everyone who owes the mob protection money."_

_"Diggle, I'm trying to figure out who took a shot at my mother, not take on all of organized crime." Oliver argued._

_"Well, listen, Oliver, Salvati and his goons have already put 4 people in the hospital tonight," Dig shot back, "and if somebody doesn't stop them, the poor bastard who owns Russo's is gonna be next."_

“Well shit.” Roy said what they were all thinking.

 

_"Wait, wait." Oliver said, halting Diggle's rant. "Russo's?" he asked to clarify._

_"It's at the corner of Adams and—"_

_"I know where it is, Diggle. I'm here right now."_

_That brought Dig up short. "What?"_

_Oliver grimaced. "I was having dinner with Bertinelli's daughter."_

_"Oliver, you're supposed to be going undercover, not speed dating." Dig scolded._

_"I didn't have a choice."_

_"Yeah, well, uh, I've seen her on the web. You made quite the sacrifice." Dig quipped._

_Oliver looked down the alley and saw a town car park across the street. He cursed. "Salvati's here."_

_Inside the restaurant, Mr. Russo was counting the night's receipts as his daughter finished cleaning up. She was about to lock the doors when Nick Salvati and to other enforcers walked in._

_"I'm sorry, we're closed." The girl said timidly. Salvati just gave her a look, and then walked over to Russo._

_"Oh, Mr. Salvati. Buona sera." He said nervously to the gangster. "I have some fresh-made lasagna—" he tried, but Nick cut him off._

_"We're not here for food, Mr. Russo." He said. "Your payment's due."_

_"I already made my payment this month." Russo argued._

_"You need to pay again." Nick said coldly._

_"Please. I can't afford to make another payment if I'm going to—"_

_"Going to what?" he asked. He saw several bottle so wine sitting on the bar. "Restock your bar?" he swept the bottles off the bar, and they crashed to the ground sending wine and broken glass everywhere. "Break his fingers." He nodded to one of the men._

“You sick son of a bitch.” Roy sneered.

 

“No kidding.” Thea seconded.

 

_"Leave him alone!" his daughter yelled, pulling at the goon._

_"Break hers, too." Nick decided. The other good grabbed the girl._

_"No! Don't touch her!" Russo yelled. Suddenly an arrow struck the fuse box, sending the restaurant into darkness. And then the Hood was among them, taking out the two goons and yelling for the Russo's to get out._

“Oh thank god.” Laurel sighed in relief, glad they were okay.

 

_. He turned his attention to Nick, who was trying to shoot him, and didn't see the second gangster start to get back to his feet._

_Suddenly the biker was there, opening fire and taking out the two goons. The Hood threw a flechette, disarming her, and moved in to attack, and Nick took the opportunity to escape. The two masked vigilantes traded blows furiously; obviously the girl was better trained hand to hand than she was in firearms. But The Hood was better, and he landed a blow on her helmet's visor, shattering it. He then took the opportunity to yank off the helmet- revealing Helena underneath. The Hood stood, shocked, and Helena took the opportunity to escape, leaving the stunned Oliver behind._

“He just let her get away?” Thea asked incredulously.

 

“He was probably in shock. I mean, who’d have seen this coming if they hadn’t seen the recording?” Diggle reasoned and Thea had to concede his point.

 

_The scene changed back to the Foundry, where a frustrated Oliver was pacing as Diggle sat at the computer._

_"I don't understand. Why is she targeting her family?" he wondered aloud._

_"I don't know. And here I thought you had parental issues." Dig joked._

“That’s not funny.” Thea glared at him, Tommy and Laurel joining in as Diggle shifted.

 

“I probably could have been more sensitive.” Diggle admitted.

 

_It's not a joke, Diggle." Oliver ground out, his frustration building. Diggle gave him a look._

_"Oliver, you're not falling for this girl, are you?" he asked. "Because I know you can't be that crazy."_

_At Oliver's silence, Dig pressed on. "Helena Bertinelli shot at your mother. She also murdered four men in cold blood."_

_"She has to have reasons for what she's doing." He defended. Dig scoffed._

_"Reasons? Since when do you care about the bad guys' reasons? Oh, she is the bad guy, Oliver. She's the killer. And whatever's going on in your head, you better get it straight, man." He stood to stand in front of Oliver. "Any attempt on his right hand is gonna send your new friend's father on the warpath."_

“while you’re right, so  is  Ollie,” Laurel said and Diggle looked at her incredulously, “don’t get me wrong, I am in no way defending her. But there’s a story here. If you don’t know what the story is, you might end up unprepared by something thrown your way.”

 

Diggle nodded, considering as the recording continued.

 

_Oliver looked him in the eyes. "I know what I'm doing."_

_Dig scoffed again. "Now I know how your family feels when you lie to them."_

_The scene changed to the SCPD. Lance was with Kelton, watching video surveillance of the fight at Russo's._

_"Is this the only angle you got?" Lance asked, frustrated. Kelton shrugged._

_"The Russo’s chintzed out a bit on their security package." He explained._

_"Somebody is in the wings with a gun shooting at these guys." Lance sighed. "What do you got from earlier?" he asked._

_"You mean before the shooting?" Lance nodded yes. "A business dinner, a birthday dinner, a couple of blind dates…"_

_"Any guests of the Chinese persuasion?" at his confused look, Quentin said "Humor me."_

_Kelton rewound the video file to earlier during dinner. He started looking at one of the closer tables when Lance spotted something. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second. What was that?" He exclaimed, taking over the keyboard._

_"Help yourself." Kelton muttered as Lance zoomed in on a far table. He spotted Helena Bertinelli, then panned over to see her date._

_"Son of a bitch."_

“Great. Now he’s gonna somehow use this against Ollie to.” Thea growled as Laurel sighed.

 

_The scene changed to later at Queen Manor. Oliver answered a knock on the front door, and found Detective Lance standing there._

_"Detective." He said pleasantly. "Is everything okay?"_

_Lance looked uncomfortable, but spoke. "Your, um, your buddy with the arrows was at Russo's last night."_

_Oliver smiled grimly. "And I was there earlier with a date. So what? You think I'm the hood guy again?" he asked._

_"No." Lance denied. "Your date. Helena Bertinelli. If I were you, I'd stay away from her. Her family's bad news on a good day." He warned the younger man._

“Well that’s…surprisingly mature of him.” Laurel said, smiling with pride at her father.

 

_"Why the sudden concern for my well-being?" Oliver asked, curious despite himself._

_Lance sighed. "A few weeks ago I made a mistake. I almost got you killed."_

_"And you felt like you owed me one?" Oliver realized._

_"If I did, as far as I'm concerned, this clears the books." Quentin spat, then turned and left._

“And there goes the maturity.” Laurel sighed, disappointment filling her.

 

_The scene changed to Merlyn Manor. Out on the Patio, Malcolm was in the middle of a furious session of fencing when Tommy stalked up to him._

_"Can I talk to you?" he asked his father. Upon getting no response, he yelled "Dad!"_

_"In case you haven't noticed, I'm a little occupied at the moment." Malcolm said, not breaking his attack._

_"I just talked to the accountant." Tommy pressed on. "He said my accounts were frozen. He said my credit cards were all canceled!"_

“He cut me off.” Tommy realized, betrayal flooding him.

 

_"Do you think this is a joke?" Tommy demanded. Malcolm finally signaled to his opponent for a break, then turned to his son and whipped off his helmet._

_"No." he answered. "You are. Although I must say, your chronic irresponsibility and terminal laziness has lost its humor." Tommy stared at his father, stunned and seething, "Hmm. You're wondering why now." Malcolm continued. "The better question is, why not sooner?"_

_"It's my trust fund." Tommy argued._

_"Which is comprised of my money." Malcolm rejoined. "Oh, excuse me. Was comprised." He mockingly patted his son on the cheek, then put his helmet back on and turned to his opponent. Without another word, the two began dueling, while Tommy stalked off, dejected._

“You’re dad’s a dick.” Roy told Tommy.

 

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Tommy said gruffly, staring at his father’s form on the screen scathingly.

 

_The scene changed to outside a church later that night. Helena sat in its small cemetery in front of a tombstone. Oliver walked up softly behind her, stopping a respectful distance before calling out._

_"Helena."_

_She didn't even turn around. "How did you find me here?" she asked._

_"I followed you from your house." Oliver said. He looked at the headstone that read 'Michael Staton'. "Your fiancé?"_

_"Yeah." She replied, laying a single rose at the foot of the gravestone before rising to meet his gaze head on._

_"You said that losing him was your own crucible." He started. "That it changed you. You didn't say how."_

_"When you love someone as much as I loved him, with all of your heart- you can't just turn that emotion off when they're taken from you. You still feel things as deeply. And if it can't be love that you feel, then," she took a calming breath, "Then it becomes hate."_

“And she’s let that hate consume her, letting it turn her into something dark and twisted.” Diggle noted.

 

_"Hate for who?" he asked. Helena just shook her head._

_"Oliver you should stay away from me." She said sadly, walking away._

_"Helena?" Oliver called, moving after her. They both stopped suddenly when a van pulled up next to the church. Nick Salvati got out, his gun aimed at Helena's head. "Get in." he demanded, and both Helena and Oliver were ushered into the van by two other gangsters._

“Oh boy. This can’t end well.” Tommy muttered, worried for his best friend.

 

_The scene changed to an old warehouse down by the docks. Helena and Oliver were seated on chairs, their hands zip-cuffed behind them._

_Helena looked up at Nick with disgust. "My father is going to kill you for this." She said boldly. Nick smiled, then back-handed her, knocking her and her chair over. Helena hit the ground with a grunt._

_"I've been wanting to do that for years." Nick snarled, and then indicated to his men to pick her back up. "Spoiled bitch. I knew it was someone from the inside waging war against your father and me. I just never thought it'd be this inside." He held out his hand, and Helena's silver cross necklace dangled from his fingers. "You dropped this at Russo's."_

_Helena smirked up at the mobster. "You're smarter than I gave you credit for, Nicky." She admitted._

_"You're not." He raised his hand to hit her again._

_"Hey!" Oliver yelled, getting his attention even as he worked to free himself from the cuffs. "You're a businessman, right? So let's talk business." He began. "I can offer you a lot of money if you let us go."_

_Nick looked at him with disgust. "This isn't about money, Richie Rich. This is about loyalty."_

_"He's got nothing to do with any of this." Helena argued. Nick whirled to face her._

_"Then what the hell is it about?" he demanded._

_"My father had Michael murdered." Helena snarled. Nick scoffed._

_"Of course he did. He didn't want you to know the truth." He leaned over her and yanked back her hair. "Your rat of a fiancé was gathering evidence. He was talking to the fucking FBI!" He let her hair go and stood. "The love of your life was going to destroy your father."_

_"You're wrong." Helena said._

_"I found a laptop in Michael's bag, Helena." Nick stated. "Everything that could send your father and me to prison for the rest of our lives was on it. That computer—"_

_"Was mine." She declared, shutting Nick up in surprise. "Michael wasn't the one talking to the FBI, I was." She admitted boldly._

“…I so did not see that coming.” Tommy said as they all stared, slack-jawed, at the screen.

 

_"You?"_

_"My father is a monster." She spat. "He doesn't care who he hurts to keep his money and power, and I wanted it to stop."_

_Nick shrugged. "Well, then it's your fault Michael's dead. Not your father for ordering the hit or me for carrying it out." He pointed at her. "Yours."_

_"You shot Michael." She said in dawning realization._

“And things just got real.” Tommy muttered.

 

_"In the chest, so he knew it was me." He bragged, placing the cross back around her neck. He stood and moved back slightly, pulling his gun. "Just like this"_

_Oliver burst free at that moment, tackling Nick to the ground. His gun skidded away from him. The two goons moved in to attack, but Oliver caught them, taking them down while Helena also broke free and handled Nick. The two traded blows before Helena forced Nick back up against a forklift, her hand squeezing his throat. Oliver killed the last remaining goon and looked over at the woman._

_"You're gonna burn in hell for what you've done!" Nick choked out._

_"It'll be worth it." She replied, and then broke his neck._

_"Helena!" Oliver exclaimed in shock and surprise._

_"I didn't have a choice, Oliver." She said, breathing heavily from the fight. "No one can know my secret."_

“She’s like a dark reflection of Oliver,” Diggle declared and everyone looked at him, “of what Oliver could be, if he ever lost all of his humanity.”

 

_The scene changed to SCPD, where Hilton was briefing Lance on the latest Bertinelli family murders._

_"CSU didn't find any usable prints except for the 3 victims." He said, handing the file to Lance. "One of them had a GSW to the chest."_

_"So who broke the necks of Salvati and his buddy?" Lance asked rhetorically._

_Hilton sighed. "Look, it's been a while since The Hood broke anyone's neck. And I didn't see any arrows lying around."_

_"We better pray that Frank Bertinelli blames The Hood for this." Lance said darkly. "'Cause if he thinks it's the Triad, Starling City is ground zero to World War III."_

“Oh my god, can you imagine that? We can’t let this happen when we get back.” Laurel said as the scenario ran through her head.

 

“But how?” Tommy asked having the same thoughts as her.

 

“Well,” Diggle began as they looked over at him, “Laurel, your dad is a detective. Once we get back, It shouldn’t be too hard for you to dig up the connection between Michael and Helena. Once Helena starts her attacks, you bring this up to your father. While it’s not enough for a conviction, it’s enough for an investigation.”

 

“that’s…not a bad idea.” Laurel admitted and Diggle shrugged.

 

“I have my moments.” Diggle said casually.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. There was a knock on the door, and she opened it to find a dejected Tommy Merlyn standing in the hallway._

_"You okay?" she asked._

_Tommy sighed. "I spoke to my dad today."_

_"I bet that was fun." She quipped as Tommy came in._

_"He explained to me what happened with my credit card yesterday." He began. "And my checking account, my savings account, my brokerage account, my stock portfolio." He sighed, dropping down onto her sofa. "He cut me off completely."_

_"What?" she exclaimed softly, sitting next to him._

_"My car got repossessed." He continued. "That was fun. Oh, and I have to move out of my apartment by the end of the month."_

_Laurel took a hold of his hand. "You are gonna be fine, Tommy." She promised him. "In fact, you are gonna be great. Merlyn money or not." She smiled. "And you know, I have a mushroom and olive Mario pizza in my refrigerator waiting to be eaten."_

_Tommy smiled back. "I suppose it's already paid for, right?"_

_"Exactly." She agreed._

“Thank you,” Tommy said as he looked over at Laurel with a smile, “if nothing ever happens between us…then I’m lucky to have you as a friend.”

 

“You never have to thank me Tommy.” Laurel smiled back at him.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Walter walked into the bedroom silently, going over to the bed and sitting down on the edge, stroking his sleeping wife's hair. Moira awoke and looked up in surprise._

_"When did you get back?" she asked._

_"Just now."_

_Moira sat up in bed. "I'm so happy to see you." She said softly. "But did you come home only because you heard I was hurt?"_

_"No. I was already on my way when Thea called. I actually came home because I miss my wife."_

_"Ohh." Moira kissed him, and he held her tight._

Thea smiled, happy to see they had recoiled. But still, a part of her knew Walter wasn’t gonna let this go and wondered how long this would last.

 

_It's okay." He assured her. Outside the door, Oliver looked in, satisfied that his mother was alright. He moved away from the door to give them privacy, and spotted Thea walking towards him._

_"Is she all right?" she asked._

_"Walter's home." He whispered, smiling. "She's gonna be fine."_

_Thea smiled awkwardly. "Look, I'm sorry if I was a bitch with you earlier."_

“Which time?” Roy quipped and Thea rolled her eyes, hitting him lightly on the shoulder as he laughed.

 

_"There were a few times. Could you be more specific?" he joked._

_Thea laughed lightly. "Don't push it."_

_"Don't worry. You weren't a bitch." He paused. "At the hospital you were a little bit."_

_"Look, I'm just worried about you." She said. "You seem really lonely. And we all have our secrets, Ollie. Clearly you have yours. And it's fine if you don't want to share them with us, but I just really think you should share them with someone." She kissed him on the cheek and moved on, leaving Oliver with his thoughts._

 

“Why do I have the feeling he’s gonna take my advice and do something stupid?” Thea asked uneasily.

 

“Because he’s lonely. Lonely people do stupid things sometimes.” Diggle told her.

 

_The scene changed to the Bertinelli House. Helena was just coming out of the bathroom in a robe, her hair wet from a shower, when she paused. "I'd ask how you got in here," she said, "but the Starling City vigilante comes and goes as he pleases, doesn't he?"_

_Across the room Oliver stood, looking out a window. "How'd you know?"_

_Helena crossed her arms. "I saw you fight. And I saw your eyes. That island changed you in ways that only someone like me could understand."_

_"No." he denied. "What you're doing right now, I know that if feels like justice, but it's not. It's revenge."_

_"Sometimes revenge is justice." Helena stated._

“You know, it’s sometimes surprising that she didn’t receive training from the League of Assassins, considering that her mindset lines up with a lot of your father’s teachings.” Bruce muttered as he and Nyssa watched from the security room.

 

“I shudder to think of what someone like Helena would’ve done with League training.” Nyssa said, doing just that.

 

_"Your father killed your fiancé."_

_"And what did your father do to you?" she demanded. "Isn't the man in the hood fighting to set things right? Why is your vendetta more valid than mine? We're the same, you and I."_

“Don’t you ever compare yourself to Ollie. My brother is worth ten of you.” Thea growled.

 

_"No, we're not."_

_Helena scoffed. "Hiding in plain sight. Concealing our anger with smiles and lies." Tears pooled in her eyes. "Don't lie to me, Oliver. You feel the same as I do, I know it."_

_"Why are you crying?"_

_"I don't know. Maybe it's because I have been alone in my hate for so long, it feels—"_

_"It feels so good to tell the truth." Oliver finished for her. Almost in desperation he reached for her, pulling her in close and kissing her. After a moment, she responded, clutching him to her tightly, afraid to let go._

“Well, this can only end well.” Laurel sighed, cursing her traitorous heart as she felt hurt by this.

 

“Like throwing a match in a tank of gasoline.” Diggle muttered as he started the next recording.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: I hated a lot of things about how the characters have been written since season three but what absolutely infuriates me is the other characters’ hypocrisy. When Oliver keeps secrets, they all gang up on him, but they have no problem doing it themselves. And unlike Oliver, who has good reasons for keeping his secrets like trying to protect them or being blackmailed, they never seem to have any apparent reason for keeping these secrets.
> 
> 2: One thing I absolutely hated about Team arrow in season four was the structure of power. Oliver was supposed to be leader but the others were constantly undermining him and disrespecting him. Although, to be fair, this was mostly Diggle and Felicity, as while Laurel and Thea did their fair share of it, I feel they were mostly following Felicity and Diggle’s leads.


	10. Vendetta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver's relationship with Helena quickly implodes with disastrous results. Tommy and Laurel's first date ends in disaster and Walter plays a dangerous game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas from me to all of you.

_The scene opened with Helena and Oliver, naked and in bed, seeming asleep._

_Slowly, Helena opens her eyes. She sits up slowly, seemingly coming to a decision. As she gets out of the bed and moves to get dressed, Oliver rolls over, subtly watching her._

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Tommy quipped.

 

“Don’t joke.” Thea snapped as she tensed.

 

_The scene shifts then to an alley in China town. Helena (sans helmet) rides her bike down an alley, stopping several yards away from a parked Mercedes. She gets off the bike and watches the car, seeing a driver and two men outside acting as sentries._

_"Quán qīng." One said into a radio. A moment later, China White appeared. Helena pulled out her gun and took aim. A moment later, the man she truly wanted appeared- Zhishan, the leader of the Chinese Triad in Starling City. Just as she pulled the trigger, The Hood dropped down, forcing her gun away from the Asian and causing the shot to go wide._

“Oh thank god.” Laurel sighed as she sinks back in her seat.

 

“I’m a little confused.” Tommy said clueless.

 

“I’m sure it’ll all be explained in a moment.” Diggle assured him.

 

_"Shàng chē!" China White said, pushing her boss into the car._

_"Shāle tā!" he ordered, and the Triad members opened fire. The Hood shot an arrow to give them cover, then forced Helena down an alley. They took cover in a doorframe as the Mercedes sped past, gangsters still shooting. After they had passed, Helena pushed The Hood away._

_"Take your hands off me!" she snarled._

_Oliver dropped his hood. "What the hell did you think you were doing?" he demanded._

_"That man was the leader of the Triad." She explained. "My father blames them for the recent hits against his men!"_

_"These are men you killed."_

_"That's right." She boasted. "I take out Zhishan and the Triad retaliates. I have weakened my father's organization to the point where there is no way that he can survive their onslaught!"_

“…she’s crazier than I thought.” Tommy said as he stared at the screen in disbelief.

 

“Which is saying something.” Roy muttered.

 

“She’s become consumed by vengeance and doesn’t care what lines she crosses or who she hurts to get it.” Diggle noted grimly.

 

_"What, and then you'll have your revenge?"_

_"Then I have justice, for what he did to Michael and me." She said passionately._

_"It's not justice." Oliver argued._

_"And what you do is?"_

_"Would you let me show you?" he pleaded. She stared at him for a moment, and then sighed._

“This won’t end well.” Tommy said uneasily.

 

“No kidding.” Roy said dryly.

 

_The scene changed to Big Belly Burger. Oliver and Helena, in civilian clothes, were being handed their order by Carly._

_"Get you anything else?" she asked._

_Oliver smiled at her. "No, thank you, Carly."_

_Carly looked at him suspiciously. "Where's my brother-in-law? It's late and this is the Glades. Shouldn't he be keeping you safe?"_

_Oliver nodded towards Helena. "She is tougher than she looks." He quipped. Carly's gaze narrowed, but she moved off. "I haven't been on a second date in a while. It feels good so far." He remarked, earning a smile from her._

_"Look, um," she started awkwardly, "We slept together, and it was really nice. And I needed it. But I'm not looking for anything."_

_"Right. Because you have everything figured out." Oliver replied dryly._

_"I don't think you're one to judge." She leaned forward. "I saw you kill people, remember?"_

_"I only kill people when it is absolutely necessary. It's not my opening move." He argued._

 

“He’s not wrong,” Roy noted and almost laughed as everyone stared at him incredulously, “you may not like him killing people, but even you can’t deny that he doesn’t kill without reason.”

 

_"And the way that you're going, you're gonna get somebody hurt, like my mother or yourself."_

_"I'm sorry about your mother." She said sincerely. "That was an accident."_

“Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night?” Thea hissed.

 

_"How many more accidents have to happen before you're done getting back at your father?" he asked._

_"Hopefully none." She glared at him. "I am not getting back at him. I--I am stripping away everything that has meaning to him, just like he did to me when he had Michael killed."_

_"What if I could show you another way, a way you could take down your father's organization without putting innocent people at risk?" Oliver asked._

_Helena sighed, and then smiled. "Thank you for the coffee and the sex. But I'm not interested." She gathered her purse and left, leaving a frustrated Oliver behind._

“Somehow, I don’t think it’ll be as easy as her saying no.” Laurel said dryly.

 

_The scene shifted to the next day at the lair. Oliver was doing vertical pushups against the wall when Diggle walked in._

_"I don't know where the next Olympics are at, but you might want to think about signing yourself up." He threw his jacket onto a nearby table and looked at the man. "So, you want to talk about last night?" he asked. Not waiting for a reply, he plowed on. "Okay. Last time you and I spoke, you were on your way to stop Helena Bertinelli from her one-woman war against the Mafia. How'd that work out for you? Nick Salvati, Frank Bertinelli's right hand, was found with his neck snapped along with a few of his thugs. Was that her or you?"_

_Oliver got up and moved to the salmon ladder. "I was with Helena when somebody jumped us. We didn't have a choice." He responded._

“And now I’m concerned when he starts talking in we’s.” Laurel said, a barely noticeable hint of jealousy in her voice.

 

_"We?" Dig asked, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach._

_"She knows, Diggle, about me." He said. "It was my secret or her life." He tried to justify._

_"It's not just your secret anymore, Oliver." He pointed out. "This woman is a killer. She's been dropping bodies all over the city."_

_He turned away from the salmon ladder to face his friend. "Diggle, she's not what you think she is. 3 years ago she was going to turn her father in to the FBI. She put everything she had on him on a laptop. Her father found it, thought it belonged to her fiancé, and had him murdered." He turned back to the ladder and began working out._

_Diggle let out a heavy breath. "All right, listen, that's a heavy thing, man. But it doesn't change the fact that she is dangerous." He argued again. "And if Bertinelli retaliates against the Triad or is perceived to, the Triad is gonna rain down hell and innocent people are gonna be killed."_

_Oliver grunted as he worked his way up the ladder. "She's lost, Diggle, and whether she knows it or not, I can save her, stop her from doing anything reckless."_

“Redemption can only happen if someone wants to be redeemed. Helena clearly doesn’t.” Diggle noted grimly.

 

“So this is just gonna blow up in Ollie’s face. As if we didn’t already know that.” Thea sighed.

 

_"That's just it. You can't save her, okay? Some people don't change."_

_"I can. I can help her." He insisted._

_"All right." Dig said finally. "Maybe you think you're more persuasive than you are, or maybe she thinks she's fine the way she is on her mission of righteous fury. Whatever it is, either way, all of this, it ends badly."_

_"Either way I got to try." Oliver stated, giving up on the ladder and walking away._

“Why doesn’t he listen?” Arsenal sighed.

 

“Because when he sets his mind to something, he sees it through, no matter what. It’s one of the things about him I found endearing and frustrating at the same time.” Dinah mused.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Moira and Walter were walking down the stairs, with Walter flipping through paperwork._

_"Where are you off to so early? You just got home." Moira asked._

_"The trouble with traveling overseas for a few weeks is that a few weeks' worth of work is piling up on my desk." He replied civilly. He slipped the papers into his briefcase. "I just want to start Digging my way out from underneath it."_

_"Of course." Moira stared sadly at his back for a few moments._

_"What is it?" he asked, sensing her stare._

_"We haven't spoken since you left. Really spoken."_

_"I know."_

_"Well, I can imagine finding out that I had Robert's yacht salvaged and that he was murdered, it was a lot for you to take in."_

“Understatement of the century.” Thea said tersely. 

 

_Walter sighed and finally turned to face his wife. "Yes, it was."_

_"I just don't want you to feel that you can't trust me anymore. I wasn't lying to-- hurt you, but to keep you safe." She tried to explain. "I haven't changed, Walter. I'm still the woman you fell in love with and married." She said sincerely, gazing into his eyes. "Do you see that?" she asked, pleading._

The trust was shattered though. It’s hard to come back from that, Diggle noted silently.

 

_"Yeah. Of course I do." Walter replied. He kissed her lightly on the lips. "I just want us to agree to be honest with one another, moving forward."_

_"Okay." She agreed at once. "Yes, of course." They started to kiss once more, but were interrupted._

_"Walter." The man in question looked back and up on the balcony, where Thea stood with a smile on her face. "Will you give me a lift to school?" she asked, moving down the stairs. "I like to mix it up sometimes and actually be on time."_

“Or show up at all.” Laurel said thinly.

 

“I would say something,” Tommy began, “but since that would make me a hypocrite, I’ll say nothing.”

 

_That would be my parental privilege." He said happily, closing his briefcase and moving with her towards the door._

_"Or, you know, you could just buy me a convertible and then we could avoid this." She hinted none too subtly._

_"What, and miss out on all those wonderful conversations we have in the car? I don't think so." He started as they walked out. Moira watched, her smile turning to a look of concern as the door closed._

_The scene changed to the Bertinelli residence. Frank Bertinelli was consoling Dina Salvati, Nick Salvati's widow As Helena walked down the stairs._

_"I'm so sorry, Frank." Dina was saying. "The last thing you need is me crying on your shoulder all night. I just can't believe that Nick is gone."_

_"Dina, look, you and Nicky, you're like family to me, okay?" Frank stated. "And in my family, we take care of our own. Okay?"_

_"Okay." She said._

_"I'm sorry for your loss." Helena said, stopping at the base of the stairs. "Nick was like a brother to me."_

“The term ‘sibling’ must mean something different to the Bertinellis.” Thea said dryly.

 

“No kidding. There were several times during our childhood that I was tempted to kill Sara. I never did.” Laurel scoffed.

 

_Dina gave her a watery smile. Frank kissed her on the cheek and led her to the door. "Hey now, come on." He said, hugging her once more. "We'll talk to you soon." He assured her._

_"Okay." She said, walking out of the house. Frank closed the door, and then laid his forehead against the cool wood. "I'm gonna find the son of a bitch who did this." He vowed "And on my life, I'm gonna make him pay." Helena smiled at him in faked encouragement. Before she could say anything, though, the doorbell rang. Frank sighed, turning back to the door. "You know, that girl's always forgetting something." He snarked. But when he opened the door, he was surprised._

_"Frank." Oliver Queen said, shaking his hand. "Sorry to drop by unannounced."_

“And you’ve found them Frank.” Roy said dryly.

_"No, no, no, come on in." Frank said. "It's all right. Come on in." Oliver walked in and shared a significant look with Helena._

_"I'm terribly sorry to hear that." Oliver said._

_"Thank you."_

_"Actually, though, I'm not here to discuss business." He continued, looking past Frank at Helena, who stared back, a friendly smile on her face. Frank looked back and forth between the two, realization dawning._

_"Oh. Okay." He said with a smile. "Well, this is, uh this is one merger I won't stand in the way of. Excuse me, sweetie. A father knows when he's not needed." He joked, leaving the two alone in the foyer._

_Helena walked down the final stairs, stalking up to him and crossing her arms in defiance. "Was I not clear that I wasn't interested in talking?"_

_"You don't have to talk." Olive said simply, the opened the door. After a moment, Helena grabbed her jacket off the small table by the door and walked out with him._

_The scene changed to the Starling City Cemetery. Oliver led Helena to a particular grave._

“Is-is he using my sister to try and get laid?” Laurel demanded angrily.

 

_"Who was she?" Helena asked, staring at the stone._

_"Somebody I knew a long time ago. I—" he stumbled over his words. "I was dating her sister, and it was getting serious. But back then, I did not do serious well." He paused. "But I was excellent at screwing things up. I started sleeping with Sara." His voice began to quake with suppressed emotion. "I started sleeping with my girlfriend's sister. I brought her on the yacht and she died." His voice caught, but he pushed through. "Right in front of me. And I hurt-- I hurt her family… I just didn't care." Helena reached over slowly and took Oliver's hand in her own. "Before the island, I wasn't a good person." He admitted. "I was selfish and thoughtless and awful, and it affected-- really affected people. People I loved." Oliver looked over at the woman. "'Cause, Helena you're on an island, too."_

Laurel relaxed slightly, realizing what Oliver was really doing. He wasn’t trying to get with Helena; he was trying to save her soul. She only wished that Helena would listen to him but she had a feeling she wouldn’t.

 

_Helena shook her head. "Oliver, I… I want to let you in." she said softly. "But Michael was the last man I opened up to. I can't be hurt again."_

_"I'd never hurt you." He swore. "I would never hurt you. I promise." She looked back at him, hope blooming on her eyes._

“He shouldn’t have done that,” Diggle muttered as everyone looked at him curiously, “he made a promise he can’t guarantee to an unstable killer. This can only end badly.”

 

_The scene changed to the lair. Oliver stood next to Helena, who held is bow in her hands. She nocked and arrow and pulled back sharply._

_"Uh-uh." Oliver gently chided. "Relax. Relax, relax, relax." He helped her adjust her grip. "Now, pull back gently. You need all 3 fingers to come off the bowstring at the same time." He instructed. "Relax. Breathe." Helena took careful aim at the target. "And release." Helena released the arrow, which sailed past the target, smashing into some bottles behind it._

“Yeah, let’s teach the unstable killer how to kill better.” Tommy said sarcastically.

 

_Helena snarled in frustration. "This is a waste of time."_

“She’s right…it’s a waste of time for Ollie to try and reach her.” Laurel muttered.

_"I'm trying to teach you something." Oliver said patiently._

_"What, the least effective way to shoot people?"_

_"No, control." He took his bow back. "To use a bow and arrow requires patience and discipline." In one smooth motion, he withdrew an arrow from his quiver, nocked, aimed and fired, hitting the bull's-eye dead-center._

“Even if she wasn’t a psychopath, I doubt she’s got the patience to learn how to use the bow.” Thea mused.

 

_Helena gave him an impressed look, and then moved over to a work table. She picked up a coffee cup and smirked at Oliver. Then, she tossed it up in the air- and Oliver hit it with his next shot, pinning the cup to the rafters. Amused, she next grabbed an oil can, tossed it up- and it got pinned to the wall. Next she picked up a tennis ball. She was still holding it in her hand when Oliver shot, pushing the ball out of her hand and pinning it to the wall behind her. She gaped at him, impressed despite herself._

She wasn’t the only one. There was not a person in the room who wasn’t stunned by Oliver’s skill.

 

_Oliver smirked. "I can do this all day." He said, walking up to her. "It's kind of fun."_

_"I love a man with stamina." She quipped._

_"Our crusades have something in common." He said, sitting next to her. "Mine started with my father, too._

“That is the only thing they have in common.” Thea scoffed.

 

“Ollie’s trying to help the people in this city; Helena is out for herself and no one else.” Laurel said scathingly.

 

_He left me with a list." Oliver pulled out the notebook and showed it to her. "People who need to be reminded that Starling City isn't theirs for the taking."_

_"Anthony Venza is in here." She noted, surprised. "He works for my dad. He deals illegal prescription pills." She was looking through the list when Oliver heard the door open. He looked up and smiled._

_"Diggle, this is Helena." He told his body man unnecessarily as Dig walked in. He didn't look amused by Helena's presence. "Diggle's my, uh… Associate." He explained._

_"Well, any associate of Oliver's is—"_

_"Absolutely nothing to you." Dig cut her off. "Ma'am." He added, a bit sarcastically._

“Burn.” Roy quipped as Tommy high-fived Diggle.

 

_Helena looked at Diggle, then back at Oliver. "I'll leave you to- associate." She told Oliver, Getting up and walking off past Diggle into the Foundry._

_"She knows my name." Dig noted after she left. "That's lovely."_

_"You can trust her." Oliver assured the man._

_"Except I don't." Dig shot back. "You sleeping with this girl, Oliver?" he asked seriously._

_Oliver looked offended. "Well, I don't think that's any of your business, Diggle."_

_"It became my business when you brought me into this." Dig argued, pacing the room. "And when I signed on, I told you I was gonna keep your head straight. Well, Oliver, you're lonely. Lonelier than you want to admit. And that's why you think you can change this girl, because you need to think you can. You're like a dope fiend who thinks he can deal with his own addiction by making another addict go straight." He stopped pacing and finally turned to look at Oliver. "Oliver, what you do is dangerous. And getting confused about who's good and who's bad is a good way to get yourself dead."_

_"You done?" Oliver asked shortly._

_Diggle pursed his lips and nodded. "Yeah, I'm done. With this." He gestured around the lair. "Everything else, I don't know. I don't know, Oliver. You tell me." He asked, then turned and walked out._

“I really wish he would listen.” Laurel sighed.

 

“He’s used to going it alone. After that goes on for so long…it’s hard to break out of that mind-set.” Diggle noted.

 

_The scene changed to CNRI. A smiling Tommy walked in and headed right to Laurel, who was looking through files in a large cabinet. "I hope you don't have plans tomorrow night, because I just got us a rez at that new restaurant, Table Salt, opening night." He said proudly._

_Laurel looked up from the file she was reading. "Isn't that place ridiculously expensive?" she asked, closing the drawer._

_"Everywhere worth going is." He smirked, rubbing his finer on her forehead. "Ah, you have the cutest crinkle in your forehead when you're worried."_

“You’re either stupid or in denial…maybe both.” Roy drawled as Tommy glared at him.

 

“The boy talks sense Tommy,” Laurel pointed out and Tommy looked at her betrayed, “I know you’re used to having money all the time, but if your dad does cut you off, you can’t just spent ridiculous amounts of money whenever you want.”

 

Grumbling Tommy turned away, silently conceding they were right. But he wasn’t going to tell them that.

 

_"Tommy, stop. This is serious." She argued. "I thought you were going to live more frugally."_

_"Yeah, I know. Everybody is grown up except for me." Tommy groused as they headed back to her desk. "Even Oliver has a job. He's working on that new night club." He paused as he saw Laurel's face light up. "You have thinky face. Why do you have thinky face?"_

_"Have you ever thought about asking Oliver for a job?" she asked him._

_"Not even once." He replied immediately._

_"This isn't a quality that I love most about you, but you do know the club scene and how to have fun." Laurel pointed out, sitting on the edge of her desk._

“She’s got a point. Working at Ollie’s club would probably be the perfect job for you.” Thea pointed out.

 

“Maybe.” Tommy conceded, thinking about it.

 

_"You make some very valid points." Tommy conceded. "Look, I'll take care of it. I'll talk to Ollie later and we'll see what he thinks." He promised._

_"He is gonna think it is a great idea." Laurel assured him._

“He probably will.” Thea agreed.

 

_The scene changed to QC. Walter was working late in his office when Felicity came in._

_"How was your trip to Australia?" she asked. "I've always wanted to go. Down under. It's just-- I have this thing about kangaroos. More of a phobia. They wig me out. They look evil, and I'm sure their picture's up on like everything everywhere in that country." She rambled before Walter, thankfully, cut her off._

_"You had something important to tell me, Ms. Smoak?"_

_Felicity forced herself to calm down. "Yes, I did. It's about Tempest." At his bored look, she pressed on. "Your wife's mysterious LLC, the one she diverted company funds to."_

_Walter gave her a tight smile. "I appreciate your diligence on this, but, uh, it was a simple misunderstanding between my wife and I. Everything's been resolved." He assured her._

_"No." she argued. "See, it hasn't. There was something about the money transfer that felt hinky to me. The money your wife withdrew from the company, I wasn't the only one who tracked it. She was being shadowed by another entity, and whoever it is, they're good." She noted. "NSA good. But, as you know, I'm good, too. So even though they left almost no trace of their presence in our system, I did manage to find one thing." She pulled out a print out and held it out to Walter. It showed the same image that was in Oliver's notebook. "Well, one image. Does that symbol mean something to you, sir?" she asked._

_"No.” he said shortly, grabbing the paper from her hand. He rose and walked around the desk so he was standing right in front of her. "What means something to me is one of my employees prying into my wife's private business without authorization. And should it happen again, I'll have you suspended." He looked at her, dead serious. "Is that clear?" he asked._

_"Crystal." She replied, timidly. Shakily she turned and walked out of his office. Walter watched her go, the picked up the paper and looked it over again. He HAD seen that picture somewhere before. But where?_

“Wow. I’ve never seen Walter so…harsh.”  Thea said surprised by her step-father’s actions.

 

“He realizes that he’s on to something dangerous, he’s just trying to protect her.” Diggle explained.

 

“Still, Felicity crossed a line,” Laurel noted and was the center of attention, “everything up to this point that she’d done was done with Walter’s authorization. Until this. If this were anyone other  than Walter, she’d be suspended or even fired, maybe even have charges pressed against her. Felicity was very lucky.”

 

_The scene change back to the lair. Helena walked in and smiled at Oliver. "Where's your friend?" she asked._

_"Just the two of us tonight." He replied._

_"Oh, really? And what did you have in mind?" she asked, coming up to him._

_"An object lesson."_

_Realization dawned on her face. "We're going after Anthony Venza?" she asked._

_"Yes." Oliver confirmed. "But we're doing it on my terms." He continued. "Your father loses a piece of his organization, but no innocent people get hurt in the process." He nodded towards a large wooden box sitting on the table._

_"What is it?" she asked, walking over to the box. Oliver followed._

_"I explained to you that guns were weapons of emotion and unpredictability, but since you are far from an expert at archery, this will have to do, for now."_

_She opened the lid and inside the box, lying on a bed of purple silk, was a small automatic crossbow pistol. "I like it." She said._

“And now she has a better weapon to kill people with. Great.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

_"You can't go out like that." Oliver noted. She smiled at him._

_"Why? You got a spare hood?" she joked. He led her over to his computer and pulled up a special program. She looked at the design shown on the screen in awe. "Does it come in purple?" she asked. With a few clicks of the mouse, she gasped. "I like purple." She told Oliver, smiling at him._

_The scene changed to a warehouse. Dozens of people were busy repackaging prescription pills to sell on the streets._

_"This isn't crack." Anthony Venza was saying to a client. "Anyone can sell crack. All you need's a street corner and a hoodie." He held up a small baggie. "This is pharmaceutical grade Oxycodone." He explained. "It's caviar. It is champagne. And you sell this with fancy houses; at parties with rich kids have got money to burn." He laughed._

“So this is how the low lives of Starling City live.” Laurel said scornfully.

 

“You have no idea.” Roy said bitterly.

 

_Then suddenly the lights went out._

_He looked over at one of his guards. "Check it out!" he ordered. The man drew his gun and cautiously made his way up a set of stairs to the second level. A moment later the sounds of punches could be heard, followed by the man's gun flying back down, landing on the floor near Venza. He picked it up, looking around. "Whoever you are, you really think you're gonna get out of here in one piece?"_

_"I was thinking the same thing."_

_Venza looked up to see The Hood standing on the upper floor. "Anthony Venza –" he started. Then Venza saw something move out of the corner of his eye and spun to see a woman, dressed in black and purple body armor, a long coat, and a mask holding a crossbow pistol._

_"You have failed this city." She finished._

“For once we agree.” Laurel said, a slight smirk crossing her face.

 

_Venza's gun. On impact it exploded into a blinding flash of light. The two vigilantes jumped down and proceeded to wipe the floor with both Venza's men and his clients, who foolishly tried to fight back. Venza, for his part, decided discretion was the better part of valor and fled. He made it to the door before a bolt slammed into the handle, jamming it. He turned to see the Huntress stalking towards him, crossbow pistol pointing at his throat._

_"Please!" he pleaded. "Just don't hurt me!"_

_"Aww." Helena tilted her head, an evil smile on her lips. "How about just a little?"_

“And the psychotic tendencies continue to show.” Tommy quipped.

 

_A short time later, Oliver and Helena watched from the roof as Venza and his men were led, limping, out to waiting police cruiser. Oliver looked at Helena._

_"Millions of dollars' worth of illegal drugs confiscated, a massive blow to your father's criminal proceeds, and nobody had to die." He said. "Justice." She looked back down as Venza was put into a cruiser. "What do you think?"_

“I think he’s trying to do a good thing with someone who is incapable of being good.” Tommy noted with the others nodding in agreement.

 

_"I think… this feels good." She said after a moment's pause. Then she smiled at him. "And not just the justice part." They both leaned in to kiss._

_The scene changed to the Bertinelli residence. Frank was sitting at his bar, drinking scotch as he watched the news. 'Anthony Venza was arrested last night. The police confiscated a warehouse full of illegal prescription drugs with a street value estimated in the millions. Several unconfirmed witnesses reported seeing the Starling City vigilante leaving the scene with another unknown accomplice, possibly a woman.' He finished the scotch, then threw his glass down behind the bar, shattering it._

“Well, someone’s not happy.” Thea said gleefully, enjoying Frank cracking under the pressure.

 

_Helena walked into the room and slowly came up to her father. "Bad year? The scotch, I mean." She asked._

_"Yeah." He said tiredly, taking her hand in his. "Sorry, another business setback." He leaned back and looked her over. "Wow. You look beautiful." He stated. "Oliver Queen?" at her smile, he chuckled. "Oh, it's nice to see you happy again. It's been too long." His cell phone rang. Sighing, he answered it. "Yeah?" hearing the voice on the other end, he turned away from his daughter. "Yeah. Yeah, I heard about Venza. Yeah, I know where that leaves us!" he slammed the phone down on the bar. He looked up to see Helena walking out of the room. What he didn't see was her satisfied smile._

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Moira was busy putting the final touches on her outfit, while Walter stood in the room, reading a book._

_"I'm sorry to rush out." She was saying as she finished putting her earrings in. "I have this impromptu Board of Directors meeting with the Starling City Modern Art Museum. I don't know much about art, but I do know how to pay for it." She quipped._

_Walter kept staring down at the book. Hidden in its pages was the pint out Felicity had given him earlier that day. Seeing his wife rise, he closed the book. "No worries." He said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Whip them into shape."_

_"Yes, sir." She replied happily. "I'll see you when I get back." He waited a few moments after she left the room, then got to work. Swiftly but quietly, he began going around their room, looking through his wife's things. He looked through the drawers in the make-up desk, He looked through jewelry boxes, through books, even underneath statues. But nowhere did he find the symbol. He paused, picking up a picture of he and Moira in happier times. He smiled at the memory, but then something caught his eye. He looked up, over the top of the picture, to the grandfather clock that sat against the way. Through the glass of the door, he saw it- the symbol. Walter quickly put the picture down and moved to the clock, opening the door, he found a small wooden box with the symbol engraved in brass on the top. Cautiously he picked up the box, then opened it to find a small, tan book. He pulled out the book and opened it, seeing the same symbol in the inside cover. Flipping through the rest of the book, though, only showed blank pages. He stared at them, considering._

“My mom…has a copy of dad’s list.” Thea said shock flooding through her.

 

“But...how? And why?” Tommy asked, just as stunned as she was.

 

“I’m sure we’ll find out.” Diggle said, beginning to feel like a broken record.

 

_The scene changed to Table Salt, where Tommy and Laurel were waiting to be seated- a new experience for the Merlyn heir._

_Tommy checked his watch. "Well, it's only been 30 minutes. That's not too bad for an opening." He said optimistically._

_"If they don't seat us soon, I'm going to write a horrible review online." Laurel declared_

_"Let me see what I can do." He said. Tommy walked over to the hostess and gave her a winning smile. "Hey. I'm loving the Cavalli." He complimented. "Uh, look, I'm Tommy Merlyn. Is there any way that we can go to the head of the class?"_

_"Is there?" she asked in return, giving him a look. Tommy instinctively brought out his money clip- which was painfully light. He cleared his throat and returned the money to his pocket._

_"Let us know when our table's ready, okay?" he asked, dejected. He walked back over to Laurel. "Maybe you can eat some of those fancy peanuts from behind the bar." He tried as she rolled her eyes._

_"Hey!"_

_Tommy and Laurel turned to see Oliver walk in with Helena. The three old friends looked at each other uncomfortably for a few moments, with Helena being thankfully oblivious._

“Can you say awkward?” Roy said amused as Tommy and Laurel refused to look at each other.

 

“Shut up.” Tommy muttered.

 

_"Hi." Tommy said, subdued. "It's Ollie, and…someone."_

_"Tommy, Laurel, this is Helena." He introduced._

_"Nice to meet you." She said with a smile, shaking Tommy's hand._

_"My pleasure." He replied. Helena held out her hand to Laurel, who took it after a few moments._

_"Likewise." Laurel said._

_"You look beautiful." Oliver told Laurel respectfully._

_"Thank you." She replied. They stood awkwardly for a few more moments before the hostess, thankfully, came over._

_"Mr. Queen, your table is ready." She told Oliver, who smiled in thanks._

_"When is our table gonna be ready?" Laurel asked with strained politeness._

_"When it is." The hostess replied shortly with a fake smile of her own._

_"Why don't you both join us?" Helena asked suddenly._

“No, that is a very bad idea, very bad idea.” Tommy said with Laurel nodding frantically.

 

“For more than one reason,” Diggle said and the pair looked over at him, “Oliver obviously still has feelings for Laurel, which is obvious to everyone except you Laurel. And considering you’re having dinner with a psychotic killer…”

 

“Yeah, this can only end in murder.” Roy winced.

 

_Both Tommy and Oliver panicked at the idea._

_"No, no…" Oliver started._

_"We're just gonna have a drink and—" Tommy said at the same time._

_"We'd love to." Laurel said firmly. Tommy leaned in close to her._

_"Are you sure?" he asked._

_"I'm sure I'm hungry." She replied._

“Speedy, when I die, you can have my car.” Tommy told Thea grimly.

 

“…I kind of want you to die now.” Thea said and Roy laughed.

 

In the control room, Dinah winced and Arsenal put a hand on her shoulder.

 

_Oliver looked between the two, then cleared his throat. He held up four fingers. "That… that'll be… it'll be great." He stuttered, handing the hostess a few more bills to get a bigger table. "That sounds great."_

_Later, the four were laughing as Tommy an Oliver told Helena stories of their childhood._

_"I had forgotten that you filled your parents' pool with beer." Oliver said, still laughing. "How many cases did that take?"_

_"Roughly a thousand or so." Tommy said with a grin._

“I remember that. Your dad was not happy when he got home.” Laurel said with a grin.

 

“Worth it.” Tommy shrugged.

 

_"You know, his father was so pissed, I thought he was actually going to drown you in it." Oliver noted to Helena._

_"Yeah, well, death by beer, there's worse ways to go. Right, Helena?" he asked the girl, taking sip of his wine._

_"Well, there are no good ways to die." She said. To recover from the awkwardness of that comment, she looked to Oliver. "So, uh, how did you and Tommy meet?"_

_"Actually, we've all known each other since—" Oliver started to explain, but was cut off by Laurel._

_"We've all known each other forever." She said simply._

_"You three have a lot of history." Helena said, finally tuning in to the undercurrent of tension between the three._

“And the path to murder is spotted.” Roy drawled.

 

_"Sometimes a little too much." Tommy said, taking another sip of wine._

_There was an awkward pause, then Laurel looked back to Oliver. "So, how's the night club coming along?" she asked._

_"Slower than I expected it to." Oliver replied, happy to move onto another subject. "I've, uh, I've been busy."_

_"Well, then you must be happy to have the extra help, then." She said, smiling at Tommy. Oliver looked at her, confused._

_"What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled._

_Tommy cleared his throat and leaned forward. "Laurel, I'm sure that Oliver doesn't want to talk about work right now." He tried._

_"You didn't ask him?" she hissed._

_Oliver looked between the two. "Ask me what?" he inquired._

_"Tommy wanted…" she looked at him, silently fuming in his seat. She cleared her throat and continued. "Tommy said that he was gonna talk to you about working for you at your night club."_

_Oliver laughed, then noticed their faces. "Really? Sorry." He looked over at Tommy. "I didn't think that you wanted any responsibility at all."_

_"Oh, yeah, who'd believe that?" he seethed. Oliver looked taken aback._

“It’s not Ollie’s fault. You obviously didn’t tell him about getting cut off. Don’t blame him because he doesn’t know what’s going on.” Thea snapped at Tommy, who winced.

 

“Yeah, my dad.” Tommy muttered.

 

“In your defense, I probably shouldn’t have done that. There was a time and a place for that, and this was neither.” Laurel sighed.

 

_"You've always wanted to get into business with Tommy." Laurel pressed. I mean, don't you remember when we went to Aspen and you wanted to open a ski lodge?"_

_"The only thing that I remember from Aspen was your father being furious we shared a room with one bed." Oliver replied casually._

“And here’s the part where we get murdered. It was nice knowing you Laurel.” Tommy said as he looked over at her.

 

“You to.” Laurel said quietly.

 

_The sudden weight of the drama finally pressed down on Helena, and realization sparked in her eyes. "Wait, um…" she started, looking between the two. "So you two were together…" she looked at Laurel, "and now you're dating his best friend?" she asked._

_Tommy laughed shortly. "Yeah, we're just prime for a reality show, aren't we?" he said, finishing off his wine. Helena soon followed, downing the half glass she had left in one gulp._

_"Tommy, you working for me, that could be fun." Oliver said, trying to salvage something._

_Tommy threw his napkin down on the table and stood. "I don't feel so good. I'm gonna step outside." He muttered, stalking out of the restaurant._

_Laurel looked after him in concern. "I should probably go check on him." She said finally. She gave a small smile to Helena. "Helena, it was very nice to meet you." Helena returned the smile with a fake smile of her own._

_Laurel left the table and made her way after Tommy. She caught up to him as he moved through the restaurant. "Tommy, why are you so upset?" she asked._

_"Why did you have to say something to Oliver about the job?" he replied shortly._

_"You were supposed to talk to him." Laurel said._

_"Well, I hadn't."_

_Laurel winced. "Okay, I didn't realize." She apologized. "I was only trying to help."_

_"No, you were trying to get Oliver to help." He spun around and looked at her, anger and jealousy written all over his face. "It's typical Laurel, always running to her white knight." He scoffed. "It's Oliver and Laurel. It always has been." He shook his head. "That's not gonna change."_

Laurel and Tommy refused to look at each other as even Roy had the tact not to say anything.

 

_"Oliver and I are over." Laurel retorted._

_"Oh, really? Because you seemed awfully bothered by his new girlfriend."_

_"What, am I supposed to like her?"_

_"I do not want to be Oliver's charity case, okay?" Tommy said finally. "To every day be reminded that I can't give you everything he could?" He sighed. "You know, losing a fortune I think is going to be easier than losing you, so why don't we just stop now." He said, leaving her stunned and upset in the restaurant._

“You’re an ass.” Thea told Tommy as he shifted guiltily while Laurel pointedly ignored him.

 

_At the side entrance, another date was falling apart. "Hey. I'm sorry." Oliver said, following an equally upset Helena out to the street. "How am I supposed to know it's gonna get so weird in there?" he objected. She spun to face him._

_"No, I'm sorry." She said. "Sorry I ever listened to you."_

_"Helena, what—"_

_"You know what I've been through!" She interrupted. "I told you I couldn't be hurt again."_

_"I'm not trying to hurt you!" Oliver denied._

_"So, making me have dinner with the love of your life is what, Oliver?" he frowned, and she pressed on. "Laurel was the girl things were getting too serious with, the girl whose sister's grave you used to manipulate me." She moved in closer. "I saw the way you looked at her. That kind of love doesn't die. You still love her."_

“How is it that, in five minutes, Helena saw what I and even Ollie at times couldn’t?” Dinah sighed.

 

“Because you were determined not to see it and Oliver felt like he didn’t deserve you, so he pushed it away.” Arsenal pointed out.

 

_"I don't." he denied._

_Helena scoffed and started walking away. Oliver reached out for her arm, but she yanked it away. "Don't touch me." She snarled. "I am done talking." She turned and walked away, leaving a hurt Oliver behind._

“And here comes the murder part.” Roy noted grimly.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. She answered the door, frowning at who she saw._

_"I came to apologize." Tommy said. Laurel moved away from the door, and Tommy followed her into the apartment. "I know you were just trying to help," he began. "I guess I wasn't ready to face reality. This is just so new, you and me, and I didn't want you to see I'm scared. I'm almost 30 years old and I've never been given an ounce of responsibility in my life. You, you are driven and intelligent. You're a million times too good for me, even before I was broke." He sighed. "And now I have absolutely nothing to bring to whatever this is."_

_"I never cared about the money." Laurel replied, her frown softening. "And truth be told, billionaire was your least attractive quality. I am so sorry if I pushed you too hard on the job with Oliver." She continued. "I just--I thought you working for him was a good idea because he's your friend. And it's okay to ask a friend for help." She smiled at him. "You won't lose your street cred."_

_"I'm happy to lose my street cred." Tommy replied. "I just don't want to lose you."_

_"Well I'm not saying that it's gonna be easy But I'm here for you if you need someone to lean on." She pulled him in close. "That's what people do when they're together."_

_"Together like boyfriend-girlfriend?" Tommy said, smiling._

_"Mm. Do not ruin this moment." Laurel giggled. "It was going so well for you." The both laughed softly, then kissed._

Perhaps dating Tommy wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, Laurel admitted as she snuck a look at Tommy.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair, Oliver was sitting, alone in the dark, suited up. He was checking his quiver when Dig walked in._

_"Didn't expect to hear from you tonight. Something happen?" he asked._

_Oliver sighed. "I think you were right." He admitted._

_Diggle nodded. "Okay. About which part?"_

_"All of it." He ground out, then sighed again. "I should have listened to you."_

_"Oliver, you said you wanted to help her change." Dig said, walking around the table so that he face Oliver. "The thing is, she already did change. When her father killed her fiancé, she changed into something dark and twisted. You see that now, don't you?" he asked._

_Oliver slammed his quiver down on the table. "It's not that I--it's not that I couldn't see it, Diggle. I didn't--I didn't want to." He admitted. He looked up at him with almost a pleading look in his eyes. "I'm living a double life, and to do that, I'm taking all these people that I love and I'm putting them at arm's length. I'm giving up a lot, so maybe-- maybe I thought the universe owed me one." He shook his head. "But I looked in her eyes tonight, and I can't stop her from going over the edge. She's--she's already past it."_

“Poor Ollie.” Thea sighed as Laurel and Tommy looked down.

 

_The scene changed to a safe house somewhere on the docks. Zhishan was sitting around a card table with three of his men, playing poker, when suddenly the men's phones went off one after the other. One of the men finally answered. "Shénme?"_

_"Líkāi nàlǐ! Líkāi nàlǐ!" the voice on the other end said frantically. Before the men could do anything, though, The Huntress burst through the door. Instead of her crossbow pistol, she was packing her Glock and she executed two of the three bodyguards. The third tried to fight, but she quickly put him down with a broken arm and dislocated shoulder. She took his gun, then calmly got up and pointed both at Zhishan, who looked back at her calmly._

_"Dāng nǐ xúnqiú bàofù, xiān wā liǎng gè fénmù." He said simply. "Yīgè shì nǐ de dírén, yīgè shì nǐ zìjǐ."_

_Helena smirked at him. "I don't speak Chinese, so I'm just gonna assume you said good-bye." With that, she emptied both guns into the Triad leader. Once finished, she kneeled next to the wounded guard. "Tell your mistress Frank Bertinelli sends his regards." She said with a smirk, before rising and leaving the safe house._

“Oh my god.” Laurel said horrified.

 

“Shit, she just started a gang war.” Diggle swore.

 

“This is bad, very bad.” Tommy said alarmed.

 

“Let’s hope Oliver can stop this thing before it begins.” Roy said grimly.

 

_The scene changed to Q.C. Felicity timidly walked up to Walter's glass door. Taking a moment to compose herself, she opened the door and walked in._

_"Ahem. You wanted to see me, Mr. Steele?" she said. As he looked up at her, she rambled on. "Did I mention, it's almost Christmas, and many of the suicides this time of year are due to sudden and unexpected joblessness?"_

_"I want you to find out all you can about that notebook." He said, sliding the tan notebook across his desk towards her. "Where it was made, how it was purchased. And what it could mean." She picked it up, looking at it curiously._

_"Yes, sir." She replied at once._

_"Felicity," he said, catching her attention, "I asked Josiah Hudson, our head of security, to look into the same subject matter. He died the next day under questionable circumstances." He paused so she could take that in. "What I may be asking of you, this mystery, are you sure you want to do this?"_

_Felicity thought for a moment. "I hate mysteries." She said firmly. They bug me. They need to be solved." She smiled at him and walked out of the office, leaving a concerned Walter with this thoughts._

“She’s overconfident in her abilities,” Diggle noted concerned, “she’s spent so long being the smartest person in the room, she’s forgotten there are people even smarter than her.”

 

“And that could get her killed.” Laurel agreed.

 

_The scene changed to the safe house. The Hood walked in, taking in the carnage around him. He stopped at the final body, that of Zhishan. He kneeled down to examine him, then pulled out his phone and dialed a number._

_'It's Dig. What's the situation?' he asked on the other end of the call._

_"War." Oliver said simply._

_The scene changed to the Bertinelli residence. Frank was sitting at the bar when he got a phone call._

_'Boss, we just got word-- somebody hit Zhishan. He's dead.' The caller said._

_Frank sighed. "All right. Then we know what's coming next. Tell everyone to strap up." He ordered, hanging up._

_Outside the house, guards were patrolling the ground. One stopped outside the pool and looked around. Spotting nothing, he turned-_

_Only top have China White pop up behind him, slitting his throat. As the man's body dropped, she looked at her compatriots._

_"Bù huì ràng rènhé rén huózhe." she ordered, and the crew moved silently on towards the house. One by one, the guards fell to the silent onslaught._

“My god.” Thea said, stunned and horrified by the bloodshed.

 

“This is what a war looks like.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_The man guarding the door started calling out for guards on his radio, and got no response. "Ricco's not answering his walkie." He called to the man behind him, who had already been taken out. "Check it out." He turned- only to be garroted._

_The Triad entered the house. While the rest fanned out on the ground floor, one headed up the stairs. As soon as he reached the top, he was struck in the chest by an arrow. The Hood rushed forward, catching the man before he fell and lowered him gently to the ground. As gunfire erupted downstairs, he headed down to find Frank._

_In his office, Frank was running and ducking the fire. He made his way to his safe. He managed to open it, then grabbed Helena's laptop. He closed the safe, and then threw the laptop in his briefcase. He moved to escape when China White caught up to him. She pushed him against a stone pillar and held her knife, ready to slit his throat._

_"Frank Bertinelli-- this is for Zhishan." She lifted the knife- and it was knocked out of her hand by an arrow. She spun in surprise to see The Hood, who put an arrow in her knee, dropping the assassin. He knocked another arrow as Frank lifted his gun up at the vigilante._

_"Run." The Hood snarled, turning around and dropping another Triad member._

“Why is he protecting this low life?” Roy wondered.

 

“because the only threat he is is his influence. Which has since been removed. He’s like a tiger with no teeth.” Diggle pointed out.

 

_Frank ran, ducking and shooting as he struggled to make it out of his house. He made it out onto the yard and started running. He was passing his small duck pond and was halfway to the edge of the property, when suddenly a bolt slammed into his knee. Frank dropped to the ground, writhing in pain. Helena stalked up to her father as he rolled onto his back looking at who had just shot him._

_"Helena." He said, surprised. "What is this?"_

_"Payback for Michael. I know you had him killed; Salvati told me." She explained._

_"I did that to protect the family!" he shouted, but she paid him no attention._

_"I had to take everything away from you because you took everything away from me." She looked at the fallen man, a look of anguish on her face. “You finally know what it feels like to find out, your own blood is responsible for the death of your entire world." She lifted the crossbow pistol, ready to finish it. Before she could pull the trigger, though, an arrow knocked it out of her hands. She spun to see The Hood there. Laughing in disbelief, she attacked him. He fought back, doing his best not to hurt her, wanting to end it peacefully._

 

“Can’t hold back Ollie, she won’t let you.” Tommy muttered, worried for what could happen if Oliver held back.

 

_Frank, meanwhile crawled over to her fallen pistol and picked it up. As Helena kicked Oliver away and rose, she turned back to Frank-_

_"No!" Oliver shouted as Frank shot his daughter in the shoulder. He looked at her fallen body in satisfaction for a moment before Oliver ran over and knocked him out. He turned back to the moaning woman. "Helena?” he called out to her, but she slipped into unconsciousness. Hearing sirens, Oliver picked Helena up and carried her away, leaving Frank for the police._

“He should have just left her there.” Arsenal muttered with Dinah nodding silently.

_The scene changed to the lair. Helena was laid out on a table, an anxious Oliver sitting at her side. Suddenly she gasped as she regained consciousness._

_"Helena, easy. Easy." He advised. "You were lucky."_

_"Am I supposed to be grateful?" she snarled._

_"Helena—"_

_"He's a mobster. A criminal." She ground out as she forced herself upright. "Why would you save him?"_

_"I didn't save him." Oliver argued. "I saved you. You think that because you've killed, you understand what it's like to have blood on your hands. You don't understand." He explained. "You don't understand the toll that it takes on you, especially when it's your father."_

_"I'm not going to stop." She said with conviction._

_"The police have him in custody." Oliver announced. "He's going to jail and then on to prison."_

_"They don't have any evidence on him." She objected._

_"They do now."_

_Realization dawned. "The laptop." She said._

_"He's going away, Helena, for the rest of his life. This is justice." He stated._

_Helena got to her feet. "Then I guess you were right. I'm more interested in revenge." She headed towards the stairs. "Stay out of my way, Oliver, or I'll make sure your secret doesn't stay secret." She threatened._

“I’d like to see you try bitch.” Thea sneered.

 

_Oliver grimaced. He couldn't leave it like this. "Helena. What I did, everything that I've done, I've done because I care about you." He tried to explain._

_She looked at him balefully. "Too bad I can't say the same." She shot back, turning and walking up the stairs and out of the Lair, leaving a heartbroken Oliver behind her._

“Well, this has been one of the worst break ups I’ve ever seen. And I’ve had some bad break ups.” Tommy said idly.

 

“We all know that.” Laurel said sarcastically.

 

_The scene changed to Big Belly Burger. Diggle walked in and over to Carly._

_"Hey, you." He said with a smile. "Thanks for the call."_

_"What are ex-sisters-in-law for?" she joked. He moved on towards a far booth where Oliver sat, drowning his sorrows in…_

_"Mm. Chili cheese fries with jalapenos." Dig noted, taking a sip of his water. "Hmm. That's a cry for help if I've ever seen one."_

_"Ahh… I don't know what hurts worse, this or getting shot with a curare-laced bullet." Oliver joked._

_"Been there, done that." Dig replied. "Definitely the bullet." Diggle sighed and sat down across from the man. "You know, Oliver, I'm no expert at this, but I don't think love is about changing or saving a person. I think it's about finding the person who's already the right fit." He glanced up at Carly at the counter, who smiled. "One day you will." He assured the man._

“Don’t say it.” Dinah said as Arsenal opened his mouth.

 

“He already had.” Arsenal smiled cheekily as Dinah shot him an annoyed look.

 

_"I think I burnt that particular bridge." He said, laughing darkly. "Napalmed it, actually."_

_"So things didn't work out exactly as you planned. You did save Frank Bertinelli's life. He'll be doing time for a while. Justice wins out." Dig pointed out._

_"Helena doesn't see it that way." Oliver said sadly._

_"You opened up, took a risk with your heart. The Oliver I met a few months ago would not have been able to do that." He noted. And when you meet the right person, you'll be ready for her." Oliver smiled, then passed the fries to Dig. Diggle reached out towards the fries, then changed his mind and grabbed the water instead. Both men laughed in camaraderie._

“Thank you, for being there for my brother.” Thea told Diggle gratefully and he simply nodded.

 

_The scene changed to Q.C. Walter was again working late, trying to catch up, when Felicity walked into his office. Without a word, she began turning off lights._

_"What are you doing?" he finally asked._

_"It needs to be dark in here for me to do this." She replied, then closed her eyes in embarrassment. "If I had had more time to think of that sentence it wouldn't have sounded so dirty." She handed him the notebook. "Look."_

_Walter took the book and flipped through it. "I don't see anything." He said._

_Felicity pulled out a pair of glasses. "I got these from applied sciences." She explained. "They're able to pick up the sub-visible variations in the UV spectrum." She powered up the glasses and handed them to Walter, who put them on. "Now look at the book again." She said, and when he did, he saw a list of names, suddenly visible. He looked through the book, stunned._

“This won’t end well if Walter continues digging.” Thea said uneasily.

 

“Unless we bring Walter in when we get back. Or get him off the trail.” Laurel pointed out and everyone started to consider it.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Oliver was in the sitting room, staring out the window as the rain fell when Raisa led Tommy in. He caught his reflection in the window and turned to face him._

_"Hi." He said._

_"Now, look, I'm sorry about last night." Tommy began. It just—"_

_"I let it get too far sitting at the same table." Oliver interrupted. "That was- that was stupid."_

_"No. I was stupid." He sighed. "I haven't been entirely honest with you." He admitted, then plowed on before he lost his nerve. "My dad cut me off. He froze all my funds. I am living on fumes."_

_Oliver looked at him, stunned. "Really?" he said after a few moments. "Why didn't you say anything?" he asked._

_"Embarrassment, shame, jealousy, probably a few other emotions I'm not used to feeling." Tommy replied._

_"Tommy, my trust fund is your trust fund."_

_"No." He said firmly. "That is the easy answer. And believe me, I have loved easy answers. What I need is a job." He continued to Oliver's amazement. "I'm trying to change. Not sure into what yet, but I don't want to be what I was anymore."_

Tommy blushed as Laurel smiled at him, proud. Thea considered that maybe it was time to do something more if even Tommy was growing up.

 

_Oliver considered his friend for a moment. He didn't say it out loud, but he was very proud of Tommy in that moment. "It just so happens," he said, "that I have a general manager position that is available. You're probably the guy for the job."_

_"Will I be getting dental? This smile wasn't cheap."_

_"I'll look into that."_

_"Thank you." Tommy said, giving Oliver a manly hug. "Thank you." He repeated sincerely._

_"You're welcome." Oliver replied. The two parted and Tommy looked at Oliver._

_"You okay?" he asked._

_Oliver sighed. "I will be."_

_Tommy gave him a knowing look. "Something happen with Helena?"_

_"We had a falling out. But I have a feeling that I will be seeing her again."_

“Oh please no!” Thea groaned.

 

“Knowing Oliver’s luck, he’s probably right.” Diggle noted as the next recording started.


	11. Year's end

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Oliver goes up against a copycat archer, Tommy and Thea learn shocking secrets about their families.

The doors opened automatically, startling the viewers. Kal walked in, smiling politely at everyone.

 

“It was decided that I would join in on this one,” Kal said as he walked towards the corner and leaned up against it, “well, let’s get on with it then.”

 

Eying Kal wearily and slightly fearful of what was so bad that someone had to sit in with them, the viewers looked back towards the TV as the recording started.

 

_The scene opened in a seedy, rundown apartment. Adam Hunt was on the phone, pacing in the bedroom._

“My, how the mighty have fallen.” Laurel said smugly; glad to see Hunt was getting exactly what he deserved.

 

_"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." He was saying, taking a sip of the cheap scotch he had bought. "Look, all I'm doing is looking to get something going again. Yeah, I know. I know, but this time—" A loud creak caught his attention, and he turned, looking down the hallway into the living room where a hooded figure stood._

“That’s not Ollie.” Thea noted uneasily.

 

_"I have to call you back." He said into the phone, hanging up. He tossed it on his bed. "What?" he asked the silent figure. "Did you come back for another pound of flesh? You're gonna be disappointed, pal. Thanks to you, I'm—"_

_He never finished as first one, and then three arrows pierced his heart. He fell back onto the bed, dead, as the hooded man turned and left._

“Well, I think it’s fair to say that wasn’t Oliver.” Roy noted as the others stared, too stunned to speak.

 

_The scene changed to the lair, where Oliver and Diggle were training with combat knives. They moved in a steady rhythm, each blocking the other's shots._

_"Nice. Picking up the pace." Oliver complimented._

_"I could say the same thing about you." Dig replied. "You crossed 3 names off your father's list this week alone."_

_"Yeah, well, some of these guys are just giving it up now. All I gotta do is pay 'em a visit."_

_"It seems the vigilante's reputation is beginning to precede him." Dig noted. Oliver changed it up and caught Dig across the forearm, leaving a scratch. "Ah!" Dig said, more in surprise than in pain._

_"Whoo." Oliver let out a breath. "Another round?" he offered._

“Jerk.” Diggle said good-naturedly as everyone else laughed.

 

_"No." Dig declined. Oliver moved out of the training area and sat at the desk._

_"Gonna take my nephew over to the mall so he can let Santa know what he wants for Christmas." Dig said, making small talk._

_"Oh. Christmas." Oliver said in surprise. "I didn't even realize."_

_"That was because you've been logging in so many hood hours ever since that thing with Helena." Dig said slyly._

_Oliver shot him a look "I meant… there were no holidays on the island." He explained. "Every day was 'How do I stay alive'? To do that, you had to forget things, like Christmas. My dad," he smiled, remembering, "threw a party every year, and he would put a Christmas tree in every room. The whole mansion smelled like…" he trailed off, sighing. "It smelled like Christmas."_

“I remember that.” Thea said with a slight smile.

 

“I always loved your house in the holidays.” Tommy grinned.

 

“Me to…I miss it honestly.” Laurel admitted.

 

_"Maybe you can give the list a rest and just enjoy the holidays with the family." Diggle suggested. "Besides, I hear St. Nick has a list of his own. I wager you're in the 'nice' column." He got up and patted Oliver on the shoulder. "Go home, Oliver." He said, walking out. Oliver sat back in the chair, thinking back._

_The scene changed to the Island. Oliver was still in the cave, sealed off by Yao Fei. As he dozed in the dark corner, the rocks around the entrance shifted. Soon, sunlight was hitting Oliver's face, and he opened his eyes to see Yao Fei enter, carrying a dead rabbit and a jug of water. He put the items down, and looked at Oliver in surprise._

_"You not dead." He said. "Good."_

_"Where the hell you been? I ran out of food and water days ago." Oliver groused. Yao Fei turned and walked out of the cave. "Hey--hey, where are you going? He called, crawling weakly after him. He saw the jug and lunged for it. He was trying to unscrew the lid when the Asian man came back in- dragging a dirtied and disheveled Fyres, who had an arrow sticking out of his leg._

 

“Well, this should be interesting.” Roy drawled.

 

_"You..." Oliver said in surprise, then mustering every ounce of strength he had, drew back and slugged the man hard on the jaw. The hit sent them both sprawling to the ground._

_Yao Fei moved to separate the two. "Stop! Stop!" He commanded of Oliver, who glared at him in return._

_"He's the one who tied me up and had me tortured." He growled. "All 'cause he was looking for you. He would've killed me if you didn't show up!"_

_Yao Fei held out a knife to Oliver. "Then you kill him." He offered. Oliver coughed, unsure if he could even take a life. "Or he can take you home." He continued._

_Oliver looked at him in surprise. "What?"_

_"He has a plane." Yao Fei revealed. "A way for you off this island."_

“He could’ve…come home?” Thea choked out as she, Tommy, and Laurel stared at the screen in shock.

 

“Somehow, I don’t think it turned out that way.” Diggle said as he glanced over at Kal, who shook his head.

 

“When the enemy offers you a deal that sounds too good to be true, that’s because it usually is.” Kal said grimly.

 

_The scene shifted back to the present as Oliver walked in to Queen Manor._

_"Hey." He told Thea, who was walking out of the dining room. He kissed her on the cheek. "You look very pretty. What's the occasion?"_

_"Mom and Walter are having a dinner party with some big muckety-mucks." She let out a bored groan. "Best night of my life."_

_"Thea, why aren't there any decorations up in the house?" Oliver asked suddenly. Thea was taken aback._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"No wreaths, no trees." He noted. Thea gave a nervous laugh._

_"Everyone has just been really busy lately. I'm sure they haven't got around to it yet." She dodged._

“He’s not an idiot Speedy. He’s gonna figure it out sooner or later, best to just tell him.” Tommy pointed out with Laurel nodding as Diggle and Roy looked confused.

 

“Are we missing something?” Diggle asked.

 

“We haven’t celebrated Christmas since the Gambit went down.” Thea admitted.

 

“Well, this should be fun.” Roy drawled.

 

_"Does mom at least have some of those boxes of candy canes? Remember we used to race to see who'd finish first?" he asked grinning at the memory._

_Thea smiled as well. "Yeah. I always won."_

_"No. You cheated." He argued with a smile._

_Thea sighed. "Well, she went sugar-free last year, so I doubt you'll be seeing any of those around." She said, moving off._

“I know, I need to tell him. I get it.” Thea said before Tommy or Laurel could say anything.

 

_Oliver looked after her, sighed, and then moved into the dining room. Walter and Moira were at the heads of the table, surrounded by several prominent people; chief among them Police Commissioner Nudocerdo and Malcolm Merlyn._

_"The thing that people forget is that Robin Hood was a criminal." Commissioner Nudocerdo was saying as Oliver took his seat._

_"And stealing from the rich to give to the poor is really the job of the Democrats." One of the business men joked snidely, to the chuckles of all._

_"All joking aside, Commissioner, crime is down for the first time in 5 years." Malcolm noted._

_"That's because of the changes my department has implemented." Nudocerdo argued._

“And I’m Bruce Wayne.” Roy said sarcastically causing Tommy and Thea to snicker.

 

_"Or perhaps," Walter chimed in, "it's because the vigilante's activities have had a chilling effect on the city's criminals."_

_There were murmurs of agreement around the table. Malcolm glanced at Moira, before turning his attention on Oliver. "What are your thoughts, Oliver?" he asked with a smile._

_Oliver considered for a moment. "I think," he began, "the vigilante needs a better code name than 'The Hood' or 'The Hood Guy'." He joked to everyone's laughter._

_"I agree." Malcolm said, considering for a moment himself. "How about 'Green Arrow'?"_

_"Lame." Oliver replied._

Kal laughed loudly, causing the others to look over at him.

 

“Something funny Kal?” Laurel asked.

 

“No, just ironic.” Kal grinned.

 

“Wait, you mean Ollie actually goes by that?” Thea asked surprised.

 

“Not for a while but yes, he does go by Green Arrow for a time.” Kal explained.

 

“Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.” Tommy muttered.

 

_Before the conversation could progress, Walter's phone rang. "Forgive me." He said, rising. "It's the office. Excuse me." He left the room to Malcolm's cold gaze._

_Walter walked out into the foyer as he answered the call. "I'm in the middle of a dinner party, Ms. Smoak," he said quietly, "So I hope this is of some importance."_

_At Queen Consolidated, Felicity was still researching the notebook. "I guess that depends on how you define important." She said absently. "See, most people would consider finding a list of names written in subsonic ultraviolet invisible ink important."_

_"But then I already know that, now, don't I?"_

_"Did you know 7 of the names on the list are guys the vigilante's had in his crosshairs?" Felicity noted, then mumble, "That is, if bows had crosshairs. Which they don't."_

“He’s getting too close. Something has to give soon before Walter gets hurt.” Laurel muttered worriedly.

 

_The doorbell rang, and Raisa moved to answer as Walter continued with the call. "Well, it is a rather long list, Felicity, so I would expect there to be some overlap." He said. Behind him, a police officer was let in to the house, and Raisa showed him the way to the dining room._

_"Like Doug Miller." Felicity continued over the phone. "Head of Applied Sciences at Queen Consolidated."_

_"What of him?" Walter asked._

_"Mr. Miller may end up getting an arrow in his stocking, because he's on the list." She paused to let that sink in. "So, important or not?"_

“Miller’s on the list? He seems like just the average employee.” Tommy said surprised.

 

“He made off the books business deals. Then Malcolm blackmailed him, recruited him to his cause. Very good at covering his tracks, it took Oliver years to figure that out.” Kal explained.

 

_In the dining room, the patrol man walked over to Nudocerdo and leaned down to whisper in his ear. Nudocerdo listened, and then sighed. He wiped his mouth with his napkin as he rose. "I'm sorry." He began. "Something's come up."_

_"Is everything okay?" Oliver asked. Nudocerdo looked around the table._

_"The vigilante has struck again." He announced. "He just put an arrow in Adam Hunt." He walked out with the patrol man to hushed whispers. Malcolm let a very small, satisfied smile out before carefully schooling his emotions once more._

“My dad has something to do with that archer, doesn’t he?” Tommy demanded as he looked over at Kal.

 

“Yes, he is. Pay attention and you’ll figure it out.” Kal promised.

 

_Oliver reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone. "Oops." He said, feigning a call. "I really do need to take this call. It's my contractor." He explained to his mother._

_Moira nodded, disappointed. "Of course."_

_"Excuse me." He said as he left the room._

_The scene changed to Adam Hunt's apartment. Nudocerdo walked in and found Lance in the bedroom, looking at the body. Lance noted the Commissioner and began briefing him._

_"Well, the daughter came over, used her key, found dad." Lance said. "Hat trick to the chest."_

_"The hood guy." Nudocerdo said, but Lance shook his head._

_"That's what I thought at first." He began. "But these black arrows aren't consistent with his M.O. And neither is the fact that the Hood took hunt for $40 million a few months ago. It doesn't make sense to kill him now." He sighed. "Something doesn't add up. We're dealing with a copycat." He stated bluntly. Outside the apartment, The Hood listened on in silence._

“Something tells me it’s a bit more complicated than that.” Diggle said grimly.

 

“Because it is, a lot more complicated.” Kal promised.

 

_The scene changed to the lair later that morning. Oliver was leaning over a workbench, deep in thought, while Diggle sat at the desk._

_"Who would kill Adam Hunt with an arrow?" Dig asked, then noted, "I mean, other than you?"_

_Oliver shot him a look, but quickly frowned. "A setup, maybe."_

_"You mean someone looking to cover up killing Hunt by making it look like the work of The Hood?" Dig reasoned. Oliver shook his head, confused by the evening's turn of events._

_"Whoever he was, he's good." He stated. "The grouping on hunt's chest was tight. It's a compound bow, most likely. The guy is a…" he paused, trying to put his thought into words. "The guy's a legitimate archer."_

_Diggle leaned forward. "So someone who would be particular about his choice of arrows." He began. Oliver jumped on to his line of thought._

_"We get an arrow, we get a bead on where he purchased them."_

_"So what are you gonna do?" Dig asked._

_He considered his options for a few moments. "What anyone does when they need help." Oliver decided, looking over at the man. "Call a cop."_

“…what?” Tommy asked confused.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPC. Lance was at his desk, looking over the info from the Hunt murder when a patrol man walked up._

_"Quentin Lance?"_

_"Yeah." Lance said, rising. The other cop handed him a clipboard._

_"Sign here, please." Lance did so and handed the board back. "Thanks." The cop said, handing over a manila envelope._

_"Thanks." Lance said, sitting back down. He opened the envelope to find a cell phone. He pulled it out, looking at it curiously- then in rang._

_He slid his thumb over the screen, answering the call. "Lance."_

_"I didn't kill Adam Hunt." The Hood's distorted voice said._

“Yeah, because he’ll believe that.” Roy drawled.

 

_"You!" Lance snarled, shifting in his seat._

_"You call me The Hood. It's not a great nickname." Oliver said from the lair. "You told Commissioner Nudocerdo that you might be dealing with a copycat, another archer, which makes me your best bet to take him down. But I need your help. I need one of the arrows from his murder."_

_"Yeah, we're pretty good at pulling down leads off evidence." Lance growled. "Thanks."_

_"Not like I am." The Hood replied. "I can do things the police can't, go places they won't."_

_"Like I said, I don't even know who—"_

_"If this archer doesn't stop with Adam Hunt, we both have a problem." Oliver snarled. "Think about it. Then call me. Number's programmed in." Lance hung the phone up, then sat back and considered._

“Do you think your dad will do it?” Thea asked Laurel, who sighed.

 

“I don’t know. It honestly depends on if he can put aside his hatred for The Hood and how badly he wants to catch this copycat.” Laurel explained.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Doug Miller walked into Walter's office; Walter rose and shook his hand._

_"Doug. Thanks for coming."_

_"Of course." Doug replied._

_"How is the construction coming along on the Applied Sciences Center?"_

_"Over budget and behind schedule." Doug laughed lightly. "Exactly as expected." Walter gestured at the chair behind him, and both men sat down. "Is that what you wanted to see me about?"_

_"No. Adam Hunt." Walter began. "He was murdered last night by the vigilante."_

_"I read about that." Doug replied somberly._

_"I've been concerned by the idea that the vigilante might target an employee or officer of this company." He looked at the younger man. "Security red-flagged you."_

“Right, security.” Roy said sarcastically.

 

_"Me?" Dough asked, bewildered. "Why would this guy go after me?"_

_"Well, that's a point I was hoping you could shed some light on." Walter said._

_Doug shook his head. "You got me. From what I've read, this vigilante only goes after white-collar criminals."_

“Really, you mean like those under the table deals? Don’t those ring any bells?” Tommy snarked.

 

_"Well, let's just hope he doesn't decide to branch out." Walter said. Looking at the man. Wondering why his name was on that list._

_The scene changed to Big Belly Burger, fully decked out for Christmas. Oliver and Thea were sitting in his customary booth, having lunch._

_"I think there should be a national holiday for the guy that invented French fries." Thea declared. "Or at least a statue or something."_

_"There is no Christmas party, is there?" Oliver asked gently. At her lack of response, he pushed on. "Thea, dad threw one of these every year. Do people think I just wasn't gonna notice?"_

“Told yaaaaa!” Tommy said in a singing voice.

 

“Yeah, rub it in why don’t you?” Thea rolled her eyes.

 

_Before she could answer, a young man walked up to the table. "Hi, Thea." He said, eyes only on the girl._

_"Hi! Shane." She smiled. Then remembering who she was with, gestured at her brother. "This is my brother Oliver."_

_"Nice to meet you, Thea's brother." Shane said disingenuously. "I bet the food on that island is better than this stuff they're serving here, huh?"_

“I already don’t like him.” Tommy said as he narrowed his eyes.

 

“Well, you’re not my brother,” Thea snapped and Kal bit his lip to stop himself from speaking, “no one asked you.”

 

“Well, I’m the closest thing you’ve had for the last five years.” Tommy snapped.

 

“Both of you shush. We’re watching the future, no arguing.” Laurel snapped and they grumbled but did as they were told.

 

_You'd lose that bet." Oliver said with a fake smile._

_Obligatory introductions done, he turned back to Thea, ignoring Oliver completely. "We're heading down to the bay to hang out if you want to come."_

_Thea smiled at him, smitten. "Thanks, but I'm spending the afternoon with my brother." She said regretfully, though she cast a warm look at Oliver to let him know she didn't regret it too much._

_"Another time." He said. "See ya."_

_She watched him walk off with a smile. Oliver looked at his sister. "How do you know that Shane guy?" he asked lightly._

_"We rob banks and smoke crack together." Thea joked._

_"That's funny, yeah." Oliver smirked. "I have a feeling I'm not gonna be a fan."_

“I know I’m not.” Tommy grumbled but Thea luckily didn’t hear him.

 

_She looked at her brother, annoyed. "You don't even know him." She scoffed. "Let's change the subject."_

_"Fine." Oliver said, leaning in. "You were gonna tell me why we're not having the annual Christmas party."_

_Thea looked at him for a few moments, and then sighed. "When you and dad disappeared," she began, "by the time Christmas rolled around, none of us felt much like celebrating, so we kind of skipped Christmas that year." She paused. "Every year." She sighed shakily. "And it's really fine, so…"_

_"No. No, it's really not." Oliver said. He sat back and started thinking._

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Oliver was standing in front of Thea, Moira and Walter. "We're celebrating Christmas." He declared. "I went 5 years without it, and then Thea tells me that you guys didn't have it either and I'm the reason. So maybe now I can be the reason we have Christmas again." He smiled at them "I thought I would throw the Queen Christmas party."_

“His heart is in the right place but I don’t think it’s gonna work out the way he wants it to.” Laurel sighed.

 

_Moira and Walter looked skeptical, Thea looked annoyed. "You?" Thea asked._

_"I know that I haven't been the son or the stepson or the brother that all of you deserve." Oliver stated, looking at each one in turn. "Especially lately. But this feels like the right moment to start making up for lost time." He said with a note of excitement in his voice. "What do you say?" he asked, looking at his mother._

_Moira looked back at him, happiness shining in her eyes. "I say yes."_

_"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Okay. I will take care of everything. You don't have to do anything. Just show up, look fantastic, and bring some Christmas cheer, okay?"_

_"Okay." His mother said. Oliver looked expectantly at Thea, who finally rolled her eyes._

_"Fine." She groused._

_Walter smiled at him. "You're a good man, Oliver." He said. Oliver looked back, but his mind thought back to another time someone had said that to him._

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Yao Fei was leading the way through the jungle, while Oliver walked slightly behind, leading Fyers with him._

_"You're a good man." Fyers was saying to Oliver. "I can see it. Well, beneath the privileged upbringing and the wealthy veneer. I saw it when my man tortured you and you wouldn't give up your friend." He glanced at Oliver. "Not even a friend, really. Someone you just met."_

“Oh shut up.” Thea sneered.

 

_"Shut up." Oliver whispered._

“Yeah, I can really see the family resemblance.” Roy laughed as Thea smacked him across the shoulder.

 

_"What do you know him?" Fyers continued pleasantly. "Nothing, I suspect. Do you even know what this island really is?" he asked. "It's a prison. I mean this literally. Until 8 years ago, the Chinese military operated this island as a penitentiary for criminals deemed so dangerous, they couldn't be safely incarcerated on the mainland. When the military shut the program down, my unit came in and disposed of all the inmates. With the exception of two. Your friend was one of them."_

“He’s trying to play Ollie, trying to turn him against Yao-Fei.” Diggle noted.

 

“I really hope it doesn’t work.” Tommy said worriedly.

 

_That brought Oliver up short, and he stopped Fyers in turn. "Who was the other?" he asked, curious despite himself._

_"You met him." Fyers replied. "He presided over your interrogation."_

_Oliver looked at the man, pain at the memory etched on his face. "He tortured me."_

_"You had information I needed." Fyers defended. "What would you do in my position? What would you do to capture the man who slaughtered dozens of people?" Oliver glanced over at Yao Fei, who was looking back at them. Shaking it off, Oliver shoved Fyers onwards._

Thea, Tommy, and Laurel all breathed a sigh of relief but didn’t quite relax. Not yet.

 

_The scene changed to present day Starling City where Malcolm and Moira were meeting on an empty street in the Glades._

_"Douglas Miller came to see me today, quite concerned." Malcolm was telling the woman. "He said your husband interrogated him, and his questions suggested a knowledge he shouldn't have of the list."_

 

_"Let me talk to him." Moira tried, but Malcolm cut her off._

_"I think we're past the point of conversation, Moira." He said harshly. "A month ago you came to me and you told me to stay away from your family, and I did. But your family isn't staying away from me. Which means something must be done about it. Don't you agree?" he asked coldly._

“You stay away from my family, you son of a bitch.” Thea sneered.

 

_"Yes, I do." Moira replied, managing to hide the tremor in her voice. "And I'll handle it."_

_"I guess what I'm wondering is, whether it's time for our associate to handle it." Malcolm said, the threat clear._

_The scene changed to across town several hours later. A man was walking down a dark alley towards his car, talking on his phone._

_"Hell, yeah, I returned the money." He said into the phone. "$70 million isn't worth getting an arrow through the chest. And you can tell him, if he's got a problem with that, he can--" suddenly an arrow pierced his heart from behind, poking through the front of his chest. He had just enough time to look down in shock before he fell over, dead._

Tommy, Thea, and Laurel jumped, startled by the swift death. Thea unconsciously grasped Roy’s hand in fright and Roy, while surprised, didn’t make her let go.

 

_Sometime later, Quentin Lance was showing Nudocerdo the crime scene._

_"Commissioner, this is Nelson Ravich." He explained as they walked up to the body. "The Hood hit him earlier this week. Ravich wired back the money he embezzled less than 5 minutes later."_

_Nudocerdo, then gestured for Lance to come with him. They walked back down the alley a bit before the Commissioner turned to the Detective. "All right. We tell the press The Hood did this." He said. At Lance's look, he pressed on. "Hunt's murder is a page 10 story, at best. But Ravich makes this a serial murder case. We can't let the public get wind of the idea that there are two of these nut jobs running around!"_

“Is-is he serious?” Laurel demanded angrily.

 

“Behold, out police force at work.” Roy said scornfully.

 

_"You want me to ignore a serial killer." Lance asked to clarify._

_Nudocerdo glared at the detective. "Just catch one of these psychos." He ordered. "I don't care which one. That is a direct order from your commanding officer." He turned and walked away._

_"Well, you can forget it, then." Lance called after him._

_Nudocerdo turned around and gave him a look. "Fine. It's forgotten." He said pleasantly, and then his voice hardened. "And you're off this case, Sergeant, effective immediately." Nudocerdo turned and headed back to his car, leaving Lance to stare after the man in disgust._

“Now, I think he’ll probably go to Ollie.” Laurel told Thea.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD. Lance sat at his desk, dejected. Then he glanced down at the phone. He stared at it for several moments before coming to a decision. He picked it up and dialed the saved number, walking out into the hallway._

_At Queen Manor, Oliver noted the ringing phone and answered, the voice distorter working automatically. "Don't bother trying to trace this back to me. You'll never make it through the encryption."_

_"There's a heating vent on the corner of O'Neil and Adams. You'll find what you're after there." Lance told the vigilante._

“Wow, you were right.” Thea said surprised.

 

“My dad isn’t a bad person or a bad cop he’s just…lost.” Laurel fished for the right word.

 

_"It'd be a mistake to set a trap for me, Detective." Oliver warned._

_"I'm trading away just about everything I believe in here 'cause it's the only way I've got to get this bastard." He snarled into the phone. "You got till Christmas. And then, copycat or not I'm coming after you."_

“But he’s also very set in his ways.” Laurel sighed.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair, where Oliver was studying the arrow Lance had left him. Dig came into the lair and walked over to him._

_"So your friend Lance gave you a Christmas present after all." Dig said as Oliver stared at the arrowhead under his magnifier._

_"-Hmm." He said absently, holding up the arrow for him to see. "Teflon-coated titanium blade serrated to split the bone. Shaft is some type of specialized polymer, which is stronger than a typical carbon fiber. This…this is a custom job." He finished in admiration._

_"So Lance gave in after the other archer dropped another body."_

_"Nelson Ravich." Oliver confirmed._

_"Which is another name you crossed off your dad's list." Dig noted. "So is this guy trying to frame you or call you out?"_

_Oliver looked back at the man. "Either way, I need to find him."_

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Felicity was down in the IT Department looking over a digitized version of the List she had copied onto her laptop when Oliver walked in, holding a long closed tube. He made his way quietly to her desk, and then stood in silence as he worked on her tablet, oblivious to his presence._

_"Hey." He said finally, causing her to jump in her seat._

_"Don't you knock?" she asked, recovering her composure._

“I’m sorry, whose name is it that’s on the company?” Thea snapped angrily.

 

_Oliver smiled at the woman. "Felicity, this is the I.T. Department. It's not the ladies room." He noted._

_"Right." She laughed nervously, shutting down her tablet. "What can I do for you?"_

_"My buddy Steve is really into archery." Oliver began. "Apparently it's all the rage now."_

_"I don't know why. It's looks utterly ridiculous to me." Felicity mumbled. Oliver smiled thinly._

_"Mm-hmm." He said non-committal. "Anyway, it's Steve's birthday next weekend, and I wanted to buy him some arrows." He opened the tube and withdrew the arrow. "The thing is, he gets these special custom-made arrows, and I have no idea where he gets them." He held up the arrow; Felicity looked at it; fear, trepidation, curiosity and excitement playing over her face. "I was hoping you could find out where this came from." As he held out the arrow for her to take she had a feeling, deep down, that one she took the arrow, there was no going back._

_Oliver seemed to know it, too. "Careful." He cautioned as she reached out for it. Felicity smiled in excitement._

_Yeah." She agreed, delicately taking it. She looked it over; down near the end of the arrow she found a stamp, almost invisible. "The shaft's composite is patented." She noted, turning to her computer. She searched briefly before looking up at him triumphantly. "And that patent is registered to a company called Sagittarius." She said, handing him back the arrow. "That's Latin for the archer." She added needlessly._

_"Really? Could you find out where and when this was purchased?" Oliver asked casually, slipping the arrow back into the tube._

_"According to Sagittarius company records, that particular arrow was part of a bundle shipment." She wrote something down on a piece of paper. "Sent to this address." She tore the piece of paper from the pad and handed it to Oliver._

 

“I feel like Oliver could’ve gotten that himself.” Tommy pointed out.

 

“Unless he was testing her again,” Diggle pointed out as he looked over at Kal, “was he?”

 

“Yes, he was.” Kal nodded.

 

_He took it with a smile. "Felicity," he said, smiling at her warmly. "You're remarkable." He said sincerely._

_Felicity returned the smile. "Thank you for remarking on it."_

_Oliver rose. "And Merry Christmas." He added, walking out the door._

_"I'm Jewish."_

_Oliver paused and turned back. "Happy Hanukkah." He amended, and then left. Felicity closed her eyes, slightly embarrassed, and even more curious._

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Quentin was glowering at the TV as Nudocerdo gave a press conference._

_'--the significant resources of the Starling City police department. It is clear that this vigilante's cycle of violence has escalated.' The commissioner was saying. 'I'm asking our citizens to keep a close eye out and to report anything suspicious. A tip line has been set up, and a reward will be offered to anyone who aids the authorities in the capture of this madman.'_

_"It isn't him, is it?" Laurel said, walking up behind her dad. "The man in the hood didn't kill those people."_

_"You're the one who said he was a monster." Quentin remarked crossly, though his heart wasn't into the argument._

_"He was protecting me." She argued softly. "It's different."_

“Well, at least you recognize it.” Diggle told Laurel, who nodded absently.

 

_The resumed watching the TV for a few moments before there was a knock on door. "It's probably Joanna." Laurel said, heading to the door. "She said she was going to come by with some files."_

_Laurel opened the door to see a slightly anxious Tommy standing there. They looked at one another for a moment, the Tommy spotted Quentin. He walked in and extended his hand, slightly nervous._

_"Merry Christmas, sir." He said politely. "How are you?"_

_"Proficient with firearms." Quentin replied._

“Oh dad,” Laurel sighed before catching sight of Tommy’s face, “he did the same thing with Ollie, he won’t hurt you Tommy.”

 

“Good to know.” Tommy gulped.

 

_. Laurel gave him a look._

_"Dad."_

_"Yeah." Quentin turned and headed into the kitchen. Laurel turned back to Tommy._

_"I told you I wanted to spend the holidays with my dad." She began._

_"Right. Because of Sara. Because it makes the holidays a tough time." Tommy replied. He looked into her eyes. "But when you are with someone, as I want to be with you, then there aren't tough times. There's just times." He sighed. "Something is holding you back." He stated. Laurel said nothing. "The Queens are having a last-minute Christmas party, and I would like for you to be my plus one." He said simply, then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small white box with a red bow. "I, um, was looking through some old photographs and I found this." He said, handing the box to her. "Merry Christmas." He kissed her on the cheek, then turned and left. Laurel stared after him, and then looked down at the box._

_Quentin walked back into the room. "Bad enough you're friends with this guy, and now he's your…what?" he asked, agitated._

_"I don't know what he is. But he's not wrong." Laurel admitted. "Something is holding me back."_

_"Right. Keep listening to that something." Quentin advised, walking back into the living room as Laurel opened the box._

“Right, because you’re not biased at all.” Roy drawled.

 

_She stared at the gift in wonder and sadness as her dad continued. "I try to stay out of your personal life, Laurel, I really do, but these guys-- Merlyn, Queen-- I mean, they're selfish. They think they can treat people any way they damn please--"_

“Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Does he not realize he uses his position as a cop to do all the things to our families that he’s accusing Ollie and Tommy of doing?” Thea demanded as she turned to Laurel.

 

“He’s blinded by pain, anger, and loss.” Laurel explained.

 

“He’s still an ass.” Thea muttered.

 

_"It's you, me, and Sara." She said suddenly, cutting him off._

_"What?" he asked. Laurel removed the small, round picture frame from the box and showed it to her father. In the frame was a picture of her, Quentin, and Sara, taken shortly before Sara and Oliver left on 'The Queen's Gambit'. Quentin looked at the picture, a range of emotions playing over his face._

“I think I know where I have that,” Tommy said as he thought on it, “I can get it once we get back.

 

“Thank you.” Laurel said in a choked voice.

 

_The scene changed to the warehouse district. The Hood walked silently down an alley, approaching the address Felicity had given him. Reaching the door, he opened it and cautiously made his way in. He walked slowly, taking in the workbenches around him. At the end of the room he saw a single black arrow, sticking up out of the floor. He stared at it, considering…_

_Suddenly the door slammed shut. Oliver spun around, reaching for an arrow- but there was no one there. A sudden noise from behind him, like a shorting out circuit combined with water filling a tub, caught his attention, and he turned back around. On the table behind the arrow was a large device. There was a large central tube; hanging above were six smaller tubes, three on either side- three were filled with a green liquid, three were filled with a red liquid. All six were rapidly draining into the central tube, the mixing liquids rising rapidly to the top where a small flame was being triggered on and off via an electric current._

“Shit, he needs to get out of there, now!” Diggle swore as everyone realized what that was.

 

_Gritting his teeth at his stupidity, Oliver spun back around and fired an explosive arrow at the door. He charged the door and reached it just as the charge went off- and just as the large bomb behind him exploded, sending a gout of flame at him as he rolled out the now-open doorway and into the alley. He looked back into the flaming room in frustration._

“Oh thank god.” Thea breathed a sigh of relief along with Tommy and Laurel.

 

“Someone really doesn’t want him finding out who this other archer is.” Roy noted.

 

_The scene changed to later that night. Oliver, cleaned up and in civilian clothes, walked into Queen Manor as the party was in full swing. Oliver walked stiffly up to Diggle. "I see the halls are decked." He noted._

_"You okay?" Dig asked, noting his stiff walk._

_"I'll manage." He assured Dig. "Is everyone having a good time?"_

_"You sure you want to do this, man? Maybe now is not the best time for you to be Martha Stewart's elf."_

_"My family needs this party, Diggle." Oliver said sternly. "Which means that I need it." Dig noted the front door opening, and glanced at Oliver. He turned around to see Thea's friend Shane._

“And Shane is here.” Tommy said disgruntled.

 

_"Hey, dude." He said casually. "Thea invited me. I hope that's cool." Oliver glanced at the flowers in his hand. "These are for your mom." He explained._

“Right, for his mom.” Roy said sarcastically and Thea glared at him.

 

_Oliver stared at the kid for a few moments then turned to Diggle. "Smooth." He whispered, moving off into the house._

_Dig gave Shane a sardonic grin. "Good luck, kid." He said, turning to follow Oliver into the sitting room._

_Oliver walked in and found his family standing off to the side, talking to guests as families and couples had their photographs taken._

_"Thank you for coming." Moira said to one guest as her son came up. "Oliver." She said happily._

_"You guys look great." Oliver complimented. "Merry Christmas."_

_"Merry Christmas." The three Queen's responded; Thea a little less enthusiastic than the others._

_"Let's get a holiday photo." Oliver suggested, gesturing at the photographer._

_"I already sent out our Christmas cards, Oliver." Moira said._

_"Mom, let's get a picture just for the 4 of us." Oliver said, giving her a puppy dog look. Moira sighed pleasantly._

_"Of course." She agreed._

“She never could resist him when he used that look.” Tommy chuckled with Laurel and Thea joining in.

_Thea rolled her eyes, and did her best not to look too unhappy as the photographer took their picture. After that was done, Shane walked up._

_"Excuse me, Mrs. Queen?" he said, handing her the flowers. "These are for you."_

_"Well, thank you." She said pleasantly. "I'll--I'll go put this in water." Thea smiled at Shane and led him away._

_As Moira went to find a vase, Walter stopped her._

_"Is everything all right?" he asked._

_"You and I should talk alone." She replied quietly. As she left, Oliver moved closer to Walter._

_"Everything okay between the two of you?" he asked._

_Walter gave him a tight smile. "Yeah. I'm sure it'll work itself out." He assured the younger man, moving off to talk with the guests. Oliver looked around and saw Thea leading Shane off deeper into the house._

Thea shifted, having a feeling what they were about to do. If the others found out…it wouldn’t be pretty.

 

_Then he saw Tommy and Laurel walk in. Pushing down his worry for his sister, he walked up to them._

_"So glad that both of you could make it." He said._

_"Merry Christmas, man." Tommy replied, giving Oliver a hug, which he returned._

_"Merry Christmas." Oliver agreed, and then turned to Laurel._

_"Merry Christmas." She told him as the two embraced briefly._

_"Hi." He replied, moving back. The three friends shared an awkward silence._

_"So how long do you guys think it'll be till this isn't so weird?" Tommy asked. "You know, the three of us."_

_"It's not weird at all." Oliver said with a straight face. After a moment he laughed, the other two joining him, the tension broken momentarily._

“Right.” Diggle said amused.

 

_The scene shifted to the upstairs hallway. Moira walked over to a small table and shakily put down the flowers and flute of champagne she had been carrying. Walter came up behind her then, setting down his own drink._

_"You lied to me." Moira said bluntly, not looking back._

_"An odd accusation coming from you." Walter noted wryly. She turned to look at him then._

_"When you came home, you said you were through investigating Robert's death." She stated._

_"Robert was my oldest friend." Walter said, walking past her. He stopped and turned around. "Do you take me for a man who wouldn't avenge his best friend's murder?" Moira stared up at him for several moments. Walter sighed and sat on the arm of a love seat next to the wall. "I thought I could forget about it, go back to the way things were." He admitted. "But you told me too many lies, Moira. You embezzled money from the company. Salvaged 'The Queen's Gambit'. Why, Moira? What was it all for?" he asked, pleading._

_Moira stared in silence for a few moments, and then sighed in defeat. "For leverage." She confessed._

_"Against whom?" Walter asked. At her silence, he repeated the question. "Against whom?"_

“My dad.” Tommy said through gritted teeth.

 

_"People who you made very angry."_

_"Well, then let me help you fight them."_

_"I can't fight them. I am them." She declared. Moira sighed. "I have tried so hard to convince myself that I'm not. And loving you… you were my salvation."_

_Walter rose and took his wife's hands in his own. "Moira." He began. "Moira. Whatever you've done, and whoever these people are, the time for lies is over. You need to tell me exactly what's going on."_

_Moira sagged in defeat. "Let's just get through the party. And I promise I will tell you everything." She promised him. The two embraced, kissing._

“Somehow, I don’t think it will work out that way.” Tommy said, worried what his dad might do to them.

 

_The scene shifted back to the sitting room with Oliver, Laurel and Tommy._

_"Tommy, do you mind if I talk to Oliver for a minute?" she asked. Tommy gave a pained smile._

_"Yeah, I'll go grab us a couple drinks." He said, moving off. "And drink them both."_

“Oh, would you stop acting like a five year old that lost his favorite toy every time Ollie and I talk? The jealousy is getting very old.” Laurel said annoyed.

 

Tommy looked away, grumbling and Laurel rolled her eyes at his immaturity.

 

_Oliver and Laurel chuckled, and Oliver gestured towards the corner. The two moved there to talk._

_"I know it's probably not easy for you to see Tommy and I together." Laurel said._

_"Ah, the invitation said "plus one", not minus Laurel." Oliver assured her._

_Laurel chuckled. "I've been wanting to move forward with him, but something's been holding me back. I keep making these excuses; that it's my dad, it's my work, when really it's you." She acknowledged. "But for five years, I was emotionally off, because you had died. And the truth is, the last person that I expected to make me feel again has."_

_Oliver stared at her for a moment, then leaned in and kissed her on the cheek- a kiss between friends. "I'm happy." He lied. "For both of you."_

 

Thea coughed something that sounded suspiciously like ‘liar’. Laurel glared at her but Thea just shrugged.

 

_Laurel smiled. "Thank you." She said sincerely. She left Oliver and headed over to Tommy, taking her drink from his hand. Oliver watched them, burying his pain and jealousy. Trying to get back into the spirit of things, he looked around. Not noticing any of his family, he moved off in search of them._

_Oliver made his way to the second floor. Hearing music playing from Thea's room, he walked over and knocked sharply on the door. "Thea, its Ollie. I've got something to tell you…" he trailed off as he opened the door, just in time to see Thea scramble to pull her dress back up over her bra and Shane slip his shirt back on._

“Oh come on Thea!” Tommy glared over at her as she tried to disappear into the couch. “I know guys like that, I am guys like that! You can do so much better!”

 

“Well who asked you?!” Thea snapped.

 

“No one! That’s the point of having people who care about you; you never have to ask them to look out for you!” Tommy shouted back.

 

“Both of you calm down before you say something you regret.” Diggle ordered firmly.

 

Tommy and Thea glared at each other before they looked away.

 

_"Oliver!" Thea gasped in surprise, alarm, and more than a little indignation. Oliver gave her a look, then looked over at Shane. If looks could kill, Shane would have been dead instantly. Oliver pointed at the teen._

_"Hit the road." He ordered._

_"What are you doing?" Thea demanded as Shane grabbed his jacket and slipped out past Oliver._

_"Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing, because there's a party going on downstairs that I threw for you." He said angrily, stalking into her room._

_"I told you, I didn't want a party." Thea spat back. "But you didn't care. Because you came down with the holiday blues." She scoffed. "I've been trying to get you to open up for months. All this party is doing is bringing back memories I've been trying to forget."_

_"Thea!" he yelled, then forced himself to calm down. "Why would you want to forget?"_

_Thea glared at him. "No matter how fancy the party is you throw, things will never be the way they used to be in our family. Ever again."_

“Like that.” Diggle said as Thea shifted guiltily.

 

“You’ve been bitching at him for months to open up, to be there for your family, and you’re a bitch to him when he does?” Laurel said as she and Tommy both glared at Thea.

 

“You don’t think he knows that? He never forgets, just like we’ll never forget. But at least he’s trying.” Tommy snapped.

 

“All of you calm down,” Kal ordered and they all tried to keep calm, “let’s keep watching, okay?”

 

Everyone giving Thea a disgusted look, they all turned back to the screen.

 

_He glared at his sister, who didn't back down an inch. Suddenly a voice from the door got his attention._

_"Oliver?" Diggle said. Thea turned and walked into her bathroom._

_"What is it now?" he growled. Diggle motioned for Olive to follow him. A moment later the two were in Oliver's room._

_"The other archer's moved to the next level." Dig said, picking up a remote control. "This just hit the news. He's taken hostages." He turned on the TV to show a newscast in progress._

_'Happy holidays, Starling City.' Read a fearful woman, her makeup ruined from her tears. Behind her were several other hostages, all bound to chairs. She was reading off a sheet of paper, looking into a camera obviously held by her captor. 'For the past three months, this city has been laid siege by a vigilante. But the police have been unable to bring him to justice because they lack the will to do what justice demands.' She sobbed. 'I will kill one hostage every hour in the name of this vigilante until he surrenders himself to my authority.'_

“My god, this guy’s a monster.” Laurel said horrified.

_Diggle turned off the TV. "Police are on the scene, Oliver. I think you should let them handle this."_

_"Those people are there because of me." Oliver argued. "I have to end this."_

_"Oliver, this guy… this guy, he's very dangerous." Dig warned. Oliver shot him an angry look._

_"Diggle, there wasn't anything on the island that wasn't twice as dangerous as this pretender, and I survived there for five years." He snarled._

“He’s arrogant about his abilities. That’s dangerous.” Diggle noted a little worried.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island. Yao Fei, Fyers and Oliver were still walking through the woods when suddenly Yao Fei stopped. He turned to Fyers and pulled out a radio._

_"Call your people." He demanded. "Tell them to bring the plane."_

_Fyers looked at him contemptuously. "There's no need, Yao Fei. My people will be here shortly." Yao Fei looked at him in alarm; Fyers gave him a satisfied smile. "Do you not think it convenient you captured me so easily?" he goaded._

 

“Oh no.” Laurel muttered.

 

_Ahead, the masked man suddenly appeared, along with several other men in black._

_"Go!" Yao Fei yelled to Oliver as he pulled up his hood._

_"What?" he asked confused for a moment before he spotted the Mercs._

_"Run!" Yao Fei rushed in, attacking Wintergreen, who fought back just as viciously. Oliver took off into the woods, the Mercs firing after him. Oliver weaved between trees, and lost them long enough to look back- just in time to see Wintergreen knock Yao Fei out. Two Mercs grabbed the fallen man and dragged him away. Wintergreen looked back, searching. Not seeing Oliver he turned and walked away with the Mercs, leaving Oliver alone in the forest once more._

_The scene flashed back to the present. News and police choppers orbited the abandoned factory where the hostages were being kept._

_'Starling City holds its breath as the hostage crisis unfolds.' A newscaster was saying. 'Police have attempted to enter the abandoned structure in the Glades, but found rigged explosives preventing them from doing so. At the moment, there's been no sign of the vigilante as his one hour deadline nears.'_

_On the ground, Commissioner Nudocerdo was looking at a monitor at the command center while the Bomb Squad directed a robot towards the entrances to look over the explosives._

_"I count three thresholds, each wired by Mercury switches to Semtex charges." The Bomb Tech said over the radio as Quentin Lance walked up._

_"Can you diffuse one for HRC to use as a breach point?" Nudocerdo asked._

_"Well, that's going to take a while and then he's going to know which way we're coming in." Lance stated._

_The Commissioner shot him a glare. "You got a better idea, Sergeant, now would be a lovely time." Lance scoffed, and then looked back at the monitor. His couldn't exactly voice his better idea- and didn't need to, because a moment later a line was shot to the roof of the factory and The Hood rode it down like a zip line above all of the cops heads._

“How’s that for a better idea?” Roy asked smugly.

 

_He landed on the roof, and then jumped down through a skylight, landing on the floor next to the hostages in a crouch. He looked around, looking for signs of the copycat. Seeing none, he walked up to the hostages and pulled a flachette from his gauntlet quiver, then used it to cut them free._

_"Where is he?" he asked the woman who had been reading the statement._

_"I don't know." She replied, fearful._

_"It's going to be okay." He told them all. As the last one was cut free, he moved to a hallway. "Follow me." He said after checking to see that it was clear. He led them down the hall to a stairway. "Get up on the roof." He told them. The hostages ran up the stairs, but the lady stopped, and turned back to The Hood._

_"What about—"_

_"I'll handle him." He cut her off. "Move!" he urged._

_On the ground, Lance noticed activity on one of the monitor. "Hostages." He called out to his fellow officer. Into his radio, he said, "We've got five hostages on the roof. Repeat, five hostages on the roof."_

 

“Thank god.” Laurel sighed in relief but didn’t relax, having a feeling the worst was yet to come.

 

_Back in the factory, Oliver walked back down the hall. He reached the end when he suddenly stopped. Turning around, he saw the other archer at the far end of the hall._

Everyone tensed, having a feeling they were about to witness a battle of the titans.

 

_"Thank you for coming." The Dark Archer said. His voice was modulated like Oliver's so he couldn't recognize who was under the hood. "After the warehouse, I knew I'd have to do something dramatic to get your attention."_

_"What do you want with me?" The Hood called out._

_"What any archer wants-- to see who's better!" The Dark Archer moved to draw, but Oliver beat him to it. The Hood fired first, and the Dark Archer dodged and immediately returned fire. Oliver ducked, the black arrow shattering a window behind him. The Hood moved around the corner, firing one last shot as he went. The Dark Archer fired two more arrows in quick succession, sprinting down the hall. He entered the main room where the hostages had been, arrow knocked and ready to fire. All around him were wooden, skeletal remains of offices that had begun to rot away. He moved cautiously around the corner, searching for his target. He glanced down at the broken glass on the floor, and saw a reflection of The Hood in the rafters, getting ready to shoot. He swiftly turned and fired up, disarming The Hood._

_Oliver moved, dodging his next shot, but when he jumped to swing from a hanging light, the Dark Archer's next shot caught him in the upper thigh._

Thea whimpered, Laurel tensed, and Tommy clenched his pants legs tightly, worry for Oliver flooding through all of them.

 

_He shouted in pain, landing awkwardly on a table, and then rolling off of it just as another arrow flew by his head. He grabbed his fallen bow and returned fire, causing the Dark Archer to move behind cover. The Hood knocked another arrow, and began searching for his target, looking through the wrecked offices._

_Suddenly the Dark Archer came out behind him, nailing him with an arrow that into his back. The Hood groaned loudly even as another arrow pierced his back, forcing him forward._

_He slammed against the rotting wall of one of the offices, and before he could even move The Dark Archer was on him. A solid kick to the spine sent The Hood crashing through the wooden wall. He followed The Hood, landing another solid kick that sent Oliver crashing through another wall into the next office. He crashed to the ground, stunned. He raised his hand to ward off another kick, but he Dark Archer grabbed his hand, twisting it and breaking his wrist. He began kicking him in the side with his heavy, steel-toed boots._

Thea made a sound between a scream and a sob, Roy putting an arm around her despite himself. Tommy clenched his pants legs so tightly that Diggle was surprised he didn’t rip them while Laurel put a hand over her mouth, trying not to cry out.

 

“It’s alright,” Kal said and they were startled, having all but forgotten he was there, “remember, he survived.”

 

“Then where is he?” Thea demanded tearfully.

 

“On a mission, saving lives.” Kal lied smoothly, Dinah having made him recite until even she believed it.

 

Slightly reassured, they turned back to the recording, not catching Kal look down in sadness.

 

_"First Hunt, then Ravich," The Dark Archer snarled, punctuating each name with a kick. "And now you!" He sent several more heavy kicks into The Hood side and chest. "I know about the list, and the man who authored it wants you dead!"_

_Oliver lay stunned, battered and bleeding. "They call you The Hood." The Dark Archer snarled, reaching down. "Let's see what you look like without it." He grabbed The Hood's quiver and yanked him up. As he did, though, Oliver grabbed a flechette from his wrist gauntlet and jammed it into the other archer's leg. He grunted in pain, dropping to one knee, and Oliver took the opportunity to slug him, hard. The impact sent him crashing into the wall head first, knocking him out._

“H-how was he able to do that after the guy beat him so easily?” Tommy asked stunned.

 

“Hubris. The other archer got cocky, let his guard down.” Diggle explained and Tommy nodded.

 

_Oliver grunted, heaving in as much oxygen as he could. He pulled himself painfully to his feet and staggered away, wanting to put as much distance between himself and the Dark Archer as he could. He rounded a corner, then screaming in agony, used the edge of doorway to break off the shafts of the arrows in his back. He staggered to a window and flung it open, then rolled himself out of it. He fell two stories, crashing back-first onto a dumpster before the momentum rolled him to the ground, hard. He lay there for several moments, stunned, before he was finally able to pull out his radio,_

_"Dig." He coughed. "Help--help." He said weakly, before finally, mercifully, passing out._

“Oh thank god.” Laurel breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“Why didn’t he stop to kill that guy? I mean, he was very dangerous and a threat?” Tommy wondered.

 

“The only thing he was thinking of was getting out of there alive?” Diggle explained.

 

_The scene changed to Starling General. Oliver slowly regained consciousness, and then bolted awake, noting his surroundings. He tried to sit up, but gasped in pain._

_"Hey, relax. Relax." Dig was saying, pushing him gently back down into the bed. "Just relax. You're safe. You're in the hospital."_

_Oliver exhaled sharply. "What happened?" he rasped._

_"I back traced your signal. I cleaned you up and got you out of there." Dig explained. "You've got a pneumothorax, three broken ribs and a concussion, but the doctor said you're going to be fine."_

“That’s a relief.” Tommy said, happy his best friend would be alright.

 

_." He looked behind himself. "Some people are here to see you." He said, moving off._

_"What?" he tried, but exhaled loudly, falling back into the bed as Moira, Thea and Walter came up to the side of the bed._

_"Are you all right?" Moira asked worriedly._

_"Oh, God, you look terrible." Thea said sadly._

_"Well, thank God you were wearing your helmet." Walter said, relieved._

_Oliver looked at them, confusion on his face. "I told them how you were on a bike and a semi pulled right in front of you." Diggle said helpfully._

“Good cover.” Roy said and Diggle shrugged.

 

_"What were you even doing out?" Moira asked._

_"You bailed on your party." Thea added._

_Oliver sighed. "It seemed like the right move. I mean, like you said, it wasn't the best timing."_

_Thea gave a sigh of her own, felling the sting of her own words against her. "Okay, but when I was saying that, that was me being a bitch." She admitted._

“Admitting you have a problem is the first step to getting help.” Roy smiled cheekily as Thea glared at him while the others laughed.

 

_Moira put an arm around her daughter. "Oh, the truth is, I don't think any of us were at our best."_

_"The real truth is, you wanted to have a party to bring us closer together." Walter said, moving to his wife. "Well here we are." Thea rolled her eyes, but had a smile on her face. Everyone chuckled, though that caused Oliver to gasp in pain._

_"We're going to let you get some rest, hmm?" Moira said, leaning down and kissing him on the head. Walter laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, then joined his wife as they exited the room._

_"So," Thea said, moving closer. "We never got to the exchanging presents part."_

_Oliver chuckled painfully. "I don't think I deserve a present."_

_Thea sighed. "Look, I know that I've been hard on you, about being different from the way you were." She started. "But the truth is, Ollie, I'm not the same person I was five years ago, either."_

_"So maybe we can just accept each other." Oliver suggested. "Not for who we were, but for the-- for the people we are now."_

_"Yeah." Thea agreed. Then she held up to candy canes._

_"Ohh!" Oliver smiled. "No cheating."_

_"You're on." Thea smiled, handing one of the canes to Oliver._

_"Come here." He said, Thea leaned in and gave her brother a gentle hug._

There was not a person in the room who did not have a smile on their face at the touching scene.

 

_The scene changed to an undisclosed location, though it had a very familiar setup. The Dark Archer limped in. He made his way to a workbench that held a row of arrows and leaned heavily against it. He reached up, ripping off the mask and hood to reveal the face of Malcolm Merlyn._

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Tommy shouted as he jumped to his feet, shock flooding through him.

 

No one said anything, too stunned to even respond. Kal decided it was time to step up to the plate.

 

“Easy Tommy,” Kal said as he walked forward, “I know you’re in shock but you’ll learn everything soon.”

 

“How…why…” Tommy couldn’t form words.

 

“It’s complicated Tommy, but I assure you that you will learn everything soon.” Kal said as he gently lowered Tommy back to his seat.

 

_The scene changed to Q.C. Walter had returned to the office to finish off some work and was leaving again, talking on his phone to Felicity._

_"Thank you, Felicity." Walter said. "It was good of you to call, but Oliver's going to be fine. He's already on the mend." He pushed the call button for the elevator, and moments later the door opened. There was a man already inside and Walter smiled at him pleasantly. "I'm stepping into an elevator, so I'll probably lose you. I'll call you straight back. Bye." He hung up the phone and pushed the button for the lobby, when suddenly the other man pulled out a syringe and stuck it in Walter's neck. He quickly fell unconscious as the doors closed._

Thea gasped, fear for her step-father flooding through her. Roy tightened his arm around her almost unconsciously by now.

 

_The scene changed to a deserted section of road. Moira stood across from Malcolm, who had cleaned up and looked perfectly normal._

_"It's done." He told Moira flatly._

_"And he won't be harmed?" she demanded._

_"Nor will he ever discover your involvement. You have my word." Malcolm assured the distraught woman._

_"Forgive me if I don't find that comforting." She replied scathingly._

_"You were warned, Moira." He replied coldly. "I told you to get Walter under control, and you couldn't. Steps had to be taken."_

_"That's what you said to justify Robert's murder." Moira shot back. "And you wonder why I don't trust you."_

“…He had my dad murdered.” Thea muttered icily.

 

“He sabotaged the Gambit...he sentenced Oliver to five years on that island and wherever Sara is.” Laurel snarled.

 

“You were right Laurel…he is a monster.” Tommy snarled as he glared at the screen.

 

_"Quite a bid of judgment coming from the woman who had her son kidnapped and tortured." Malcolm replied mockingly._

_"To prove to you that Oliver didn't know anything." She spat. "And what does it matter now? What's done is done."_

_"No, Moira. It's just beginning." He smiled coldly "In six months, the organization's vision of what this city should be will be complete."_

_"And you won't feel a thing then, will you?" she realized, a feeling of dread settling in her stomach. "Thousands of innocent people will be dead, and you'll feel nothing."_

_"That's not true." He denied. "I'll feel a sense of accomplishment." He looked at her, threat clear in his eyes. "And you'll have Walter back." He smirked as he climbed into his limo. The limo moved off, leaving a shaken, tearful Moira behind._

“He’s not a monster Tommy, he’s the devil.” Laurel sneered.

 

“I have never been so ashamed to be his son.” Tommy growled.

 

_The scene changed to the hospital. Oliver slowly, painfully climbed out of his bed and shuffled slowly over to the window, leaning heavily on a cane._

_"You know, Dig, when I confront somebody on the list, I tell them that they failed the city." He said, staring out the window. "But tonight, it was me who failed."_

_"Oliver, five hostages are home tonight with their families enjoying the holidays." Dig pointed out. "Because of you. This guy, the other archer He'll get his. And you'll give it to him."_

_"We might have a bigger problem." Oliver said. "The other archer told me that somebody compiled the list. I always assumed it was my father. But what if it wasn't?" he asked._

_"What do you mean?" Dig said._

_"I think there's someone else out there. Someone who's more of a danger than the archer." Oliver seethed. "And I am going to take him down." He vowed._

“And once we get back, we’ll help you.” Laurel vowed with everyone muttering agreement.

 

“I think we’ve seen enough today, let’s eat dinner and I’ll show you all to your rooms.” Kal told them.


	12. Advice and revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laurel, Tommy, and Thea each receive stunning news from Dinah.

No one slept well that night, their thoughts overwhelmed by what they had learned.

Tommy lay in bed all night, wide awake as he thought long and hard. He had always known that his father was not a good man, but he had never imagined just how…evil his father was. And he was planning something that, according to Mrs. Queen, would kill thousands of people. Just how did this happen to his dad, how did he become this? 

Deciding to try and get some sleep, Tommy rolled over and closed his eyes.

In another room, Laurel tossed and turned before giving up on sleep altogether. Throwing the covers of the bad back, she got out of bed and walked out of the room, deciding to explore the space station. After all, it wasn’t every day that you got sent to a futuristic space station, she might as well make the most of it. 

Laurel ended up walking around the space station for a good fifteen minutes before she realized she was lost. Cursing herself and her insomnia, Laurel desperately tried to find her way back to a familiar room when she walked into a room that immediately had her curiosity. 

It was about the size of the Queen’s siting room. There were several metal shelves in the room, containing items that were both familiar and not to her. She recognized the green hood Oliver wore and saw, to her great surprise, her father’s detective badge. She also saw a red bow, a baton, a green ring made of material Laurel didn’t recognize, a whip, a lightning bolt surrounded by a white circle that looked like it had been ripped from something red, and other items. 

Laurel looked away from them and saw a wall that, instead of being made of steel like the rest of the station, was made of stone. While at first glance it appeared to be damaged, as Laurel walked closer, she realized that it had something carved into it. Names, lots and lots of names. 

“This is the memorial room,” Laurel jumped, whirling around to see Dinah smiling in amusement, “sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. What are you doing up so early Laurel?”

“Couldn’t sleep. So, this is the memorial room?” Laurel asked as she looked around and Dinah nodded.

“It’s a sort memorial for all those we’ve lost along the way.” Dinah explained and Laurel froze.

“So…Ollie and dad…” Laurel trailed off but Dinah nodded solemnly.

“Yeah.” Dinah said softly.

“When?” Laurel demanded and Dinah sighed.

“Dad ten years ago, Ollie four.” Dinah said before putting a hand on Laurel’s shoulder, “but that’s why you’re here to change things like this.”

“Okay.” Laurel said as she began to calm down.

“So, what’s keeping you up? Besides the obvious?” Dinah asked and Laurel was quiet for a moment.

“Well, it’s two things really.” Laurel admitted.

“Ollie and Tommy,” Dinah said knowingly and chuckled as Laurel looked at her startled, “hey, I’m you, remember?”

“Yeah,” Laurel sighed, “I just…I realized that, despite what I’ve tried to tell myself this last five years, my feelings for Ollie never went away. Which makes me either a masochist or stupid. I mean, he cheated on me with my sister.”

“Something that took me a long time to realize was that Oliver was not the same person he was before he got on that boat,” Laurel said and Laurel looked at her confused, “I mean, you could tell that he was different but…basically, to hold his past actions against him is like holding the actions of someone who is dead against him. That person doesn’t exist anymore; it doesn’t do anyone any good to hold his actions before the island against him.”

“Yeah, I guess you have a point,” Laurel admitted, “and then there’s Tommy to consider. I have denied it, even to myself, but maybe I do have feelings for him.

“As someone who has lived through this, can I give you some advice?” Dinah asked and Laurel nodded. “Tommy and I did date; you’ll see that coming up. And it was fine…just fine. Not amazing, not great, not even really good. Fine. I did love him but he deserves more than fine and so do we.”

“So, you’re saying that I should be with Ollie?” Laurel asked but Dinah shook her head.

“No. There’s too much bad history between you two, you can’t see past that…not yet. And honestly, I think he’ll need a friend more than he’ll need a girlfriend when he first comes back. Try to remember that, long before he was your boyfriend, he was your friend,” Dinah reminded her younger self and Laurel nodded slowly, “if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be and you’ll end up falling in love all over again. If not…well, I guess that’s the way the wheel turns.”

“Okay.” Laurel said after a moment.

“One more thing. I would really appreciate you not saying anything about Ollie being…you know, to Tommy and Thea. There gonna be throw quite a few curve balls in these recordings, they don’t need this on top of all that.

Later in the morning, Tommy and Thea met outside their room after a night of restless sleep. Quietly making their way into the dining hall, they saw something they thought they’d never see: Laurel and Dinah talking over breakfast. Exchanging bewildered glances, Tommy and Thea hesitantly made their way over to them.

“Hey, how’d you guys sleep?” Laurel as they reached the table.

“Fine.” Tommy and Thea said blankly as they both sat down.

“I’m actually glad you’re both here. There’s something I need to tell you and it’s better that you hear it from me than from the recordings,” Dinah said and they two exchanged uneasy glances, “Tommy, do you remember how you’re father left shortly after your mother died?”

“Yes.” Tommy said blankly.

“Well, god this isn’t gonna be easy,” Dinah muttered and the three gave her confused looks, “look, I’ll be blunt. Before he did but after you mom died, Mrs. Queen came over to his house and one thing led to another and, well…”

“My mom cheated on my dad with Malcolm?” Thea asked disgusted as Tommy looked enraged.

“Yeah…but there’s more,” Dinah said and they looked at her incredulously, “this…affair, took place about nine months before you were born Thea.”

“Are-are you saying…” Thea couldn’t say it while Tommy and Laurel just looked stunned.

“Malcolm is your biological father.” Dinah told her.

“Oh my god.” Thea put in her head in her hands while Tommy and Laurel were simply too stunned to react.

“And Robert knew.” Dinah said as they all looked up.

“What?” Thea demanded.

“Your dad knew about Malcolm. He knew, he stayed, and he loved you anyway. He didn’t care, you were his daughter, no one made him, he chose to be your father Speedy.” Dinah told him.

This was all too much for Thea, who started crying. Tommy wrapped his arms around her and she buried her face into his shoulder. She was his sister, Tommy thought numbly. While it changed little for him, it incited rage in him over how his father betrayed his mother. But he would have a freak out later, Thea didn’t need this right now.


	13. Burned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy meets his future self. Dinah and Arsenal join the viewers as they watch Oliver struggle in the aftermath of his defeat while going up against a serial arsonist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all have a happy new year!

After waking up, Roy had decided to explore the Watchtower.  Walking into what Roy assumed to be the gym of the space station; Roy’s gaze was drawn to the room’s single occupant. A man dressed in a red/crimson uniform had his back to Roy as he drew back a bow, an arrow notched into it. The man let go off the bow and the arrow flew, striking a target in the dead center.  Roy let out an impressed whistle and then tensed before the archer chuckled.

 

“Impressed Roy?” the archer asked amused.

 

“How do you know my…” Roy trailed off as the archer turned to face him, shock coming over his face.

 

“Yeah Roy, I’m you.” Arsenal told him.

 

“I- I don’t know what to say here.” Roy said, stunned beyond all thought as Arsenal chuckled.

 

“I know, it’s a bit of a shock. I wouldn’t have believed this either at your age. But someone showed me that I was worth more than what I thought.” Arsenal told him.

 

“Oliver.” Roy guessed and Arsenal chuckled.

 

“Okay, two someones. Relax, you’ll find out soon enough,” Arsenal said before Roy could ask for information, “for now, let’s go eat.”

 

“Hey,” Dinah called as they walked in, “I see you two have met.”

 

“Yep!” Arsenal said cheerfully.

 

“So the kid has a future self here to?” Tommy asked gruffly, still reeling from the bombshell Dinah had dropped.

 

“Careful, he was Oliver’s protégée. Ollie taught him everything he knew.” Dinah warned.

 

“Aw, stop. You’re making me blush.” Arsenal joked.

 

“Hey, morning.” Diggle said as he walked in and the others echoed his statement.

 

“So, what are we supposed to call you?” Tommy asked Arsenal.

 

“Call me Arsenal.” Arsenal said and Roy looked at weirdly.

 

“Arsenal?” He asked and his future self-chuckled.

 

“It’s my code-name.” Arsenal explained.

 

“So will you two be joining us today?” Thea asked sarcastically as everyone sat down to eat.

 

“Yes, we will.” Dinah said calmly and Thea looked at her sharply.

 

“I was just joking!” Thea protested.

 

“Well, joking or not, we’re joining you today.” Arsenal said, putting a piece of bacon in his mouth.

 

Conversation seemed to die out after that. Once breakfast had been eaten, the group stood up and walked into the viewing room. They immediately noticed a second love seat behind the couch. Dinah and Arsenal walked over and sat down, Dinah claiming the remote on the way. The others exchange looks before retaking their seats as Dinah started the recording.

 

_The scene opened on a massive fire in the warehouse district of The Glades. Firemen form several companies swarmed trying to get the blaze under control._

“Damn, that’s one hell of a fire.” Tommy muttered.

 

_. On the ground outside near the command center, Fire Chief Raynes was coordinating efforts._

_"Get that hose over to the north face or we're liable to lose the whole block!" he yelled at some of his men. He reached to his shoulder and activated his radio. "Danny!"_

_"Yes, Keith?"_

_"Getting a little smokey out here, buddy."_

_"Just clearing the upper level." Danny replied from inside the building. He looked around and spotted another fireman. "Hey you, over here." He called out. "I can use some help. I got a hot spot."_

_The other fireman walked over, then calmly unhooked a spray nozzle from his belt and sprayed._

“What the hell?” Tommy exclaimed as the viewers from the past stared in shock.

 

“Just watch.” Dinah said lowly.

 

_"Hey!" Danny exclaimed, sputtering as the liquid hit his face. His eyes widened as he tasted gasoline. "What--oh! Ohh!" he staggered back, his hand accidently brushing up against a flame. Immediately the gasoline ignited, flames spreading over his entire body. He screamed out in agony as he was burned alive as the other fireman calmly turned and walked away._

“He-he just murdered his own co-worker!” Tommy said, shocked and horrified.

 

“That’s just the tip of the ice-berg.” Dinah muttered grimly.

 

_The scene changed to the lair. Oliver was hard at work, getting himself back in shape. Physically, he was there. But when he tossed up a tennis ball and fired an arrow, the shot went wide; the arrow hit the back wall, while the ball fell to the ground. He stared at the ball, dejected._

“Wow, that’s…pathetic for him.” Thea noted worriedly.

 

“Malcolm got in his head, threw him off his game,” Diggle noted, “seen it happen more than once in the army. It never ends well if you don’t shake it off.”

 

_"How you doin'?" Dig asked, walking in the lair. "Rehab going good?"_

_Oliver stared at the older man. "Any news on Walter?" he asked finally._

_"My contact at the Bureau struck out. Same with my guy at Interpol." Dig shook his head. "They're both saying the same thing."_

_"Either my stepfather doesn't want to be found or someone doesn't want him to be found." Oliver sighed._

_Diggle walked over to him. "It's been six weeks, Oliver." He stated. "No contact from the kidnappers, no ransom demand, no proof of life. I hate to sound—"_

_"Dig," Oliver cut him off. "We both know he's more than likely dead."_

Thea whimpered and Laurel wrapped an arm around the younger woman. Thea glanced over at Dinah and Arsenal pleadingly.

 

“He made it out alright Speedy, he made it home.” Dinah assured her and the younger woman sighed in relief.

 

_"What do you want to do?"_

_"I don't know." Oliver sighed, frustrated. "Even my contacts in the Bratva can't dig up a lead."_

_"I wasn't talking about Walter." Diggle picked up the notebook from the table. "Back at fighting weight, looks like. And last I checked, there were more than a few names to cross off in this book."_

_"Those people aren't going anywhere." Oliver said. "With Walter missing, my family needs me right now."_

Roy coughed something that sounded suspiciously like ‘Bullshit.’ No one said anything, as they knew it was just an excuse of Oliver’s.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island._

_"Call your people." Yao Fei demanded. "Tell them to bring the plane."_

_Fyers looked at him contemptuously. "There's no need, Yao Fei. My people will be here shortly." Yao Fei looked at him in alarm; Fyers gave him a satisfied smile. "Do you not think it convenient you captured me so easily?" he goaded._

_Ahead, the masked man suddenly appeared, along with several other men in black._

_"Go!" Yao Fei yelled to Oliver as he pulled up his hood._

_"What?" he asked confused for a moment before he spotted the Mercs._

_"Run!" Yao Fei rushed in, attacking Wintergreen, who fought back just as viciously. Oliver took off into the woods, the Mercs firing after him. Oliver weaved between trees. And lost them long enough to look back- just in time to see Wintergreen knock Yao Fei out. Two Mercs grabbed the fallen man and dragged him away. Wintergreen looked back, searching. Not seeing Oliver he turned and walked away with the Mercs, leaving Oliver alone in the forest once more._

Nearly everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Though they didn’t relax, not yet. They all knew that Oliver was far from safe.

 

_The scene changed to the present at CNRI. Joanna was talking to Laurel about a recent case._

_"And, Judge Hinkle is ready to grant them another continuance! So I said, hell, no. This trial starts right now." She recalled happily._

_"That a girl." Laurel complimented._

_"Thanks." Joanna said. She looked up to see Detective Lance walk in somberly, and motioned to Laure who turned around and smiled._

_"Dad." She said happily. "What brings you by?"_

_"I need to talk to Jo." He said seriously. Joanna looked up._

_"Is everything ok, Mr. Lance?" she asked,_

_Quentin shook his head, "No." he said. Her worry grew as she saw Chief Raynes walk in behind him in full uniform._

“Oh no,” Laurel was dismayed as she looked over at Dinah, “was it…”

 

“Yeah.” Dinah nodded.

 

“Are we missing something?” Tommy asked confused.

 

“At the beginning, the firefighter who got murdered? He was Danny, Jo’s brother.” Laurel explained and the atmosphere became solemn.

 

“Oh.” Thea said softly, having a feeling what Jo would soon be feeling.

 

_"What's happening?" Laurel asked her father, worried._

_"No." Joanna said, realizing as Chief Raynes came up to her._

_"Her brother Danny." Quentin explained softly to his daughter. "He was killed on duty last night."_

_"Jo, I'm so sorry." Raynes said._

_"No. No, no! " Joanna was screaming as Raynes kept trying to comfort her. Finally Laurel came up and drew her into a hug, calming the distraught woman._

Thea looked down, the scene giving her flashbacks to when they had received the news of the Gambit’s sinking. Laurel tightened her arm around Thea, likewise remembering that awful day.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Moira sat at her vanity staring at a picture of her and Walter, alone in her darkened room._

_"Mom?"_

_Moira looked over and saw Oliver standing in the doorway. "Hey." She said._

_"Hey." He came into the room. "I stopped by the Big Belly Burger. I thought maybe you, me and Thea, have some take-out, watch a DVD." He offered hopefully._

_She shook her head. "Thank you, sweetheart. I'm not very hungry."_

_Oliver looked at her sadly. "If you change your mind." He offered, moving off and leaving her alone with her thoughts._

“This is just like before, when the Gambit went down.” Thea said softly.

 

“You know, when it happened, I thought it was just grief…but now, I think it was also guilt.” Tommy considered.

 

“Guilt can do strange things to people.” Diggle muttered.

 

_Later downstairs, Oliver and Thea sat in the sitting room, Digging into their fast food as Oliver looked through the movies. He held one out to Thea._

_"I've seen the movie before." She said, munching on fries._

_"Cut me some slack." He said, looking over the blu-ray, "I've been gone for a while and apparently I missed the cinematic genius that is Zac… Galafinakis?" he drew out the last name, trying to pronounce it correctly. Oliver looked back at Thea, who shook her head._

_"I mean, with mom," she explained. "When you and dad disappeared, she spent more and more time at home." She sighed. "Eventually stopped going out altogether."_

_"What snapped her out of it that time?" Oliver asked._

_"Walter." She smiled at the memory. "One morning, he showed up and, you know, when he gets all British and stern-like." She affected a British accent. "Moira, get dressed. We're going out for lunch." They chuckled. "And, I mean, it worked."_

_"Hmm." Oliver said, lost in thought._

_"You know, I've been thinking." Thea said suddenly. "Maybe Walter wasn't abducted. Maybe he's having some mid-life crisis and he's with some stewardess in Bora Bora, and he's too ashamed to call home and say that he's okay."_

“If only.” Thea sighed.

 

_." She sighed. "Just because we haven't heard from him doesn't mean he's… he's gone, right?" she asked, hopefully._

_Oliver gave her a small smile. "Right." Suddenly, something on the TV caught his attention and he turned back to it. On the screen was a panel news show; currently they were talking about the Vigilante._

_"So what strikes me is that this Vigilante was actually making a difference." The woman on the screen was saying. Oliver and Thea gave the show their full attention. "In the four months that he was active, assaults were down, muggings down. The murder rate dropped by 16%. So in a very quantifiable way, this man in the hood had been a positive force in this city. So where has he been for the past six weeks?"_

“Recovering, mentally and physically.” Laurel noted.

 

“Still not fully recovered.” Tommy continued.

 

_"Looks like everyone's disappearing." Thea remarked. Oliver just watched on, silent._

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Laurel walked in, tired and emotionally drained to find Tommy sitting on her couch. He rose and embraced her, giving her a soft kiss._

_"Hey." He said. They sat down on the couch, and only then did Laurel spot something on her coffee table._

_"What's this?" she asked, reaching out for the paper._

_"It's--it's nothing?" Tommy said weakly, trying to grab it back, Laurel held him off._

_"It's nothing?" she said with a smile. "'Reasons I deserve a drawer'." She read._

“Really Tommy?” Laurel sighed, exasperated as Tommy blushed.

 

_Tommy deftly took it back from her and se tit back on the table._

_"Okay, we're going to table this for a less tragedy-filled day." He said._

_"Yeah, and besides, I don't think we're there yet." Laurel added. Before she could continue, there was a knock on the door. "I should probably get that." She said._

“Saved by the bell.” Thea joked and everyone snickered at Laurel and Tommy’s expense.

 

_All right." He agreed as she rose to get the door. Opening it, she found Joanna._

_"I need your help." Her friend said._

_"Jo, come in." Laurel ushered her into the living room and sat her down, then took a seat next to Tommy._

_"I, um I don't think what happened to Danny was an accident." Joanna began. "I think he might have been murdered."_

_Laurel shared a look with Tommy, and then turned back to her friend. "Jo, do you remember when Sara died? I did all this research to try to find an explanation for why the boat went down. I needed to believe that it wasn't just an accident."_

_"That is not what I am doing, Laurel." Joanna denied. She reached into her bag and pulled out a manila folder. "I once handled a case for a clerk in the Coroner's Office. He passed me a copy of the incident report." She passed the report to Laurel. "It said that Danny's turnout coat was doused in turpentine. But I checked, and the plant owner said that there wasn't any in the factory." As Laurel looked over the report, Jo pressed her case. "A turnout's supposed to withstand temperatures in excess of 500 degrees. But the coroner said that the fire did not exceed 250. How did my brother burn hotter than the fire that supposedly killed him?" Laurel shared a look with Tommy, and then looked back at Jo, convinced._

“Because he was murdered.” Roy muttered grimly.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD the next day as Laurel was talking to Quentin, trying to convince him of Joanna's theory._

_"Laurel, a fireman died fighting a fire." Quentin said as they walked back to his desk. "I'm not sure I see the crime."_

_"I did some digging." Laurel pressed on. "Last week, another firefighter, Leo Barnes, was killed in action, same circumstances. Traces of turpentine, and ignition temperatures hotter than the actual fire." They stopped at his desk. "Do you think that you could talk to the fire marshal? You know, encourage him to pursue this?" she asked._

“So we have a serial killer who target’s firefighters?” Tommy asked, confused.

 

“If we do, that’s the strangest M.O. I’ve ever heard of.” Laurel said perplexed.

 

“This guy must have some history with firefighters.” Diggle noted.

 

_"Well, the fire department has its own investigative unit." Quentin pointed out. "They don't answer to the police."_

_Kelton, the CSU tech walked up to Quentin and handed him the burn phone The Hood had sent him. "Sorry it takes so long with the detectives." He said. "CSU's been really backed up."_

_"Well, did you find anything?" Quentin demanded as Laurel looked on._

_"The only prints on it are yours, the tech inside is military grade. I can't even trace the manufacturer. Forensics-wise, it's a dead end." Lance sighed as Kelton moved off._

_"Another case?" Laurel asked._

_"Vigilante." Quentin answered, tossing the phone on his desk. "The phone belongs to him."_

_"Where'd you get it?" Laurel asked, an idea forming in her mind. "I--does he answer?"_

“Tell me you’re not.” Tommy sighed.

 

“I could, but I’d be lying.” Laurel told him.

 

_"Well, like Kelton said, it's a dead end." Quentin said distractedly. He grabbed up several files from his desk. "Listen, kiddo, I feel for Jo and her family I really do, but, um, there's not a lot I can do this end." He quickly downed the rest of his coffee, then grabbed his keys and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I got to go. I love you." Quentin moved off, grabbing Hilton and walking out of the bullpen. Laurel stared down at the desk, looking at the phone that lay there._

_The scene changed to the Lair, where Oliver's phone began to ring. Hesitantly he picked it up and answered it, not saying a word. "Hello?" He was surprised to hear Laurel's voice on the other end of the line. "I need your help."_

_The scene changed to later that night. Laurel was alone in her apartment when suddenly the lights went out. She looked up to see The Hood standing across the room, his face hidden by his hood._

_"I didn't trust that you'd come." She said, a bit breathlessly. "No one's seen you for a while. Where have you been?"_

_Oliver activated the voice changer. "You said it was important."_

_Laurel picked up the file Joanna gave her and rose. "My best friend's brother. He died two days ago fighting a fire. The police and fire department say that he died in the line of duty. But my friend, she thinks he was murdered."_

_"So you're asking one killer to find another." At her pause, The Hood pressed on. "I heard what you said to your father about me; that I'm a killer. That I have no remorse."_

Laurel and Dinah both winced at the reminder, while everyone had the tact not to say anything.

 

_"Do you?" she asked hopefully. Laurel held out the folder. "Take a look at the file. If Danny de La Vega was murdered, then we have to bring his killer to justice."_

_The Hood moved up to Laurel, careful to keep his face deep in shadow. He took the file from her. "I'll look into it." He promised, then turned and walked out._

_The scene changed to the Lair, where Diggle was deep into a workout on the training dummy._

_"You need to rotate your hips, Diggle." Oliver called out as he came in. Diggle paused to catch his breath as Oliver continued. "That's where the power comes from. It's not just your arms, even if they're the size of bowling balls." He joked, then added, "Laurel reached out to The Hood last night."_

_"Really?" Diggle said, surprised. "Thought the Vigilante spooked her pretty well last time."_

_"She thinks somebody's killing firemen." Oliver said, handing him the folder._

_Diggle glanced through the file. "It looks all in the job. Seems pretty thin." He noted._

_"Will you look into it?"_

_"Yeah. I have a friend who has a friend in the fire investigations department. I'll reach out." Dig promised._

_"If you get any leads, tip the police." Oliver said, throwing his hood in his munitions case and closing the lid. His hands lingered on the wood._

“The police?” Diggle stared incredulously.

 

“Man, my dad really got in Ollie’s head.” Tommy muttered.

 

_"The police?" Dig asked, puzzled._

_"They just need something to jump start them."_

_"Well, isn't the whole idea of being a vigilante, is that you do the police's job?" Diggle looked at his friend seriously. "You know, Oliver, you've been spending a lot of time around here lately. I thought after six weeks, you'd be anxious to hood up. Hell, I even prepared the 'you got to slow down' speech."_

_Oliver looked at Diggle, but was saved from responding by loud commotion coming from above them. "Let me see what's going on upstairs in the club." He said. Oliver headed up the stairs and slipped out the hidden entrance he had created on the upper floor, flipping a switch on a fake fuse box to lock the door behind him. He walked out into the main area that was cluttered with scaffolding and plywood to find Tommy yelling into his phone. The other man hung up and threw the phone down on a drafting table in disgust._

_"You know, I do realize that it's difficult for you to manage my nightclub, what with there not being an actual nightclub here." Oliver noted, alerting Tommy to his presence._

_"Yeah, I just took the liberty of yelling at our contractor." Tommy explained. "I told him if we didn't see any real progress, we were going to bring someone else in to finish the job."_

“I’ve never heard you sound so responsible…it’s a good look on you.” Laurel told Tommy, who grinned.

 

_"Good." Oliver walked around the construction site aimlessly. "How's Laurel's friend? The one whose brother was a fireman?" he asked innocently._

_"She is hanging in there, thanks." Tommy replied. "I have something I wanted to bring up." He pressed on. "I was thinking that we could throw a fundraiser for the fire department. Raise some money for the families."_

 

“That’s…a great idea.” Laurel said as she looked at Tommy, impressed.

 

_Oliver smiled. "That's a great idea."_

_"We could do it here. We could keep the overhead low; make sure we maximize the proceeds to the firemen."_

_Oliver turned to face Tommy, a sly smile on his face. "Who are you? Where's my friend Tommy Merlyn? The guy who once rented out a pro football stadium so that he could play strip kickball with models."_

Laurel’s impressed look turned to one of disgust while Tommy had the decency to look embarrassed about his past actions.

 

_Tommy chuckled. "That guy needed a swift kick in his lazy ass." He noted, and the two old friends laughed._

_The scene changed to CNRI._

_"Jo, you really should take some time off and go be with your family." Laurel was telling her friend._

_Joanna looked at her. "You know, I seem to recall when Sara died, you hit the books pretty hard."_

_"I am not exactly the best example for healthy grieving." Laurel noted wryly as her father stormed in. Laurel looked at him in puzzlement. "Hey." She greeted._

_"Can I talk to you, please?" he asked shortly. He led Laurel back out into the mostly empty entrance. "Where is it?" he demanded._

_"Where's what?"_

_"The phone." He said harshly._

“Someone’s in troubbblllle.” Tommy sang and Laurel glared at him.

 

“It’s so nice to see someone else get in trouble with their family.” Thea said amused.

 

_Laurel sighed. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have." She apologized._

_Quentin scoffed. "It's stolen evidence! Yeah, you probably shouldn't have! What are you—"_

_"I had to do something!" she argued quietly._

_"That man's a killer." Quentin stated._

_"Then why did he give you his phone?" Laurel replied._

“She’s got you there.” Diggle grinned.

 

_Quentin let out a short sigh. "Give me the phone." He demanded._

_"He took it back." Laurel lied._

_Quentin stared at his daughter, stunned. "You were with him?"_

_"When Sara died, if someone could have done something to give you even just a little bit of closure, don't you wish that they would have done it?" she demanded._

_"If it meant breaking the law, lying to the people closest to them? No." Quentin relied, walking off and leaving a dejected Laurel behind._

Dinah sighed. At the time, she had felt guilty for lying to her father but not for her actions. If given the choice, she’d do the same thing in a heartbeat.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Oliver walked into the house and heard his mother speaking to someone in the sitting room. Curious, he walked in to see Moira talking with the COO of Queen Consolidated, Ned Foster._

_"Surely there are contingencies for these types of situations." She was saying. "Bring someone over from our London office, perhaps."_

_"It's not solely a matter of the day to day operations." Ned replied. "We have accountants and the vice presidents to do that. It's about perception. Public confidence."_

_"Ned, the company will be fine." Moira insisted._

_Ned sighed. "I don't mean to be indelicate, but this is the second time in five years that the CEO of Queen Consolidated has vanished under mysterious circumstances.”_

_"I don't need you to remind me of that." She replied harshly._

“She really doesn’t.” Thea said bitterly, still angry over her mother’s involvement in the disappearance of all the men in the Queen family.

 

_Ned had the decency to look somewhat ashamed. "The last thing I want to do is upset you." He said._

_"Well, then you should consider this visit doubly disappointing." Moira replied, rising. She stared down at the man. "Good day." Ned rose and walked out of the room, pausing to give Oliver a- almost hopeful look._

_After he was gone, Oliver turned back to his mother. "Who was that?"_

_"Ned Foster." She replied. "The C.O.O. of the company."_

_"He wants mom to take Walter's place." Thea explained._

_"He says that the company's stock price has been damaged by Walter's absence, and my stepping in would help settle the board. But I told him that I needed to be at home, for my family." She stated._

“So using his family as an excuse is something he learned from his mother then.” Diggle noted.

 

“He learned quite a bit from Moira that he used once he became a vigilante.” Dinah told him.

 

_"Mom," Oliver said, looking at his sister briefly before looking back at her. "Thea and I are fine. We can manage here without you." He assured her. "This sounds like something everyone needs you to do."_

“Does he realize what a hypocrite he’s being right now?” Roy pointed out.

 

“He knew in his heart that they were fine…he just wasn’t ready to accept the real problem yet.” Dinah told him.

 

_"Well, maybe I don't care what everyone needs." She shot back harshly, before sighing and stalking out of the room. Oliver watched her leave, and then turned back to his sister. "She's going to be all right, Thea." He assured her._

_"Mr. Queen," Oliver looked back to see Diggle standing in the doorway. "We're going to have to get going if you want to make your dentist appointment. Now, sir." Oliver nodded shortly, sent a comforting looked to Thea, and then walked out, following his bodyman's lead. "Eyewitnesses place a '72 Ford pickup at the scene of Danny de La Vega's fire." Diggle started as they walked through the halls of the manor._

_"Okay." Oliver replied, not seeing where this was going._

_"Stagg Chemical lit up ten minutes ago. I hacked into Stagg's video security feeds. Parked right on the street running along the plant?"_

_"Same pickup." Oliver realized._

_"I got your gear in the car." Dig said. Oliver stopped dead in his tracks. Diggle noticed, and then sighed. "Oliver, by the time I get someone on the phone who will even listen to me, at least one of those fireman are going to be dead." He explained, pleading with the man. "They need the man in the hood."_

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Oliver, now alone, was deep in the forest trying to build a fire. He just managed to get it going when the sound of a twig snapping caught his attention. He hurriedly buried the fire, putting it out and scrambled into the denser brush for cover. A few moments later a Merc appeared, AK-47 in hand. He stopped in the clearing and used his foot to investigate the smoking ruin of the fire. He pulled out his radio._

_"I have contact." The Merc said. "Two clicks southwest." He moved on to investigate the area while Oliver hid behind a tree, the K-Bar knife Yao Fei had given him in hand._

_The scene flashed back to the present. The fire at Stagg Chemicals was raging; inside firemen were searching for workers and struggling to get the fire under control._

_"Portable one to Deputy Chief Seven." A fireman spoke into his radio. "All clear of civilians."_

_"Copy that." Raynes replied over the radio. "Bail out and wait for second-in companies."_

_The fireman headed for the exit, but was suddenly put upon by another fireman who whacked him had in the face with the butt of his axe. The fireman's helmet was knocked off and he flipped over the railing, but managed to snag the rail with one hand. Instinctively he reached up, and his attacker grabbed his other hand just as the first lost its grip. The firefighter looked up at his attacker in fear._

_"Who are you?!" he demanded, even as the man's grip went slack. The firefighter held on tight, but all he managed to do was pull off the attacker's glove as he fell down into the pit of fire below._

“What a way to go.” Tommy winced.

 

“There are worse ways to die.” Arsenal said softly, his gaze drawn to the unaware Thea.

 

_The Hood arrived moments too late to save the firefighter, so instead he moved to attack the murderer. The Hood landed two solid shots before the murder kicked his knee and then swept his legs out with the handle of is axe. The Hood landed hard, and the attacker kicked him once in the ribs for good measure. Stunned, The Hood watched as the man reached into his turn over coat and withdrew a small device. He noted that the man had a tattoo of a firefly on his burned hand right before he attacker activated and threw the device, setting off a small explosion. The Hood pulled himself up and watched as the attacker walked calmly away._

“He’s still not all there,” Diggle noted concerned, “if he was, he could’ve taken that guy easily.”

 

“Like I said, he wasn’t ready to admit the real problem.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver was sitting on the ground in the dark, staring at his bow, deep in thought._

_Back in the past, Oliver was still behind the tree, waiting for the Merc to pass him. As soon as he did, Oliver ran at the man, trying to stab him. The Merc casually batted the knife away, but dropped the AK in the process. The grappled for a moment, Oliver inching the knife closer to the Merc's face before he was finally forced to drop it. The two men, still jockeying for a position of strength, slipped off the edge of a steep him and rolled down, fighting all the way. They rolled off the edge, and the Merc landed first onto a large rock on the edge of a stream. Oliver landed on top of him with his full weight, before rolling off and into the stream._

Those who knew Oliver tensed, hoping that he was alright.

 

_Back in the present, Oliver lowered his hood. Then, making a decision, reached for his phone and dialed._

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment, where she was engrossed in a case file. Suddenly the Hoods' phone began to ring, and she excitedly picked it up._

_"Hello?" she answered._

_"I have some information for you." The Hood's distorted voice said. "The killer drives a 1970's Ford pickup. There is a scar on his left wrist from a severe burn and a tattoo of a firefly."_

_"Well, then you must have gotten pretty close to him." Laurel noted._

_"All the men in Engine Company 15 had firefly tattoos. Any one of them could be the killer."_

_"What should I do with this information?" Laurel asked, confused._

_"Whatever you would have done before you met me." He replied, and then hung up._

“Okay, if he’s not helping you, then it’s serious.” Thea noted extremely alarmed.

 

_Laurel hung up, disappointed. "Who was on the phone?" Tommy asked, coming up behind her. "Wrong number." She replied, putting the phone in her pocket and joining him for dinner._

“And you just lied to me.” Tommy said annoyed.

 

“Which came back to bite us later.” Dinah told her past self, who winced.

 

_Back at the Lair, Oliver was finishing putting his gear in the box. He set his bow down on top of the lid, and then walked away. Diggle watched him, concerned._

_"So Laurel's on her own against a murderer who burns people alive?" he demanded._

_"I can't right every wrong in this city." Oliver stated bluntly. Diggle frowned._

_"No, I get that, Oliver. But maybe you're not back to 100% like you thought." He observed._

_"Maybe I'm not." Oliver admitted. Suddenly Diggle attacked him, managing to pin him against the desk. Oliver growled in anger, and then forced himself up, quickly reversing Diggle's attack so that Dig was pinned. He held them there for a moment before letting go, and Diggle hit the desk in frustration._

_"What did that prove?" Oliver demanded._

_"This is one sturdy desk."_

_Dig rose and turned to face his friend. "And clearly, your problem isn't physical."_

_"I never said I had a problem!" Oliver shouted angrily._

“He never had to.” Diggle said.

 

_"You didn't have to, Oliver." Dig retorted. "But this guy, the other archer, he got in your head, he took something from you."_

_"That's enough." Oliver pleaded tiredly._

_"He took whatever's in your heart that lets you jump off buildings and take down bad guys." Diggle continued._

_"Thank you for the analysis." Oliver said sarcastically._

_"You can avoid Laurel, Oliver, avoid me, avoid this, as long as you want." Diggle said. "But until you're ready to take a hold of the fear that's in you, you might as well let that archer kill you."_

_Oliver's phone beeped. Gratefully he looked at it. "Text from Tommy." He said. "I need to run an errand for the benefit at the firemen's station." He headed towards the stairs._

“Well, at least this time his excuse is helping people.” Laurel sighed.

 

_"Maybe while you're at it," Diggle called after him, "you can let me know if you still want to be a vigilante or just a nightclub owner."_

_The scene changed to Engine Company 15's firehouse. Laurel was walking up as Oliver was walking out._

_"Hey." Oliver said to a surprised Laurel. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I told Joanna I'd clean out Danny's locker." She explained. "And you?"_

_"Tommy sent me over to make sure the guest list for the firemen's gala was accurate." He said._

_"Tommy's been working very hard on that." Laurel said with a smile. "It's very generous of you, Oliver."_

_"It's truly not." He assured her. The two parted and Laurel headed towards the firehouse. Oliver walked away, then suddenly turned around. "Speaking of Tommy," he said, "he told me that you're being very protective of your drawers." At her surprised, indignant look, he smiled and held up his hands in surrender. "This is not a fancy term for your underwear."_

_"Are you and I seriously having this discussion?" she asked incredulously._

“That’s what I’m wondering.” Laurel muttered.

 

“You and Oliver were friends long before you dated. Remember that.” Dinah said as she gave her younger self a pointed look.

 

_"Well, we're friends." Oliver pointed out._

_"Yes." Laurel admitted. "Tommy asked for a drawer."_

_"And this is bad?" he asked._

_"No. It's just I'm an all or nothing type of girl." She pointed out. "First it's a drawer, then it's a closet, half my rent, it's half my life. Am I really ready to do that with Tommy?" she asked rhetorically._

_"You could take it slow." Oliver advised._

_"I don't things slow, remember? I close my eyes and I jump, just like you." She sighed. "I think that's why we spooked each other. Our feelings our fears, they control us, it's not the other way around. You know?"_

_"Yeah." Oliver replied._

“Ollie spooked you?”  Thea raised an eyebrow at Laurel.

 

“Yeah, he did. But I was able to move past that fear…He couldn’t.” Laurel explained regretfully.

 

_Laurel gave him a tired smile. "I have to get inside." She said, turning and walking in._

_A short time later, Laurel was talking with Chief Raynes. She held a picture of Danny's old unit and was showing it to Raynes._

_"I did some research. There are eight firemen in this picture." Laurel stated. "You called yourselves the fireflies."_

_"Yeah, well, that station house was shut down a few years back." Raynes replied. "All the guys went to different companies, so…"_

_"Four of these men are now dead." Laurel pointed out._

_"It's not all getting cats out of trees, Ms. Lance." He shot back._

_"But three of them died within the last six weeks, except for that man right there." She pointed on the picture. "Garfield Lynns. He died two years ago in the Nodell Tower tragedy."_

_Raynes was about to respond, but he noticed another figure walking in. "Did you forget something, Mr. Queen?" he asked Oliver._

_Oliver gave him a friendly smile. "Just wanted to see if my friend there needed some help." He said pleasantly. "What was the Nodell Tower?" he asked._

_Raynes looked at him in disbelief. "How do you not remember that?" he asked._

_"I was WiFi-free for a few years." Oliver pointed out._

_Raynes looked slightly taken aback at his faux pas, so he explained. "It was 22 stories of glass and steel. Except it turned out that the construction company who built it used substandard materials to save themselves a few bucks. It was nowhere near the structural code."_

_"Gas line blew." Laurel said sadly. "There was a fire."_

_"Yeah." Raynes sighed in remembrance. "Melted right through the stanchions. Whole damn thing came down."_

_"Bad day." Laurel said._

_"34 civilians and 6 of my fellow firemen died. Now, do you need anything else, Ms. Lance? Other than reminding me of all the friends I've lost and buried?" Raynes asked harshly, before walking away from the two._

_Laurel walked swiftly out of the firehouse, followed just as swiftly by Oliver._

_"Hey!" he called to her. "What was that all about?"_

_"It was nothing, Oliver. I have to go." She blew him off and walked swiftly away, pulling the cellphone from her pocket. She dialed The Hood's number and let it ring. Meanwhile, walking away in the opposite directing, Oliver reached into his pocket and pulled out his own ringing phone. He swiftly crossed the street then, back still to Laurel, answered it._

_"Hello?" Laurel said as the call was connected. "Are you there?" The Hood didn't respond, so she continued. "I spoke to Danny's old chief. I didn't get anywhere. What am I supposed to do now?"_

_Oliver considered for a moment before answering. "Nothing. It's my turn." He then hung up and walked away._

“And he’s back.” Roy grinned, a smile that was matched on Arsenal’s face.

 

_The scene flashed back to the Island briefly, where Oliver gasped as he came out of the stream. He looked up at the rock to see the Merc, apparently dead._

“His first kill…and he does it by accident?” Diggle stated, dumbfounded.

 

“He always did do the unexpected.” Arsenal remembered fondly.

 

_The scene shifted to Queen Manor. Moira was in her room going through old family photo albums as Thea walked in._

_"We have so many of these old photos." Moira said. "I really should have them scanned in."_

_"Well, that's an incredibly ambitious plan." Thea said. "Which will have to wait."_

_"Why?" Moira asked._

_"Because we're going to go out." Thea stated. "To dinner or to a movie or shopping. Anything to get you out of the house."_

_Moira sighed. "Ohh. No, Thea. I'm just too tired." She declined._

_"Really, that's pretty amazing, considering you've been in bed all day." Thea said snarkily._

_Moira didn't look back at her, but there was an edge to her voice. "Please don't presume to think that you know what I'm going through."_

_"I do know." Thea shot back, her voice shaky with emotion. "I lost dad, too. I'm worried about Walter, too. But I don't get to worry about him, because I'm busy worrying about you."_

_"I never asked you to do that." Moira said._

_"Right. 'Cause you don't ask me to do anything anymore." Thea noted. "You don't ask me to do my homework or to be home at a decent hour. I mean, you basically stopped being my parent."_

_"Well, how's this!" Moira exclaimed loudly, anger really showing in her voice. She finally turned to face Thea. "Don't talk to your mother like that."_

_"Maybe you should start acting like my mother. So I don't have to act like yours." Thea shot back harshly before turning and walking out of the room. Moira watched her go sadly._

“Well done Speedy.” Laurel said, impressed.

 

“Someone had to show her a little tough love.” Thea shrugged.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver was at work on the computer when Diggle came in._

_"I thought you were done helping Laurel." He noted._

_"The first firefly to die, his name was Garfield Lynns." Oliver stated, staring at the screen._

_"Well, being dead kind of rules him out as a murder suspect, right?" Diggle chuckled, then he grabbed a stool and moved to sit next to the younger man. "Oliver I'm sorry I came at you so hard, man. But I've been there. I know what it's like to stare death in the face and be the one who blinks."_

_"That's not it." Oliver denied. "I've… I've been close to death." He explained. "On the island- more times than I can remember, and I never feared t. ’Cause I had nothing to lose." He sighed. "But when that archer almost killed me; when I stared death in the face then, I thought about all the people that I've let into my life since I've been back. My family, Laurel, Tommy. And that made me afraid. Afraid of what would happen to those people if they lost me--again. And for the first time in so long, I had something to lose."_

“So…he thinks being alone, makes him stronger?” Thea asked, slightly hurt.

 

“He’s been alone for so long, he doesn’t know any other way.” Diggle explained.

 

“It’s more than that,” Dinah said and they looked over at him, “those five years, he could never completely trust someone. It went on for so long that he stopped seeing people as people. Instead, he saw them as threats, as targets. When he came home, it was very…difficult for him to break out of that mind-set.”

 

“And that’s what we’re seeing now?” Laurel inquired and Dinah nodded.

 

“Yes, we’re seeing Oliver beginning to break that habit.” Dinah explained.

 

_"Well, you got it backwards, Oliver." Diggle said. "You think the people you let in are taking your edge. I think it gives you one. Maybe a stronger one. You can stare down death with something to live for or not. Something to live for is better."_

_Oliver took his words in considering. The he moved back to business. "All the men in the unit had an alibi for Danny's murder." He started. "The guy that I fought had a firefly tattoo and his arm was severely burned."_

_"Okay. I don't see where you're going with this." Diggle admitted._

_"The Nodell Tower fire." Oliver said. "Some of the bodies were so badly burned, they couldn't even be ID'd off dental records." He looked at Dig. "What if Garfield Lynns didn't die, but was just presumed dead?"_

“Oh my god.” Diggle said as the pieces fell together.

 

“This isn’t about a serial killer…this is about revenge.” Laurel almost whispered.

 

_The scene changed to the club upstairs. The fireman's benefit was in full swing as Laurel arrived. She walked through the club. Seeing her boyfriend, she walked up to him with a smile and gave him a kiss._

“Do I have to see you make out with both my brother’s?” Thea complained.

 

“Come again?” Diggle asked confused.

 

“Quick recap: my father is also her father.” Tommy grumbled.

 

“That’s…that’s really messed up.” Roy said bluntly.

 

“Oh tell me about it.” Thea groaned.

 

 

_"You know," Tommy said, "ironically, if we get any more people in here, we're going to violate the fire code."_

_Laurel laughed, but pulled away slightly and looked at Tommy seriously. "We're good on drawer-gate, right?" she asked hesitantly._

_"All good." He assured her giving her another kiss._

_"Excuse me." The two lovers looked over to see a smiling Oliver standing there. "Can I borrow Laurel for a second?" he asked Tommy._

_"Absolutely." His friend replied. Oliver led Laurel to the bar where the fire chief was nursing a drink._

_"Chief Raynes." Oliver called out. Raynes turned around. "Hi." He said._

_"Mr. Queen, this is spectacular." Raynes said. "The Starling City Firemen's Relief Association can't thank you enough."_

_"You guys are the real heroes." Oliver said. "Like at the Nodell Tower fire, which I've been reading up on."_

_"Oh, yeah?"_

_"Garfield Lynns was the first man to die in your unit." Oliver continued. "Now, I read that they recovered his coat in the wreckage, but they never found his body?" Laurel looked at him in confusion._

_"You always interrogate your club's guests, Mr. Queen? Raynes asked stiffly._

_"Why? Do you feel like you're being interrogated?" Oliver asked with an easy smile._

“Asking subtle questions-or sometimes not so subtle to get a rise out of the suspect. If my dad didn’t hate him, Ollie would make a good cop.” Laurel said impressed.

 

_"You could see it on your face at the fire station." Laurel said, realization dawning. "There's more to the Nodell Tower fire than people know about, isn't there?"_

_"I've been doing this a long time and I've never seen a fire like that." Raynes said in a haunted voice. "It's like some monster out of a science fiction movie. I radioed for my men to get the hell out of there. But Lynns, he wouldn't go. Begged me to send the unit back in. But I wouldn't do it. I couldn't. God help me, I left him to burn." He took a long drink of his scotch. "But I can't bring him back."_

“And there’s the motive.” Laurel said grimly.

 

_"You don't have to." Oliver replied. "He is back."_

_"What the hell you talkin' about?" Raynes demanded._

_"Garfield Lynns killed Danny." Laurel said, the pieces finally coming together in her mind. "And the other men on your unit."_

_"There's no way he could have survived that fire." Raynes denied._

_"You'd be surprised the power revenge can give you." Oliver noted._

“He would know.” Arsenal muttered and Dinah nodded, both thinking of Slade.

 

“What?” Roy asked confused.

 

“Second year stuff, don’t worry about it now.” Arsenal told him.

 

_In the club, a lone fire fighter in full turn out gear was walking slowly across the dance floor towards the bar. One of the patrons laid a gentle hand on his arm, stopping him._

_"Thank you so much." The woman said sincerely. "The people in the city appreciate everything you—" she trailed off as the man turned to look at her. Half of his face was just- melted, covered in scar tissue._

“Good god, how did he survive?” Diggle asked horrified.

 

“By focusing on the only thing he had left: vengeance.” Dinah muttered.

 

_Horrified, the woman backed off, and Garfield Lynns resumed his lonely march._

_"You're insane." Raynes told Oliver. "Gar did not make it out of that building."_

_"Just like you won't make it out of this one."_

_Olive and Laurel spun around to see Lynns standing there. The deranged fireman threw several devices, one after the other, which exploded, sending fire racing through the club. Oliver put himself in front of Laurel and Raynes stared in shock as Lynns took off his helmet and glared at the fire chief._

_As the fire began to spread, Tommy and Diggle started ushering people out of the building. At the bar, Lynns stared down Raynes while Oliver protected Laurel._

_"Gar, what the hell are you doing?" Raynes demanded. Lynns unhooked his spray nozzle from his jacket and pointed it at Oliver._

_"Run." He told them simply._

_"Go!" he urged Laurel, pushing her towards the door._

Everyone relaxed slightly but did not untense. After all, Oliver was still there.

 

_. Oliver split off from her and headed deeper into the club, arriving at his secret entrance to the lair. He flipped the switches to open the door, then scrambled down the stairs and slid to a stop in front of his case. He opened it, took out his bow, then reached in for his leathers._

_Upstairs. Tommy was searching frantically for his girlfriend. "Laurel?! Laurel?" finally he spotted her running towards him. She leapt into his arms. "Laurel!" he said happily, then looking around asked, "Where's Oliver?"_

_"He's still inside!"_

_"We can't leave him." Tommy declared, He turned to run back in, but suddenly a ceiling beam came down. "Tommy!" Laurel exclaimed as the couple fell to the floor, dazed._

“You would go back for him?” Roy asked Tommy, as he couldn’t comprehend it.

 

“He’s my best friend.” Tommy said simply.

 

_At the bar, Lynn's had finished hosing down Raynes with turpentine. "You know how long it takes for your skin to melt?" he asked. "I do. From experience."_

_"I told you to get out of there!" Raynes shouted._

_"And I told you that we could save the building." Lynns retorted. "But you got scared. You lost your nerve. You left me in there to die."_

_"How did you get out?" Raynes asked._

_"I was pulled from the wreckage. Listed as a John Doe in the burn unit, in a coma for months." His voice was quivering with rage. "When I woke up and saw what was left of who I was I only had one thought. To leave you as alone as you left me." He pulled out a zippo and flipped the lid open. He lit the lighter and held it up in a shaking hand as Raynes stared in horror. "Now it's your turn."_

_Across the room, The Hood appeared. He saw the two men, the lighter in Lynn's hand, and knew what he had to do. He ran towards the men and, as Lynn's tossed the lighter at Raynes, fired an arrow. The arrow struck true, knocking the lighter away from the fire chief and into the flames beyond. Both men turned to stare at the vigilante as Oliver circled Lynns, another arrow nocked._

_"Go!" he growled to Raynes, who took off. To Lynns he said "It's over."_

_"I'm not afraid to die." Lynns said._

_"I know." The Hood lowered his bow. "You're afraid to live. Let me get you out of here." He looked at the man, looking past the burns to the man underneath. "Lynns. Let me get you out."_

_Lynns looked back, and for a moment Oliver thought he might accept his help. "Thanks." Lynns said. "But I'm already burned." He turned and walked towards the fire. "Lynns, don't do it!" The Hood exclaimed, but Lynns calmly held his arm out into the fire. His coat caught at once, and soon his entire body was engulfed in flames. Without a scream, without a sound, Lynns fell to his knees, and then toppled over onto his face, dead as the flames finally consumed his body._

“That’s so sad.” Thea muttered and no one could disagree with her.

 

“Sometimes, when men break…they can’t be put back together.” Diggle explained.

 

“You have experience in that?” Roy asked and Diggle sighed.

 

“Some of the guys I served with…I don’t anyone ever stops to think about the toll it takes on those who go out and fight for this country.” Diggle mused.

 

_The Hood watched sadly, and then moved off to escape the flames himself._

_The scene changed to the next day at Queen Manor. Oliver and Thea were watching a news broadcast covering the events at the fund raiser the previous night._

_'Eyewitnesses contend that numerous lives would have been lost if not for the timely intervention of the Vigilante.' The female anchor was saying. 'But these were not the actions of a vigilante. What's been described are the actions of a hero.'_

“That’s up for discussion.” Tommy muttered.

 

“He is a hero, just not the kind you read about from stories,” Dinah said and they all looked at her, “he’s a hero who can make the hard calls, who doesn’t need to be liked, he can be hated if it’s what needs to be done. He’s a soldier who will fight until the end to protect innocent people.”

_Oliver smiled as he muted the TV. Thea noted the smile, puzzled._

_"What's got you all smiley? Your new club's a briquette." She stated._

_"It was under construction before. Now it's more under construction." Oliver replied glibly._

_"Good morning." Both kids looked up to see Moira stride into the sitting room, fully dressed and carrying a bag._

_"Sharp suit, Mom! Not used to seeing you without your bedroom wrapped around you." Thea noted._

_"Well, I could hardly go to the office in my pajamas." She explained. "I'm taking Walter's position at the office."_

“Looks like you got through to her.” Laurel noted, slightly proud of Thea.

 

_"What changed your mind?" Oliver asked._

_"Not what. Who." Moira looked at Thea. "My daughter." She looked back to Oliver. "My family. And I promise you, Walter will get back to us. I will keep looking for him and I will find him." She closed up her bag. And looked at Oliver. "And I'll see you for dinner." She said, walking out of the room._

“That speech would’ve made more of an impact if she didn’t know who had Walter kidnapped.” Thea grumbled.

 

_Thea stared at where her mother had been, disbelief etched on her face. "Mm-hmm." She mumbled._

_"What?" Oliver asked, turning to look at her._

_Thea shook her head. "Just feeling the whiplash. She went from shut-in to chairman pretty fast."_

_"Sounds like you got through to her." Oliver noted._

_"Yeah, I guess." Thea said, unconvinced._

_The scene changed to CNRI where Joanna was packing up her things._

_"It'll just be for a few months." She was telling Laurel. "My mom, she's taking it so hard."_

_"Whatever you have to do to take care of your family." Laurel assured her._

_"Before I forget," Joanna pulled a small case out of her purse and handed it to Laurel. She opened it to find a fireman's badge. "My brother's badge." Joanna explained. "My mom was hoping maybe you could find a way to get it to… you know, him. As a thank you." She took a long breath. "I don't care what anyone has to say. He really is a guardian angel."_

“That’s one way of putting it.” Laurel said dryly.

 

_The scene changed to SCPD as Lance walked in the stations IT department._

_"I'll find a way to get it to him." Laurel promised. Then she engulfed her friend in a hug. "I'm going to miss you."_

_"Yeah." Joanna said. She grabbed her box and walked off, stopping to say high with the just arrived Quentin Lance._

_"Hey." Joanna said._

_"Hey." He returned. "You look after yourself, all right?"_

_"I will." She promised._

_"Good." Lance said. Joanna left and Quentin moved to Laurel. "So Joanna's taking a leave of absence, huh?"_

_"She has to go be with her family." Laurel said shortly, still upset at him._

_"Yeah, well, family's important."_

_Laurel sighed. "I already apologized."_

_"It's my turn." Quentin said, catching her attention. "After what happened last night, maybe it's a good thing you got the Hood involved." He looked at his daughter, a small smile on his face. "He didn't take the phone off you, did he?" Laurel sighed, and reached for her purse, and Quentin chuckled as she pulled out the phone. She handed it to him without a word, and he took it with a wry smile. He turned and started to leave, but stopped, fingering the phone. Suddenly he turned back to Laurel._

_"Maybe you should hold on to this." He said. Laurel looked at him surprised. "I mean, I may not like the guy's methods, but whoever this guy is, he's got a habit of putting himself between danger and you. And that's not something I can argue with." He handed the phone back to Laurel, who took it wordlessly_

Laurel smiled. For the first time since her mother had left, she felt like she was seeing her father again.

 

_Kelton." He called to the computer tech. "We good?"_

_"I got a strong signal from the crystal vhf transmitter you hid in the speaker, and it can't be backtraced."_

_"Talk to me like I'm a third grader, please." Lance said, annoyed._

_"Next time your daughter calls the Vigilante, we'll be able to listen to every word." He promised the cop._

Laurel’s smile vanished, replaced by a scowl as she glared at the screen.

 

“Are you kidding me? He really will go to any lengths to get to Oliver.” Tommy said as he felt his respect for Laurel’s father plummet even further.

 

“He’s in too deep; all he can see is catching Oliver. He can’t see anything else, like what it might cost him.” Diggle said as he glanced at Laurel.

 

“Yeah.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Lance nodded satisfied. As he turned to leave. Kelton spoke up. "I know you swore to bring this guy down, Detective, but using your own daughter as bait, that's stone cold." Lance paused momentarily, then left the room, satisfied in his course of action._

Laurel crossed her arms, grumbling things that made Kal blush.

_The scene changed to the Lair, where Oliver was hanging upside down from the salmon ladder and shadow boxing. As he did, he thought back to the Island._

_Flashback_

_Oliver, now dressed in the dead Merc's uniform, finished hiding the body under some shrubbery. He started looking through the pockets, trying to find a place to put the notebook. In one pocket he found a ring of keys; in the other he found a map of the island, which he studied._

_Back in the present, Diggle came into the lair._

_"Good thing the fire didn't spread to down here."_

_Oliver let himself down from the bar. "It's one of the benefits of concrete and steel construction." He exhaled. "Thank you." He said._

_"What for?" Diggle asked innocently._

_"You know what for!"_

_"So what's next?" Dig asked. "More training?"_

_"No." Oliver held up the notebook. "We go hunting." He said with a smile._

“Well, at least he’s back to his old self.” Thea said optimistically.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The seating order is now, from right to left, Arsenal, Dinah, Roy, Thea, Laurel, Tommy, and Diggle.


	14. Trust but verify

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea learns more about her parents' marriage and the consequences of her drug habits. Diggle learns the truth about Ted Gaynor as Tommy learns about his father's plans for his mother's clinic.

_The memory opened on an armored truck as it drove down a darkened road. The two men in the front, one older and one younger, were fighting over what kind of music to listen to._

_"Whatever you're listening to, it ain't music." The older driver said, turning off the rap and turning on Jazz. "There ought to be a law."_

_"Well, there's not." The younger man said, switching it back to rap. The driver turned to glare at the man, but his partner suddenly yelled out "Watch it!"_

_Out in the middle of the street was a man. He was wearing a black uniform, tactical vest, and a gas mask and was carrying an M-32 grenade launcher. The driver slammed on the brakes and started to back up, but was cut off by a van pulling up right behind them. Two men to out of the van and moved to cover the doors. As soon as they did, the first man fired the launcher. It sent a smoke grenade through the windshield and into the cab, where it starts spilling its noxious contents. The two men inside held out for a few moments, but the smoke finally overtook them and they scrambled to get out of the truck. As soon as they touched the ground the two gunmen shot them; then one of the gunmen reached down and grabbed the keys off the driver's belt. They quickly opened the rear and retrieved the money bags, making a clean getaway in under three minutes._

“I know that maneuver,” Diggle muttered and those from the past turned to him, “me and some guys used that maneuver in Afghanistan.”

 

“So maybe someone with Military training then.” Laurel guessed.

 

“It’s a safe bet.” Diggle agreed.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor the next day. Oliver was helping himself to some fruit in the sitting room while Thea pestered him about her birthday present._

_"Tahitian green or midnight black-- what do you think?" she asked innocently._

_"I think that you've been dropping hints all week, Thea, and mom still isn't buying you a car for your birthday." Oliver replied._

“Oh come on!” Thea whined.

 

_"I could not have said it better myself." Moira said as she came into the room._

_"Oliver got a car when he turned 18." Thea complained._

_"Yeah, but I could back it out of the driveway without hitting a tree." Oliver said glibly._

_"That's true." Tommy said, walking in with blueprints in hand. "But I do remember you taking the paint off the side of your dad's Maserati."_

“I remember the look on his dad’s face. I thought Oliver was a dead man.” Tommy remembered, Thea and Laurel laughing along with him.

 

“He was grounded for two months.” Thea remembered.

 

_"Thea, the party planner's waiting." Moira said distractedly. She gave Tommy a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry to run off like this." She looked at Thea, who joined her._

_"Don't we have a convertible to go buy?" she asked innocently._

_Oliver smiled at his sister but looked at his mother. "Good luck." He told her as they left._

_"How's she holding up?" Tommy asked when they were alone._

_"Oh, she's okay." Oliver replied. "Thea thinks she's actually a little bit too okay." He admitted, a bit puzzled._

_"What do you mean?" Tommy asked as he helped himself to some breakfast._

_"Just behaving erratically. Shut-in one minute, running the company the next."_

_"Well, her husband is missing and presumed who-knows-what." Tommy pointed out. "If anyone had an excuse to be erratic, it's your mom."_

_"That's what I told Thea." Oliver said. He caught Detective Lance on the screen and grabbed the remote, turning up the volume._

_'The department has got the same comment about this heist as it did the other two. No comment.' Lance said briskly. The anchor appeared on the screen. 'The SCPD may not be willing to go on the record, but traffic cameras got the entire heist in this exclusive. The $2.3 million heist is like a scene out of the movies.'_

_The two men watched the scene unfold. Tommy scoffed lightly. "That's why you keep all your money offshore." He said._

“Solid financial advice. Tommy said proudly.

 

“But not always possible.” Laurel deadpanned.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver was busy doing pushups when Diggle came in._

_"With all the guys working up top, you might want to think about a side entrance for your, uh, Arrowcave." He suggested._

_"Just put one in." Oliver replied, rising from the floor. "South alleyway. Something I want to show you." Oliver walked over to his computers to bring up some files._

_"Finally getting into online dating and you need help with your profile." Dig joked._

_"Not exactly. But there is somebody I'd like to meet."_

_Diggle looked at the screen that showed the video the news had run of the armored car heist. "Yeah, I read about it. This is the third truck to be hit this month. I saw it on the news this morning."_

_"I couldn't figure out why it seemed so familiar. Then I remembered this." Oliver continued, pulling up another video. This video was a FLIR thermal imaged of an armored truck being taken down by three Marines. "Kandahar, '09, when the Marines took out a Taliban transport vehicle."_

_"Yeah." Dig noted, studying the images. "Well, there's a reason why it looks so similar. These guys are running the same swarming technique. Where'd you find this?" he asked Oliver._

_"I was researching someone." He replied, pulling up a personnel file. "Bodyguard who works for a private security firm. Blackhawk squad protection group. His name is Ted Gaynor."_

“No way. It’s not possible.” Diggle insisted.

 

“Just a moment.” Dinah said as those from the past opened their mouths.

 

_Diggle looked at the image, stunned. He was silent for a few moments before he spoke. "Oliver, Ted Gaynor was my commanding officer on my first tour in Afghanistan." He stated._

_Oliver gave him a sympathetic look. "Dig, I'm sorry." He said. "Gaynor's on the list."_

_"Gaynor's a few hundred thousand dollars short of making your list." Dig argued._

_"Well, I never said it was just one-per centers, did I?"_

_"Oliver, this guy saved my life." Diggle pressed. "Received a commendation for it. I don't care what your book says. He's not a stick-up man."_

_"You haven't known him in a long time, Diggle."_

_"We both kept in contact with each other since we got stateside. Six months ago he even offered me a job at Blackhawk. Now, trust me, you don't know this man like I do." Diggle said._

“People change John.” Dinah said softly.

 

“Ted isn’t a bad man.” Diggle insisted and Dinah and Arsenal exchanged a weary glance, deciding to let him see for himself.

 

_"I know in Afghanistan his training specialty was M-32 multiple grenade launchers, the exact same weapon used in these heists and not exactly something that you find at your local sporting goods store." Oliver replied harshly._

_"Two months ago, we found out this wasn't even your father's book; that it was written by whoever hired the other archer." Dig pointed out. "Doesn't that kind of beg the question what else you could be wrong about?"_

_"I could be wrong." Oliver said, and then his face hardened. "But the list isn't." He moved to grab his bow. "Now, I'm gonna have a pointed conversation with Mr. Gaynor tonight. We'll see what he has to say about it." He moved off to take in some target practice. "I understand if you want to take the week off."_

_"Well, thank you." Dig said, and then looked down at Gaynor's picture on the screen. "Sir." He added more to his old C.O. than to his new one._

Diggle grumbled under his breath things that even Tommy, who was sitting next to him, couldn’t understand.

 

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Oliver studied the map he had taken off of the Merc then, making a decision, grabbed the soldiers' AK-47 and moved off into the forest. He walked for a long while before voices caught his attention. He quickly pulled down his balaclava and moved out of the forest into a small Merc outpost. Trying to act casually, he made his way over to the food tent, grabbing a tray._

_"Different day, same slop." Another Merc remarked. He glanced at the masked Oliver. "You new?"_

_"Yeah." He replied gruffly._

_"Don't worry. It took me a year to find my way around the island." The other Merc said as he took his tray and moved off._

_"Oh, hey, hey. Hey." Oliver said suddenly. "I'm supposed to be transporting a prisoner. A Chinese guy who wears a green hood."_

_"Sounds like the guy they took to the east camp." The man replied. "I'm heading over that way. Come on. You can hitch a ride. Let's go."_

_Reluctantly he put the tray of food down and followed the man to a small off road vehicle. They were about to pull out when a voice stopped them._

_"Hold up! Hold up!" Oliver glanced over, and then blanched as he saw Fyers lead a group of men towards them. "Units one, two." He said, indicating to the men and they peeled off. Fyers limped to the car and climbed into_ _the back, barely glancing at the masked Oliver as he sat, stock still, in the passenger seat._

“The universe likes to laugh at him, doesn’t it?” Tommy noted.

 

“Oh, you have no idea.” Arsenal drawled.

 

_The scene changed back to the Foundry. In the space that would be the club, Tommy was busy directing workmen around, trying to get the business up and running._

_"That wall over there still has to be taped and textured." He told one workman. He stopped another. "I need you to grout the hallway floor as soon as they are done with the tile install." He said._

_"All right." The mad replied, moving off. Tommy's phone rang and he looked at the screen. Seeing it was his father, he paused for a minute, considering declining the call. Reluctantly, though he answered._

“Why did I answer?” Tommy grumbled, displeased.

 

_"Yeah?" he said shortly._

_"Hey, Tommy." Malcolm said pleasantly._

_Tommy scowled. "Dad, I am really busy." He said bluntly._

_"Tommy, I know things have been, well, strained between us since-" Malcolm started, but Tommy cut him off._

_"Since you cut me off and told me that I was a loser?" he said acidly._

_"I was just trying to jolt you into adulthood." Malcolm said calmly. "And look at you now. You've got your first job. My tough love worked."_

“Yeah, call it tough love. Much more polite than unofficial disownment.” Tommy grumbled.

 

_What do you want, Dad?"_

_"Nothing more than to share a meal with my son." Malcolm stated. "Dinner, tomorrow night?"_

_"Laurel and I have plans." Tommy dodged, but Malcolm was having none of that._

_"Bring her along. I think it's time I got to know her a little better." He paused. "Tommy I've said some pretty hurtful things, and I regret them. But you're still my son. And I still want what I've always wanted- for us to be close."_

“You’ve got a funny way of showing it.” Tommy sneered.

 

_Tommy was silent for a moment before he finally responded. "Let me check with Laurel and I'll get back to you." He said, and then hung up._

_The scene changed to the offices of Blackhawk Security later that night. The Hood made his way through the building, tranquilizing everyone he came upon. He finally reached the main office level and found Gaynor pulling a USB drive out of a laptop. Gaynor spun around, sensing someone behind him, but received a swift kick in the gut from the Hood. The impact drove him back into the desk, then down to the floor, where he groaned in pain._

_"Ted Gaynor, we're gonna have a conversation." The Hood snarled. "You make a move, go for a gun, anything, things will end badly for you." The sound of a gun cocking caused The Hood to spin around, nocking an arrow and pointing it-_

_At Diggle._

_"Put the bow down." Diggle demanded, as Oliver stared back at him with narrowed eyes._

“You know, you are so lucky that Oliver is so restrained,” Arsenal noted and Diggle looked at him in confusion, “If he was any less, he would have turned around and fired out of pure instinct. Something to keep in mind.”

 

“Good to know.” Diggle said lowly, a little pale as he realized how close to death his onscreen self had just come.

 

_Oliver decided to see how Dig's play would pan out, so he spun and shot a monitor, which exploded in a bright flash of sparks and glass. While Gaynor and Diggle were blinded, The Hood grabbed the USB key that had fallen onto the desk and quickly moved out of the room, disappearing into the night._

_Diggle, once his vision cleared, pursued the vigilante, but couldn't find him. "It's all clear." He called out to his old C.O. "You okay?" he asked._

_"Uh, Yeah." Gaynor winced, rubbing his chest. "Well, I gotta talk to my boss, but after what I just saw, I'd say you're as good as hired."_

_"Hell of a job interview, Ted." Diggle said, amused despite the situation. "Usually the Vigilante only goes after rich schmucks. Any reason why he would change his M.O. for you?"_

_Gaynor shrugged his shoulders tiredly. "You've known me a long time, John." He said. "What do you think?"_

_Dig stared back at his friend for a moment, and then smiled. "That he made a mistake. Got the wrong guy." He said, patting his friend on the arm._

Diggle nodded in agreement as Dinah and Arsenal exchanged a look, wondering how Diggle would react when he learned the truth about his old friend.

 

_The scene shifted to later that night at the Lair, were a less pleasant conversation was being had._

_Oliver slammed his bow down on the workbench. "I could've shot you." He growled. "I could've killed you. What the hell were you thinking?!"_

_"I'm not gonna let you William Tell an innocent man!" Diggle exclaimed heatedly._

_"Gaynor isn't innocent, Diggle." Oliver objected coldly._

_"You seem to think that mainly because of what's in your damn book, which you apparently trust more than you trust me!"_

_"I trust my father." Oliver said through gritted teeth. "And he explained to me that every name on that list has a reason to be there."_

_Diggle stared at Oliver. "I thought you took that book off your father's dead body." He noted. "How can he have been so chatty?"_

_Oliver sighed. "A few years ago, I found a message he left me explaining the list." He explained._

_"Oliver, how is that possible? You were on a deserted island." Diggle demanded._

_"I didn't say that I found it on the island!" Oliver shot back._

“Wait, what?!” Thea demanded betrayal, anger, and confusion flooding her mind.

 

“Do you know what he’s talking about?” Tommy demanded as he whirled on Dinah and Arsenal.

 

“Yes, we do.” Arsenal sighed.

 

“Towards the end of Oliver’s second year away, he was, for lack of a better word, ‘rescued’ by an organization called Argus. Except it wasn’t so much rescue as going from one hell to another. For the better part of two years, Ollie was forced to work for them.”  Dinah explained.

 

“Why didn’t he try and contact us? With our influence, we could’ve helped, got him out!” Tommy said angrily.

 

“He did. Tommy, do you remember your trip to Hong Kong two years ago?” Dinah asked and Tommy froze.

 

“That was him?” Tommy asked shocked and she nodded.

 

“When you came to investigate Ollie’s email breach, he ordered to kill you. Obviously, he didn’t do it, instead he and his Handler created that kidnapping scenario to get you home safe.” Dinah explained.

“But what about this message?” Laurel said confused.

 

“There was a time where Argus forced Oliver to go to Starling City. He was told if anyone found out that Oliver Queen was alive, he would be killed. While he was there, he found a message that Robert had left for him, explaining about the list.” Dinah explained.

 

“If he was only working for Argus for two years, why didn’t he come home a year ago?” Thea demanded.

 

“Towards the end of his third year, some stuff went down and he didn’t feel like he deserved to go home. And after he got over that, he felt he wasn’t ready to do what needed to be done. He had some business that brought him to Russia, where he met up with the Bratva. He spent six months there then was dropped off back at Lian Yu. Six months later, the Bratva paid a few fishermen to go near Lian Yu and you know the rest.” Dinah explained.

 

“Are we gonna see all that?” Thea asked hesitantly, not sure she wanted to see her brother be a Russian Mobster.

 

“No, you’ll only be seeing the first two years.” Arsenal explained and Thea relaxed.

 

“Let’s get on with the show.” Dinah said as she unpaused the recording.

 

_Diggle stared at him puzzled. "Diggle, for the past 4 months I have lied to, hurt, and hid things from all the people that I care about. Do you really think that I would do all of this if I wasn't sure?" he asked._

_Diggle stared at the man for several moments, conflicted. "Oliver, listen." He started finally. "Gaynor got me into Blackhawk, and I'm gonna prove he's innocent." He moved off, checking his gun before re-holstering it._

_"And if he isn't?" Oliver asked._

_"If he's not, I'll be the one to take him down myself." Diggle said plainly, staring at Oliver. "You owe me that. You owe me at least that." With that he stalked out of the lair._

_The scene flashed back to the Island. A masked Oliver was riding shotgun in the off road vehicle as it moved through the forest towards the main camp, while Fyers sat in the back._

_"Were you stationed by the perimeter?" Fyers asked Oliver._

_"Yes."_

_"And your report?"_

_"Uh, everything's good, sir." Oliver replied nervously. "No trouble."_

_Fyers considered Oliver. "How long have you been stationed here?" he asked._

_"Just arrived, sir." Oliver replied, staring straight ahead, not daring to look back._

_"Yes, you do seem rather green." Fyers noted. "Although I don't recall the submarine bringing in a phalanx of new troops lately."_

_Oliver stared ahead, furiously thinking of how to answer that. "Submarine?" he finally said. "I thought everybody came into the island on the plane."_

_Fyers stared at the back of his head. "Indeed they do." He said finally, sitting back in the seat while Oliver breathed a sigh of relief._

“Oh thank god.” Thea sighed in relief, Tommy and Laurel looking like they shared the sentiment.

 

_The scene flashed back to the present. Moira and Thea were riding in the back of a limo after a long, hard day of shopping._

_"I think you've tried on every dress in the city." Moira noted with a smile._

_"It's so gonna be worth it." Thea replied. "My friends are gonna freak."_

_"Yes, well, if your father were still alive, he'd freak, too." Moira said wistfully. "Though in an entirely different way."_

_"Like when he saw what I was wearing to my first boy-girl dance." Thea remembered with a smile._

_Moira chuckled. "That poor boy you went with. Oh, Robert scared him to death."_

“I remember that. The guy looked like he was about to piss his pants.” Tommy grinned at the memory while Thea rolled his eyes.

 

“No guy would come within two meet of me for a week.” Thea grumbled though she had a slight smile on her face.

 

_Thea sighed. "You know, dad used to say his saddest day would be when I turned 18. Now he's gone and I'm the one that's sad."_

Laurel wrapped a comforting arm around Thea, who leaned into her.

 

_Moira laid a hand on Thea's knee, but then her phone started ringing. Moira sighed in annoyance as she fished her phone out of her purse. Thea saw that the caller id was showing Malcolm Merlyn's picture._

_"Sorry. I need to take this." Moira said, answering the phone as Thea stared at her. "Hello. Yes, I understand, but I'm with my daughter." Thea looked away, unpleasant thoughts running through her head. "All right. I'll be there." Moira said, hanging up._

“And now my murdering, psycho dad is ruining my day with my mom.” Thea grumbled.

 

_Thea stared at her mother. "I thought you said we were gonna spend the whole day together." She said accusingly._

_Moira sighed. "I know. But, uh, compliance needs to file the 8k connected to my assuming Walter's position in the company and they can't wait." She lied, to Thea's thinly veiled disgust. "I'm sorry."_

_The scene changed to CNRI, where Tommy was visiting Laurel at work._

_"Is everything okay?" Laurel said as they walked through the office. "You look worried."_

_"Not worried," Tommy denied. "Just….my father called." He said finally._

_"Oh." Laurel said, putting a file away and giving him her undivided attention. "And how did that go?"_

_"He invited us to dinner for tonight." Tommy said finally._

_"Oh." Laurel said, realizing the cause of his mood._

_"Yeah. Apparently he wants to mend some fences, but thanks to him, I can't afford a fence, so I can only assume he's got some other agenda." Tommy said mirthlessly._

_"Well, there's only one way to find out." Laurel said, and then added, "Maybe he really is trying to extend an olive branch."_

“Ah, how naïve I was.” Dinah said dryly.

 

“So he does have an ulterior motive?” Tommy said and Dinah nodded.

 

“He wouldn’t be Malcolm if he didn’t.” Arsenal said grimly.

 

_Tommy smiled at her. "You really do look for the best in people, don't you?” He said._

“To a fault.” Dinah deadpanned.

 

“Is it really that bad I try to see the good in people?” Laurel asked annoyed.

 

“No but what you fail to realize, what I didn’t for a long time, is the depths to the evil of the world.” Dinah told her.

 

_Laurel chuckled and gave him a kiss on the lips. "Lucky for you." She said with a smile._

_The scene changed to Malcolm's office at Merlyn Global._

_"I'm sorry to have to pull you away from your family like that." Malcolm said to Moira, who stood in front of the window, looking out at the city._

_"What do you want, Malcolm?" she asked shortly._

_"We have a problem with your friend Carl Ballard." He handed her a file. "He's trying to gentrify the Glades."_

_Moira flipped through the file. "Carl knows that's not part of the plan." She muttered, reading._

_"Which is why you're gonna shut him down." Malcolm ordered. "You're his friend. He'll listen to you."_

_Moira considered Malcolm for a moment. "If you want me to help you with Carl, I want something in return." She said finally. "Proof Walter's still alive."_

_"My word isn't enough?" he asked._

“Your word is as good as a pathological liar’s credibility.” Dinah sneered.

 

_"What's that saying—'trust but verify'?" she retorted, turning to look at him._

_Malcolm smiled and put a hand on her arm. "Words to live by." He said, before moving off._

_Outside of the office, Thea had watched the entire meeting. Though the office was sound-proofed so she couldn't hear what they were saying, the closeness- the intimacy of the meeting fed her fears about Moira and Malcolm._

“And now I’m going to think their having an affair.” Thea groaned.

 

“Not that much of a stretch.” Roy shrugged.

 

“Don’t remind us.” Tommy said grimly.

 

_The scene change to Big Belly Burger, where Diggle was sharing a meal with Gaynor._

_"Two days later," Gaynor was saying, "I am still digging regurgitated tacos out of the car vents and he asks me why I won't turn on the A/C." the two men laughed._

_"All right, you win." Diggle said. "Bodyguarding Queen was never that bad."_

_"6 years serving my country, the only thing I'm qualified for is babysitting spoiled brats." Gaynor groused._

Roy raised an eyebrow. He sounded awfully bitter about that. Oliver’s theory about Gaynor was starting to sound not so far-fetched to Roy.

 

_"Well, Ted, they're not all like that." Diggle tried._

_"I haven't met one yet that would survive a single day in country." Gaynor stated. "Sometimes it makes me wonder what I was doing over there."_

_Carly walked up to the table and dropped off Gaynor's desert. "Specialty of the house." She said with a smile._

_"Thank you, Carly." Gaynor replied pleasantly._

_"Uh-uh! Where is my cake?" Diggle complained._

_Carly stared back at him with her hands on her hips. "Tired of listening to you complain about the dry cleaners shrinking your suits." She replied with a smile._

_"Oh, yeah." He said deadpan as she walked off. Gaynor looked over at Carly, then back at Diggle and chuckled quietly to himself._

_"Mm. She likes you." He noted._

_"She's my sister-in-law, Ted." Diggle replied._

_"Not anymore." Gaynor pointed out, leaning in. "Your brother's gone, John. But you are here."_

“He’s got a point Dig.” Roy pointed out.

 

“But there will always be three people in that relationship.” Arsenal pointed out.

 

“Andy.” Diggle muttered but Arsenal shook his head.

 

“You know who we’re talking about.” Dinah said softly and Diggle sighed.

 

“Lyla.” Diggle said and the two vigilantes nodded.

 

“What?” Tommy asked confused.

 

“You’ll see who we’re talking about soon enough.” Arsenal assured him.

 

_Before Dig could reply, another Blackhawk man walked up to the table. "Car's waiting outside. Got a client to drop off at the Chaykin Art Gallery opening." He told Gaynor, then looked over at Diggle with a thinly-veiled look of disdain._

_"John, you remember Paul Knox?" Gaynor introduced. "He was a couple of ranks under us back in the 'Stan."_

“Yes I remember him, unfortunately.” Diggle said disdainfully.

 

_"Good to be working with you." Knox said after a few moments, holding out his hand._

“Right.” Roy drawled.

 

_. After a moment, Diggle took the hand, giving him a firm handshake. Knox looked back at Gaynor. "I'll be outside."_

_"I didn't know Knox worked at Blackhawk." Diggle said after he had left. Gaynor nodded as he finished his coffee._

_"They recruited him when his tour ended last month." He told him._

_"Mm-hmm."_

_Gaynor looked at Diggle. "People change, John." He said finally, pushing his piece of cake to Dig. "And everyone deserves a chance to prove it." Ted got up and walked out, leaving Diggle alone with his thoughts- and cake._

Arsenal and Dinah exchanged glances, wondering if Gaynor had been trying to bring Diggle in. most likely, they agreed silently.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Oliver was in his room, trying and failing to crack the encryption on the USB drive he had taken when Thea walked in, closing the door behind her._

_"Knocking is not just a suggestion."_

_"I need to talk to you." Thea said, ignoring his outburst._

_"Thea, I'm not telling you if mom's getting you a car."_

_"It's not about that." She said hurriedly. "Remember last week when I asked you if you thought mom was acting weird?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Well, I found out why." Thea took a breath. "She's hooking up with Tommy's dad."_

_Oliver let out a incredulous laugh. "That's insane."_

_"I just saw them together." She emphasized. "It's happening all over again." She added, mostly to herself._

_"What are you talking about?" Oliver asked, confused._

_Thea paused, and then sat down on the edge of his sofa. "A couple of months before you and dad left on The Gambit, mom and dad were arguing a lot." She began explaining._

_"About what?" he asked._

_Thea shook her head. "I don't know. But she was having a lot of these lunch meetings with Mr. Merlyn. And now Walter's gone, too, and mom and Mr. Merlyn are back at it." She sighed, emotionally exhausted. "It's gross."_

_"Mom never would have cheated on dad." Oliver assured her. "She's not cheating on Walter."_

“You’re only half right big brother.” Thea said scornfully and Dinah and Arsenal exchanged a glance.

 

“Speedy,” Dinah called out and Thea looked over at her, “I know you’re angry…but Moira is human. And I can’t exactly blame her for what happened.”

 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Thea demanded and Dinah sighed as everyone looked at her curiously.

 

“Your dad, Robert, is not the man you remember. He was a good father to you and Oliver…but he was not a good husband. He cheated on Moira, repeatedly.” Dinah said bluntly and Thea stared at her in shock.

 

“What?” Thea asked stunned as Tommy looked at Dinah in just as much shock.

 

“He had a weakness for strong, beautiful women. Something Oliver inherited from him, I suppose. But that is what drove Moira to cheat on him. She was hurting and found solace with Malcolm. She’s human Speedy.” Dinah explained.

 

“I need to lie down.” Thea muttered feeling lightheaded.

 

“How about we take a break after this?” Arsenal suggested and there were murmurs of agreement as Dinah unpaused the recording.

 

_Thea just stared at him. "You don't want to believe it because you have this perfect image of mom in your head." She said softly. "That's not who she is, Ollie. She's a liar and a cheater. And you really don't know her at all." With that, she rose and walked out of the room, leaving Oliver alone with his thoughts._

_Later that night at Queen Manor, Oliver brought the topic up with his mother._

_"She thinks Malcolm and I are having an affair?" Moira said incredulously._

_Oliver nodded. "And that it started back when dad was still alive."_

_"Why would she think that?"_

_"She says you and dad were fighting." At Moira's look, he pressed. "Mom…"_

_"It's not your concern, sweetheart." She dodged._

_"Thea made it my concern." Oliver replied sternly, and then softened his tone. "What was going on?"_

_"Robert was unfaithful to me repeatedly." She said after a long silence. "It made our marriage difficult, to say the least." At his stricken look, she continued reluctantly. "I'm sorry, Oliver, but your father wasn't always the man you thought he was. I know you thought he walked on water, but, you see, that's how I wanted you to remember him-- as a good man who loved you._

“She avoided one lie by telling another truth.” Arsenal noted.

 

“Robert was a good man but he was flawed. He was weak and selfish but he was a good father.” Dinah said, for Thea’s benefit more than anything.

 

“The funny thing is, that’s not the first time Oliver learned about it.” Arsenal noted and realized his mistake as Dinah glared at him and the others looked at them surprised.

 

“What are you talking about?” Laurel asked surprised and, after giving Arsenal a glare promising him his painful death, Dinah looked over at them.

 

“Tommy, do you remember the Queen’s Christmas party the year Thea was born?” She asked and he nodded.

 

“Yeah…now that you mention it, I can sort of remember Ollie being…withdrawn I guess, towards the end.” Tommy remembered and Dinah sighed.

 

“Ollie went looking for the bathroom towards the end of the party and heard a noise coming from Robert’s study. Being the curious child he was, he went to investigate and walked in on Robert screwing his secretary.” Dinah explained and everyone looked at her wide-eyed.

 

‘He never said anything about it to me.” Laurel said stunned and Tommy nodded in agreement.

 

“That’s because he didn’t remember it. The incident was very traumatic for him and more than his mind could handle at his age. So he repressed the memory. It was only after returning one, where he went up against a criminal that used hypnosis at their primary weapon, that he recovered the memory. But subconsciously, Oliver always recalled the incident.” Dinah explained.

 

“Is that why he cheated?” Laurel asked but Dinah shook her head.

 

“No. He cheated because we were talking about marriage and kids and he wasn’t ready for that. Would he have cheated as much if that incident hadn’t happened? I don’t think he would’ve.” Dinah explained.1

 

_That's how I want Thea to remember him. So promise me you'll keep it a secret." She pleaded. Oliver looked at her and nodded._

_"Of course." He said. She turned to leave, but then he said, "Mom."_

_"Yes?"_

_"Why would Thea think that you and Mr. Merlyn are still sneaking around?" he asked._

_Moira scoffed, trying to hide her nervousness at the question. "Well, I can't imagine." She tried._

“And now she’s back to lying.” Thea tried to sound spiteful but couldn’t manage it.

 

_"Have you seen him lately?" he asked, gently prodding._

_Moira let out a frustrated sigh. "Oliver He's been the CEO of Merlyn Global Group for years. I've been running Queen Consolidated mere weeks. Yes, I occasionally go and ask for advice." She looked at him sternly. "Is my interrogation over?"_

_Oliver gave her a sheepish smile and nodded, and Moira patted him on the arm as she walked out._

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Fyers was showing the still masked Oliver around the camp. They stopped at a line of metal cages._

_"See, this is where we, uh, detain prisoners prone to running off before I've finished with them." Suddenly lashed out, belting Oliver in the side of the head. Oliver crashed to the ground, dazed._

“Oh shit.” Roy said surprised as Tommy, Thea, and Laurel sat up, worried for Oliver.

 

_Fyers kneeled down next to him and removed his mask. "Prisoners like you, Mr. Queen." He said as Oliver looked up at him in defeat._

_The scene changed to the present at a Chinese restaurant where Tommy, Laurel and Malcolm were having dinner while Malcolm shared stories of Tommy's childhood._

_"At Christmas one year, Tommy wanted a puppy." He said with a soft smile. "He wanted to name it Arthur, as in King Arthur, because he's a Merlyn."_

_Laurel chuckled. "Well, you used to be so incredibly adorable."_

“Are you saying I’m not now?” Tommy asked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

 

“No.” Laurel said jokingly and Thea and Roy laughed, the young Queen starting to come out of her shock.

 

_"I still am." Tommy said lightly._

_"My wife would have liked you, Laurel." Malcolm said suddenly, surprising Tommy._

_"I wish I would have known her. She passed away before Tommy and I became friends." she replied delicately._

_"She was killed, Laurel." Malcolm said bluntly. "There's no need to be polite about it."_

_Tommy put an arm around an abashed Laurel. "You're just a ray of sunshine today, aren't you, Dad?" Tommy said with a fixed smile on his face._

_"Please forgive me." Malcolm apologized. "Talking about my wife has a tendency to make me a little bit maudlin."_

“Right.” Roy drawled.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Felicity was in the middle of eating Chinese takeout at her desk when Oliver walked in. Surprised and a bit embarrassed, she set the box down on her desk and smiled._

_"And here I was beginning to think my days of being Oliver Queen's personal computer geek were coming to an end." She said._

“Man, she needs to learn how to talk to people, especially the people who own the place she works. If Oliver was the same spoiled brat from five years ago, he could easily have her fired.” Laurel said.

 

“Would’ve saved us all a lot of trouble.” Dinah muttered bitterly and everyone looked over at her.

 

“Do you have some beef with her?” Tommy asked curiously.

 

“Let’s just say I have my issues with her and leave it at that.” Dinah said shortly and no one commented.

 

_"Is that your way of saying you miss me?" Oliver asked with a smile._

_"No. But if it works for you, go with it."_

_"Heh." Oliver chuckled. "So a friend of mine is running a scavenger hunt, and there's a case of Lafite Rothschild 1982 waiting at the end."_

_"Ohhh…I love red wine." She said longingly._

 

_"But in order to find it, I first need to get through this." Oliver continued, handing her the Blackhawk USB key._

_"Hmm." She studied the device for a moment. "Security fob." She plugged it into her computer and scanned the device. "It's pin protected." She noted. "Challenge response goes back to a company called Blackhawk Squad Protection Group."_

_"Yeah, my friend had his bodyguard set it up for him." Oliver said, coming up behind her to stare at the screen. "Personally, however, I think it's cheating, but whatever."_

_"This is a military-grade cryptographic security protocol." Felicity said, looking through the code. "Your friend really went to all this trouble?"_

“Why does he keep coming to her with such lame excuses? I mean, he’s smart enough to come up with something more believable.” Thea wondered.

 

“He was testing her, trying to see just how far she’d go.” Arsenal explained.

 

_"The idle rich are hard to entertain." He joked. "Listen… you get through it and one of those bottles of wine is yours." Oliver said with a smile. Felicity smiled back, and expression of excitement on her face as Oliver left the room. Once he was gone, she hunkered down and got to work._

_The scene shifted back to dinner with the Merlyn's._

_"This been lovely, Mr. Merlyn." Laurel said as Malcolm paid the bill. "Thank you."_

_"Thank you for joining me." Malcolm replied warmly. "It's been wonderful getting to know you better. And if Tommy doesn't mind me mixing a little business with pleasure, I could use your signature on these." He continued, pulling out a folded set of papers and setting them down in front of Tommy. He pulled out his pen as Tommy cautiously picked up the papers and began to read._

_Tommy glared over the papers at his father. "You want to shut down mom's free clinic?"_

“That son of a bitch!” Tommy snarled angrily and no said anything, as they could not blame him.   


Nor believe Malcolm’s nerve...actually, scratch that second one. They could completely believe it.

 

_"It's not hers anymore, Tommy." He replied._

_"That clinic meant everything to mom." Tommy said, fury boiling in his chest._

_"You were 8 years old. I don't think you were in a position to know what was important to your mother." Malcolm responded coldly, holding out his pen. "I just need your signature—"_

_"Stop." Tommy said, barely managing to keep his voice down to a whisper. "This dinner was never about getting to know Laurel. It was about this." He slowly rose, folding the papers as he did so. Tommy walked over to his father and placed the unsigned documents in front of him on the table. "You haven't changed and you never will." He spat. "It's about time that I learned that and stopped letting you disappoint me." He looked at Laurel. "We're leaving." He said, then turned and walked away._

“Respect man, respect.” Roy nodded at Tommy and Tommy took the compliment silently, still furious.

 

_"This clinic was his mother's." Laurel said in disbelief as she rose._

_"Yes." Malcolm agreed. "And his mother taught him a lesson I've been trying to, that the world is a harsh and unforgiving place."_

_"And when did she teach him that?" Laurel demanded._

_Malcolm rose as well. "When she was lying dead in the street with a bullet in her head."_

Those who did not know the details of the death of Tommy’s mother (Laurel, Thea, Roy and Diggle) looked over at Tommy in shock and sympathy. Tommy ignored them, gazing straight ahead at the screen.

 

_He gave her a cold smile. "Good night." He walked away, leaving a shaken Laurel behind, still standing at the table._

_The scene changed to Blackhawk, where Gaynor was giving Diggle the full tour._

_"Management keeps things running smooth, which is nice." Gaynor said as they walked through the motor pool. "Better than going to war with the army you got, right?"_

_"Indeed. Indeed." Diggle replied with a chuckle. He looked over at his friend as they walked. "So, Ted, are you the reason Knox is working for Blackhawk?" he asked._

_Gaynor sighed. "Look, I know you don't like the guy." He stated. "I wasn't his biggest fan, either. But jobs are hard to come by for everybody these days. And guys like us, when all anyone thinks you're qualified for is shooting at people-- if I hadn't gotten Knox this job, chances are he'd be out knocking over liquor stores or robbing banks." He finished, bringing Diggle up short as Gaynor walked on._

“Or robbing armored cars.” Diggle muttered.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver was coming down the stairs when his phone rang. Checking the ID and seeing it was Felicity, he picked up._

_"What did you get?" he asked._

_"I think your friend's bodyguard gave him the wrong security fob." Felicity responded, still sitting at her desk at Q.C._

_"Why is that?"_

_"Well, once I got past Blackhawk's authentication system, there wasn't anything about a scavenger hunt." She replied. "Just a directory and… well, I think you stumbled onto, or got me to stumble onto something pretty illegal."_

_"Define illegal." Oliver asked._

_"Oh, you know. Robbing an armored car with grenade launchers and tear gas."_

“No. Ted…he wouldn’t.” Diggle said in denial.

 

“People change John.” Dinah muttered softly.

 

_That brought Oliver up short. "Wait, what?"_

_"Someone at Blackhawk was using their system to store detailed routes and schedules for each of the city's armored trucks companies, including the 3 that have already been hit. Mr. Queen," she began hesitantly, "I think we should provide this information to the police. With it, they should be able to predict the next heist."_

_"Hold on." Oliver said, thinking fast. "Felicity, I don't want to get you in trouble with my friend, so do me a favor. Forward that directory on to me and I'll get it to the police personally. Thank you." She shut off the phone and bit back a curse as he headed for his gear._

_At Queen Consolidated, Felicity stared at her now dead phone. "So, no wine, then?" she asked rhetorically._

“Oh stop whining.” Thea said annoyed.

 

_The scene changed to later that night. On a deserted street an armored car drove, coming to a stop almost immediately as a man in black tactical gear, a gasmask, and a grenade launcher walked towards the truck. Behind it an Inter Globe Cable van stopped, blocking their exit and two men got out, covering the doors. The first man was about to fire when an arrow ripped his gasmask off his face._

_The other two men started firing at the Hood as he ran, jumping down and firing again, hitting the first man in the shoulder. Their path clear the armored truck took off, and Oliver used the moving vehicle as a shield against the second man's fire and shot the third with the arrow, disarming him. As the truck passed he turned his attention to the second, but the first had picked up his grenade launcher. The Hood jumped and rolled towards a line of garbage cans, tearing a lid off of one and spinning around just at the first man fired. The smoke grenade slammed into the lid, blasting the Hood back into the mounds of trash. The two unwounded men helped the first man back into the van and they took off as The Hood rose, staring at the van in frustration._

“Damn.” Diggle swore.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor later that night. Thea's 18 birthday party was in full swing as Oliver walked into the house, with blaring music and seemingly hundreds of glow-stick adorned teens._

_"Ahh! Oh, God, check it out! Check it out!" Thea exclaimed happily, running up to Oliver. She held up a car key. "Convertible."_

Thea grinned and the others were too happy to see her coming out of her shock that they didn’t comment.

 

_"You must be so surprised." He deadpanned with a smile._

_"Oh, isn't everything absolutely perfect? Except for dad's not here." Her face fell at that thought._

_Oliver stepped in close so that Thea could hear him clearly. "If dad were here, he'd say you look beautiful." He said, kissing her on the cheek._

_Thea smiled at him, and then spotted more friends entering the house. "Oh! Excuse me a sec." she said, running off to greet her new guests._

_Oliver looked around and spotted Diggle standing in the corner. He made his way over to the bodyguard._

_"I heard the Hood foiled an armored car heist this evening."' Dig said in greeting._

_"Gaynor wasn't running the rocket launcher." Oliver stated._

_"I know. I was with him the whole time it was going down." Dig replied._

“He didn’t do it.” Diggle sighed in relief.

 

“Then why did he have that flash drive?” Roy asked and the smile was wiped off Diggle’s face.

 

_Oliver sighed. "It looks like you were right." He admitted._

_"Listen, if someone at Blackhawk is involved, I'd put my money on Knox." Dig supplied, accepting the unspoken apology. "He started right before the heists began, and he has military training."_

_"Okay." Oliver said. "I injured one. He was bleeding pretty badly when they made off in their van."_

_"Okay, so if any of Knox's blood is in one of the motor pool vans, we'll know for sure." Dig said, turning to leave._

_"I'm going with you." Oliver said, but Diggle stopped him._

_"No, no, no, listen." He said. "You have this party. And I told you I would handle this." He reminded him. "If there's any problem, you're just a phone call away." He assured Oliver, he turned to leave, but Oliver stopped him, slipping a tracking bug under the lapel of his jacket._

“I hope he didn’t think I wouldn’t notice that.” Diggle said dryly.

 

“It was his subtle way of letting you know he had your back if you needed him.” Arsenal explained and Diggle nodded.

 

_"Hey. Head on a swivel." Oliver said._

_Dig smirked. "That's the way I was born, man."_

_Thea was moving through the party talking to all of the kids when her friends Blake and Morgan made their way over._

_"Happy Birthday!" Blake said, giving Thea a hug. "I'll miss you!"_

_"We have a special birthday gift for you." Morgan said, handing over a small baggie with several green and black pills inside. "It's called Vertigo. It's supposed to make you feel all floaty."_

“Really Thea?” Laurel asked her voice a mix of exasperation and anger as she removed her arm from Thea and glared at the shifting teen.

 

“I haven’t done it yet?” Thea said weakly.

 

“I am so talking to Walter when we get home.” Tommy said in a firm voice.

 

_Thea took the bag nervously. "Uh, if my mom caught me with this, I wouldn't make it to 19." She told them, slipping into the bust of her dress. "I'm gonna go put it upstairs, and then I'll be right back down." She assured them, and then moved towards the stairs._

_On the second floor balcony overlooking the party Moira stood, watching the festivities. Malcolm Merlyn bounded up the stairs and sidled up next to her._

_"Moira, I have a little something for you." He told her, pulling out his phone and turning it on. A picture of a disheveled Walter appeared on the screen._

_"Walter." Moira said softly, staring at the picture of her husband. Malcolm turned off the phone and put it back in his jacket. "I did as you asked." He said softly, putting a hand on her lower back. "Now it's your turn to do as I asked."_

_"I'll take care of it." She assured him._

_"Thank you, Moira." Malcolm said, removing his hand and walking off. Moira sighed and turned- to see Thea standing there._

“I had to pick that moment to walk in?” Thea groaned, knowing what her onscreen self must be thinking.

 

“This won’t be pretty.” Roy drawled.

 

_"At my party." Thea seethed emotionally. "Right here in front of me?"_

_"No, Thea, you don't understand." Moira tried to explain._

_"Walter hasn't been gone two months and you're already cheating on him." Thea spat, cutting her off. "Just like you did on dad."_

_"Thea, I never cheated." She denied, reaching out for her daughter._

_Thea pulled away sharply. "Like I would believe anything you say." She glared at her mother. "I wish it had been you that was on that boat." She spat, stalking off and leaving a heartbroken Moira behind._

Thea winced, guilt flooding through her. Laurel wrapped an arm around her again, hoping to offer her comfort.

 

_Thea made her way downstairs, trying to put on a happy face for her guests, but failing. Emotional, she reached into the top of her dress and pulled out the baggie of Vertigo and her car key. Making a rash decision, Thea made her way out of the house._

“Oh man, this isn’t good.” Thea said as she realized what her onscreen self was about to do.

 

“If you aren’t dead after this reckless, idiotic stunt, I’ll kill you myself!” Tommy said in a voice that sounded eerily like his father’s.

 

_The scene changed to Blackhawk, where Diggle was working his way through the darkened motor pool. He shined his light on the line of vans, looking for one similar to the one on the video from the news. Soon he found it, and he opened the rear doors. Shining his light in the van, he saw the unmistakable sight of a blood stain on the carpeted floor. Gritting his teeth in anger, he closed the doors and inspected the van more closely than before. He looked over the Blackhawk Security sticker on the side, and noted a peeling edge. Picking at it, he peeled the sticker away, revealing the logo for Inter Globe Cable. He reached for his phone to call Oliver- but froze as he heard a gun cock behind him._

_"I had a feeling you'd show up."_

_Diggle turned, shielding his eyes from the glare of the other man's flashlight. "Yeah? Why is that, Knox?" he asked._

_"Right after Gaynor got you hired, someone hacked our system." Knox said. "First person to ever make it through our firewall. You want to tell me how you did it?"_

_Diggle chuckled mirthlessly. "I'm not really sure." He admitted._

_"He didn't think you'd be very cooperative." Knox spat._

_"Who?" Diggle asked, and suddenly the lights in the motor pool came on. Diggle looked past Knox and starred in disbelief as Ted Gaynor, in full tactical gear, walked out from behind a van._

“You son of a bitch!” Diggle shouted, rage and betrayal flooding him.

 

“I’m sorry John...but sometimes people change. Sometimes for the better, like Ollie…ad sometimes for the worst, like Gaynor.” Dinah said softly.

 

_"Hey, John." He said tiredly._

_"Ted, you're part of this?" he asked in disbelief as Knox risked him and removed his gun._

_"No, not part of." Gaynor replied. "My men. My mission."_

_"Mission? This isn't Afghanistan."_

_"Oh, don't I know that." Ted responded, tightening the straps on his vest. "Over there we were trusted with millions of dollars in weapons and personnel. We were conquerors." He added quietly, and then turned back to Diggle. "Now we're nannies with Tasers." He said sourly._

“He got a taste of power and it wasn’t enough.” Arsenal noted.

 

_"So that gives you the right to steal, to kill innocent civilians?" Diggle demanded._

_Gaynor gave him a wan smile. "I'm not gonna convince you I'm right. I am gonna convince you to join the team."_

_Diggle scoffed. "Yeah, now I know you're crazy."_

_"Earlier tonight was supposed to be our last score, but because of the Hood guy, we struck out." Gaynor explained. "Now we're down a man." He smirked at Diggle. "Good thing you're qualified to take his place."_

“He’s officially lost his mind if he thinks I’m gonna join this little crusade against authority.” Diggle said scornfully.

 

_Diggle shook his head. "Ted, I think your convincing is gonna have to be a lot more convincing."_

_Gaynor stared at the man for a moment, then nodded. "Copy that." He said, and then activated his shoulder radio. "Cavanaugh." He called. A door at the far end of the motor pool opened and Cavanaugh came in, dragging a bound and gagged Carly with him._

“You son of a bitch.” Diggle snarled.

 

_"Carly." He breathed. "You son of a bitch." He moved to hit Gaynor, but stopped when Knox put his gun to his head._

_Gaynor looked over at Knox. "Kill her." he ordered calmly, and Knox stalked off towards Carly._

_"No! Don't! Don't! Wait! Don't!" Diggle pleaded._

_"Knox." Gaynor said, calling off his dog. Knox stood down, but kept his gun at the ready. Gaynor looked at Diggle. "You both can die tonight, John." He said._

_At Queen Manor, Oliver was listening in on the entire conversation thanks to his bug._

_Snarling to himself, Oliver stalked off through the party to get his gear._

“Bet you’re glad he bugged you now,” Tommy said and Diggle glared at him, “shutting up.”

 

_Later that night, Gaynor, Cavanaugh and Knox sat in the van with the still bound Carly, watching as Diggle walked out into the street. He wore a gas mask and carried the grenade launcher, and as the armored car approached he hesitantly shouldered the weapon. The truck sped towards him, honking, and at the last second-_

_Diggle stepped aside, letting the truck pass._

“You didn’t do it.” Laurel said, proud of him.

 

“And now Carly’s dead.” Diggle groaned.

 

“Not necessarily,” Arsenal said and Diggle looked over at him, “you’re the one with the weapon.”

 

_In the van, Gaynor sighed. The three men got out of the van, dragging Carly with them._

_"Well, you shouldn't have done that, Dig." Knox said. "Now you gotta watch us kill your pretty little girlfriend."_

_"No!" Carly screamed tearfully. "Please don't!"_

_"You're forgetting one thing, guys." Diggle said calmly._

_"Oh, yeah? What's that?" Gaynor asked._

_"I'm the one with the grenade launcher!" he exclaimed, bringing the weapon up and firing it at the ground right in front of Knox and Cavanaugh. The smoke round hit and exploded, sending up a cloud of sparks and smoke and sending the two men sprawling to the ground. "Carly, get out of there!" he yelled, and Carly took off running._

“Told you.” Arsenal said as Diggle sighed in relief.

 

_Gaynor pulled his pistol and fired, narrowly missing the woman as she rounded a corner. Gaynor took off behind her, and Diggle followed closely behind, pausing to pick up Cavanaugh's gun. He took off after them, ripping off his gas mask._

_Knox, meanwhile, had managed to stagger to his feet. He checked Cavanaugh, and then picked up his M4. He shouldered the weapon, sighting it on the running Diggle's back. Just before he pulled the trigger, though, and arrow knocked the gun out of his hand. Knox spun to see The Hood coming towards him. He pulled out his K-Bar and ASP and attacked the vigilante, who parried every blow with his bow. The Hood managed to get behind him, catching his neck in a choke hold. With a twist Knox's neck was broken, and The Hood dropped his body and took off after Diggle._

 

“That is one time he killed that I’m okay with.” Diggle said.

 

_Down a side street, Carly had a strong lead on Gaynor, and managed to duck into a side ally. Gaynor rounded a corner and grimaced in frustration at losing the girl. He started making his way down the main street to look when a voice behind him yelled "Freeze!" Gaynor sighed in annoyance._

_"Drop it, Ted, or I swear…" Diggle threatened._

_"Don't… posture." Gaynor replied, turning to face the man. "You're not gonna do it." He continued, walking towards Diggle. "You can't. I can see it in your eyes." He raised his gun to shoot- but was stopped dead by an arrow in his heart. Gaynor fell to the ground, dead as The Hood walked up to Diggle._

Diggle sighed, feeling sad despite everything. Despite everything, Ted Gaynor had once been his brother. He had never wanted to see him dead.

 

_"You're late." He said tiredly, starring down at the body of the man he had called a brother once._

_"You knew I was coming?" Oliver replied._

_Diggle calmly pulled the bug from behind his lapel. "Next time you plant a bug on someone, be more subtle about it." He said, handing it back to Oliver. "I wish you trusted me, though."_

_"I trust you, Diggle." Oliver said quietly, then looked down at body of Ted Gaynor. "But them, never."_

_Diggle heard sirens approaching. "You should get out of here." He told his friend. Oliver ran as the police cruisers approached._

_"John!"_

_Diggle looked up to see Carly, who had come out another alley on the other side of a fence. Diggle walked up to her, putting his fingers through the wire mesh. "Carly. You okay?" he asked. She nodded and held onto his fingers as the cops got out of their cruisers, guns drawn._

_"Turn around and put your hands where I can see them." One of them called out, and Diggle calmly stepped back from the fence and raised his hands in the air._

_The scene changed to a suburban road, where a very high Thea was driving her brand new Mercedes poorly. She weaved in and out of her lane, and was fiddling with her radio when she came upon a sharp curve. She took it lazily, not caring which lane she was in, when suddenly another car appeared in front of her, their horn blaring. "Shit!" she exclaimed, cutting hard to the left- straight off the road and into a tree._

“Oh my god!” Laurel gasped as Thea held onto her arm tightly.

 

“This is why you don’t use that stuff Speedy!” Tommy snarled.

 

“I made it out…right?” Thea asked and Dinah nodded.

 

“You didn’t die.” Arsenal confirmed.

 

_The scene changed to Starling City General as a distraught Moira and Oliver made their way to Thea's room. They found her lying in the bed in a hospital gown; a large bruise on her forehead that surrounded a long cut that had been treated and closed, held together by butterfly bandages._

_"Oh, Thea." Moira said sadly, coming up to her bed. "Are you okay?"_

_Thea sighed. "Yeah. Yea, I'm fine. I'm just headachy, really." She assured them, and then asked the question she was dreading. "The car--is--is it—"_

_"Thea, the car isn't important right now." Oliver told his sister._

“He’s right. Where are your damn priorities!?” Tommy demanded, exasperated and angry at his sister’s actions.

 

Clearly repressed by the stick up her ass.” Roy quipped and Thea glared at him.

 

“Shut up.” She snapped.

 

“Bit me.” He said coolly.

 

_"Do you remember what happened, sweetheart?" Moira asked,_

_Thea scoffed. "You go away." She told her mother, disgusted._

_"Thea, please." Moira pleaded._

_"I said I'm fine." Thea snarled, turning away from her mother who looked on helplessly._

“And I’m back to being a bitch.” Thea sighed.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Tommy was aimlessly flipping through channels as a phone rang. Soon enough the ringing stopped and Laurel walked into the room, leaning against the doorframe._

_"Your father's even beginning to call me now." She said wryly._

“And I’m changing my number when we get back.” Laurel grumbled.

 

_"Don't waste your minutes." He advised her, still staring at the TV. Laurel sighed and sat down next to him._

_"Your father is a jerk, but he's still your father." She noted sympathetically. "I think in his own way, I think he sees himself as protecting you somehow."_

_"Yeah. He is really good at using my dead mother for an excuse for being a jerk." He replied, flipping the channels more violently._

_"You never talk about your mother." Laurel said._

_"I was only 8 and I don't remember much about what happened." He said, still not looking at her. "But after… my father completely shut me out." Laurel took his hand. "And then he went away. He was gone for maybe a year or two."_

 

“He left you?” Diggle asked Tommy who nodded.

 

_In the Dark Archer's lair Malcolm stood, starring lovingly at a picture. The picture was of him, Rebecca, and a 7 year old Tommy. He smiled at the memory, and then placed the picture down on his work table. When he looked up, his face had hardened._

_"I was 8 and he left me." Tommy was saying. "That is who my father is. He only cares about himself."_

“That’s not exactly true Tommy,” Dinah said and he looked over at her, “I will never defend him, I hate him. But, in his own twisted way, he does love you Tommy. Not that it makes up for anything.”

 

“You’re right…it doesn’t make up for anything.” Tommy said firmly.

 

_The scene changed to the lair. Diggle walked in as Oliver was working on his computer._

_"Cops give you a hard time?" Oliver asked._

_"Nah. I explained to them to me and Gaynor were old war buddies. He tried to rope me in," Diggle sighed. "When I refused, he kidnapped Carly, everything else happened under duress." He turned to look at the younger man. "I screwed up, Oliver. Obviously Gaynor wasn't who I thought he was. I was wrong." He admitted._

_"Yeah, but you were right, too." Oliver said, rising. He held up the notebook. "When you told me that I trusted the list more than I trusted you Diggle, the truth is, after what happened to me on the island… it's difficult for me to trust…anything. But you do." He smiled at the man. "And that reminded me why I chose you as my partner. It's because you see the best in people." Oliver held out the notebook to Diggle, who took it. It was already open to the page with Ted Gaynor's name on it. Oliver handed Dig a pen, and he crossed the name off himself._

_"I learned something, too." Diggle said, handing the book back to Oliver. "Until you tell me, I'll never want to know what other names are in this book." He told him, and then walked off._

“That’s a good lesson.” Laurel noted.

 

“So this is where he starts trusting people again?” Tommy asked curiously.

 

“No. trusting someone, when it comes to Oliver, has to be earned. It is never given. But this is when he started trusting Dig.” Arsenal explained.

 

_The scene changed to later that day at Starling General, where Oliver was leaving with a recently discharged Thea._

_"She promised me she's not cheating on Walter." Oliver was saying._

_Thea scoffed. "Like I would trust anything that woman says."_

_"Miss Queen!" the two Queens turned to see a pair of patrol men at the end of the hall. "Thea Queen?" the first officer asked._

_"Is there a problem?" Oliver demanded._

_"We received a call from your doctor." He replied, and then looked at Thea. "In the event of a vehicular accident, they're required to report to result of the driver's tox screen." Thea sighed worriedly. "Miss Queen tested positive for a narcotic called Vertigo."_

_Oliver stared at his sister. "The drug they're using in the Glades?" he asked incredulously._

_The second cop moved to handcuff Thea as the first began to read her her rights. "Thea Queen, you're under arrest for driving under the influence of narcotics…"_

“I told you Thea, our families influence cannot protect us from things like this!” Tommy snapped at Thea who stared at the screen shocked.

 

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Oliver was now in one of the metal cages, handcuffed to its bars. He was dozing when the sound of Fyers cane tapping of the bars startled him awake. Fyers stood there with another masked man._

_"Do you know why my men wear balaclavas, Mr. Queen?" he asked pleasantly. "Because it masks everything but the eyes. In a man's eyes, one can always find the truth." He explained. "You risked everything to save your friend." He continued, almost in admiration. "Someone I warned you about, yet you trusted him. But that trust was misplaced." He added, nodding slightly at his companion. Oliver stared in shock as the man pulled off the balaclava and revealed himself to be Yao Fei._

“What the hell? I don’t understand, why is Yao-Fei working for Fryers?” Tommy asked as they stared at the screen stunned.

 

“It’s complicated Tommy. Let’s just say that Fryers got some leverage over Yao-Fei.” Dinah explained grimly.

 

“So, how about that break?” Arsenal said causally as he stood up and stretched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Now, for those of you who may think I am trying to excuse Oliver’s cheating, I am not, okay? But with how much Oliver cheated on Laurel, it had to at least partly be a learned behavior. But since Oliver seemed to be under the impression that his parents had a solid marriage, where did he learn the behavior?


	15. Break two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinah introduces Thea to someone who understands what she's going through as Diggle asks Arsenal some questions.

“She doesn’t look so good.” Roy remarked as they entered the dining hall, the barest hint of concern in his voice as he gazed at Thea.

 

“Would you, after everything she’s learned?” Tommy snapped.

 

“How are you dealing with that, by the way?” Laurel asked as she looked over at him concerned.

 

“I’m fine. It doesn’t change anything for me, I’ve thought of her as my sister long before this. But Thea…her whole world just got turned upside down.” Tommy muttered as he gazed at Thea as she set her tray down at a table but made no move to touch her food.

 

“Thea,” Dinah called out and the young woman looked up from her tray, “I want you to come with me for a sec.”

 

“I’m hungry.” Thea grumbled even though she didn’t have much of an appetite.

 

“Trust me; what I have in mind will help you more than any food.” Dinah smiled at the younger woman reassuringly.

 

After a moment, Thea stood up, grumbling. Dinah smiled as Thea walked over to her and the two of them walked out of the dining hall. The others watched them go, concern flashing through the eyes of those from the past.

 

“What’s Dinah up to?” Tommy demanded as he whirled on Arsenal.

 

“We figured Thea would take all of this badly. So we’re having her talk to the only person alive that could possibly understand what Thea is going through.” Arsenal explained.

 

“Where are we going?” Thea whined as Dinah led her down the hall.

 

Dinah simply smiled before she opened a door. Inside was a sort if conference room. A round table with six seats was in the center of the room, one already taken by a woman with eastern features.

 

“Thea Queen, meet Nyssa al Ghul.” Dinah said as she gestured towards her friend.

 

“Hey. And this is supposed to help me…how?” Thea said rudely.

 

“Believe it or not Thea, you and I have something in common.” Nyssa told her calmly.

 

“And what exactly is that?” Thea asked rudely.

 

“My father was a monster as well. The monster that created your father.” Nyssa explained and Thea stiffened.

 

“What?” Thea demanded.

 

“My father is Ra’s al Ghul, leader of a group called The League of Assassins. Sit down Thea, we have much to discus.” Nyssa told her.

 

“Arsenal, can I ask you something?” Diggle asked as the two sat at a table with Tommy and Laurel, eating lunch.

 

“Shoot.” Arsenal said after swallowing.

 

“Dinah arranged all this, right? Why? What is she hoping to accomplish by doing this?” Diggle asked and Tommy and Laurel looked over at Arsenal, curious as well.

 

“During the first two years after Oliver came back,” Arsenal began after collecting his thoughts, “a lot of mistakes were made. Not just by Oliver, but by all of us. Relationships were damaged, people were lost. And, four years ago something happened…something that was set in motion by a decision that Oliver made at the end of the second year. We lost a lot of people. Dinah wants to prevent that from happening.”

 

“…Your dad sounds like a dick.” Thea said once Nyssa had explained her father and the League.

 

“My father may be a demon, but yours is the devil.” Nyssa said with a cool smile.

 

“Don’t remind me.” Thea sighed and Dinah glared at Nyssa, who flashed her ‘don’t worry; I got this’ smile.

 

“You asked what we had in common earlier,” Nyssa began and Thea looked up, “for the longest time, I thought, because of who my father was, I was doomed to a life in the League. Forced to either serve my father or to replace him. A friend showed me that there was another way, that I could choose my own path in this life.”

 

“Your point?” Thea drawled.

 

“My point, Thea, is that just because Malcolm Merlyn is your biological father, does not mean anything unless you wish it to. Robert Queen raised you, he loved you. Not because anyone made him, but because he chose to, he chose to be your father. Family is more than blood; you can choose your family. You can choose to forsake Malcolm Merlyn.” Nyssa explained and Thea looked thoughtful.

 

“Hey, you okay?” Tommy asked as Dinah and Thea walked back into the dining hall.

 

“I’m great,” Thea said as she sat down, “Hey, who touched my food?!”

 

“He did it.” Roy said as he pointed at Tommy.

 

“I did not!” Tommy objected.

 

“Me thinks he protests too much.” Roy stage-whispered to Thea, who laughed.

 

 Now, under normal circumstances, Tommy would be mad. But he was just so happy to see his sister acting like herself. So he’d let it go…for now. But later, he would have his revenge. Look out Roy, Tommy thought as he glared at the younger man.


	16. Vertigo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy and Laurel become angry with Thea over her behavior as Oliver goes after The Count.

Once they had finished lunch, the group of seven returned to the viewing room, retaking their seats. Once they were all seated, Dinah picked up the remote and started the next recording.

 

_The scene opens with a drug dealer running through the docks, ducking in and out of warehouses as the Hood pursues him. The dealer made it out onto the docks and started climbing up to a catwalk, and had one hand on it when and arrow pierced his leather jacket, hanging the man fifteen feet in the air by one arm._

_"Oh, come on, man! I'm just trying to make an honest living!" he shouted to the Hood that stood on the docks behind him._

“Then go to McDonalds or a grocery story. There is nothing honest about drug dealing.” Laurel muttered scornfully.

 

_"There's nothing honest about what you do!" The Hood yelled back._

“Great minds think alike.” Arsenal quipped as Laurel blinked.  


_"Who supplies you with Vertigo? Tell me now and you live."_

_"Please! They'll kill me!"_

_"Whoever you fear?" He drew an arrow and aimed. "Fear me more!”_

“That is so cheesy. ‘Fear me more?’ Really?” Thea rolled her eyes.

 

_"Okay, okay! We call him The Count, that's all I know." He screamed in fear. "I swear to God!" he closed his eyes, waiting for the arrow. When it didn't come he opened his eyes and looked around to see the Hood had vanished. "Hey! Get me down from here!" he yelled to no one._

“Get yourself down.” Tommy said gruffly.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Diggle followed Oliver down the stairs as he returned from his hunt._

_"Find what you're looking for?" Dig asked._

_"Took down three Vertigo pushers tonight, Diggle." He replied, walking over to his computer. "Last one finally knew a name. The Count."_

_"The Count? That's worse than The Hood." Diggle quipped. Seeing Oliver wasn't taking off his gear, he frowned. "You're not going back out there."_

_"I'm not done for the night." He replied, entering information into the computer. "Whoever this Count is, he has a lot of blood on his hands, and it is long past time he started paying."_

_"Well, slow down, I think you're missing the point here." Dig argued._

_"What?" Dig looked at him, and Oliver closed his eyes in frustration. "Thea."_

_"Her hearing's in a few hours. You think she cares more about some drug lord getting his just desserts, or you being by her side when she needs you the most?" Dig asked. Oliver nodded, acquiescing._

“Thank you for getting his head on straight.” Tommy told Diggle, who nodded.

 

“Sometimes we lose sight of what’s important.” Diggle said simply.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Thea was in her room, making herself presentable when Oliver came to her door._

_"Hey, we should get going. Judges don't appreciate the value in being fashionably late." He quipped._

_Thea chuckled lightly. "Got any other tips?"_

_"Let the lawyer do all the talking." Oliver started, walking into her room to stand by her. "They'll give you a pad and paper but do not play tic-tac-toe. Judges don't appreciate that, either." Thea sighed, and he smiled at her. "Come on, Speedy." He encouraged her._

_"I know, I know." She said tiredly. "I keep on trying to get up and go, but just don't." she sighed again. "I wish dad were here."_

_"I'm here." Oliver offered, placing his hands on her shoulders comfortingly._

Thea smiled slightly at this.

 

_Moira walked up to the door. "We should leave now, Thea." She said._

_The scene changed to outside the courthouse. Much like the last time Oliver came here, the press was swarming, though this time it was for Thea. They shouted questions as the three Queens waded through them._

_"Ms. Queen!"_

_"Thea, over here."_

_"Can we get a comment?"_

_"Just one comment!"_

_"Thea, are you going into rehab?"_

_"Miss Queen, are you being expelled from Balliol Prep?"_

_"Are you worried about the outcome?"_

_Thea nervously reached back towards Oliver, and he grabbed her hand in support. He shielded her as much as he could until they finally reached the courthouse doors._

_Inside the courtroom several minutes later, the pre-trial began._

_"Docket ending 1-10-5-6, People vs. Thea Dearden Queen." The bailiff read out. "Possession of a controlled substance, driving under the influence of a controlled substance." The bailiff handed the trial sheet to the Judge, who read it over briefly._

_"Counselors, I understand you've reached a plea agreement." Judge Brackett said._

_Thea's lawyer Marcus Bradley rose. "We have, Your Honor." He started. "Given that my client is a juvenile, the people have generously agreed to probation."_

_"Juvenile?" Brackett said, looking down at the sheet. "Says right here she's 18."_

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Tommy said uneasily as Thea’s smile vanished, a knot of unease forming in her stomach.

 

_"She is 18 now, Your Honor, but at the time of arrest, she was still two days shy of her 18th birthday." The lawyer responded. Ms. Queen has no priors."_

_"Well, just because Ms. Queen's family sweeps her priors under the rug, doesn't mean they don't exist." Brackett argued harshly. "You get your client off," he looked over to the prosecutors' table, "and you help your boss avoid dealing with the drug that's sweeping across our city like the plague. Everyone wins, except us, the people of Starling City."_

_"Your Honor, with all due respect—" Bradley started, but Brackett cut him off._

_He looked down at Thea. "Ms. Queen, like it or not, you are now the poster child for this menace." He stated. "Maybe if people see that the Queen family can't get away with using Vertigo, they'll think twice before using it themselves. The plea arrangement is denied." He banged his gavel. "This case will proceed to trial." Whispers filled the courtroom as Thea looked back at Oliver in fear and confusion._

“You feel powerful, big man?” Tommy sneered as Thea stared at the screen in shock.

 

“Judge Brackett was trying for reelection and his Anti-Vertigo stance was his platform.” Dinah sighed.

 

“So I’m just a stepping stone for his reelection, good to know.” Thea said weakly.

 

“Relax, you turned out alright.” Arsenal dismissed.

 

“No, don’t relax, pay attention! I told you, your family can’t protect you forever!

Take notes Speedy; I don’t want this to happen when we get back!” Tommy snapped.

 

“Tommy, calm down.” Laurel told him.

 

“I will not calm down! I don’t want her to throw her life away for some cheap thrill!” Tommy exploded.

 

“Okay, I get it! Drugs, bad, land me in jail! I get it Tommy!” Thea snapped, finally conceding his point.

 

“You better, because if this happens when we get back, you won’t need to worry about jail, because I’ll kill you myself!” Tommy shouted.

 

“Tommy!” Dinah shouted and he turned to her. “You’ve made your point. Now calm down, shut up, and watch.”

 

Breathing deeply, Tommy turned away. Crossing her arms, Thea leaned back into the couch as the recording continued.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor as Moira, Thea and Oliver came in, followed by Bradley._

_"They can't do this." Moira said, indignant. "That man cannot send my daughter to prison."_

_"What are our options?" Oliver asked as Thea sat on the back of a chair._

_"An interlocutory appeal." Bradley said. "But trial judges have discretion to reject plea agreements. I think you might want to prepare yourself for the possibility that this isn't going to go our way." Thea looked at him in shock. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Queen. I'll get to work on the appeal." Bradley promised, and then left to get to work._

_"Well, so much for the best criminal defense attorney in the city." Moira said, shrugging helplessly. Oliver put a comforting hand on her arm, and she took a breath. "Thea, we will handle this, I promise." She told her daughter._

_Thea scoffed. "Like you promised Walter you'd always stay faithful to him? I feel better already." She said, sarcastically._

Thea winced but had no other reaction.

 

“It’s not entirely your fault,” Dinah admitted and Thea looked over at her incredulously, “your mom could have told you the truth about Robert. But then again, you didn’t have to act like a five year old throwing a temper tantrum.”

 

“Gee, thanks.” Thea said dryly as Tommy and Roy snickered.

 

_"That's enough!" Moira shouted._

_"Don't worry. Sounds like you won't have to be putting up with me much longer." Disgusted, she walked out of the room._

_Moira turned to Oliver, helpless. "What, does she not realize how serious this is?" she asked rhetorically. "She took drugs. She drove. She could have killed someone, or herself."_

_"I know." Oliver said._

_"All that judge is looking for is someone to make an example of." Moira ranted. "What does it have to be her?"_

_Oliver considered for a moment. "Maybe it doesn't." he said thoughtfully. "Listen, I have to go do something. Are you going to be okay?"_

_"I'm not the one facing prison." Moira remarked sadly. Oliver turned and walked out, remembering…_

_The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver was locked in a cage while Yao Fei circled outside._

_"You working for them now?" he asked as the man paced outside the cage silently. "Why are you doing this to me? I thought we were friends." He paused. "Or something. I mean, why'd you bother keeping me safe if you were just going to hand me over to them? Just… get me out of here." He pleaded quietly._

_Yao Fei looked at him for a long moment. "I can't." he said finally, setting a cup of watered down soup in the between the bars._

“What did Fryers have on him?” Diggle asked curiously.

 

“A parent will do anything to protect their child.” Arsenal said simply.

 

“Fryers took Yao-Fei’s kid? Man, that’s low.” Tommy said disgusted.

 

“Wasn’t the first time in history the tactic was used. And wasn’t the last either.” Dinah said as she thought of William.

 

_"Hey!" he shouted. "Don't leave me here! I came back for you! Do you hear me? I came back for you!" he knocked the cup of soup to the ground and threw himself back against the cage, defeated._

_The scene flashed back to the present at the SCPD as Oliver walked in to Vice's squad room._

_"Hi, I'm looking for Detective Hall." He said to a patrolman. "I was told he works in Vice."_

_"Oliver?"_

_He looked over to an attractive Indian cop in her late twenties, dressed sharply and very familiar to him._

_"McKenna Hall." He said, surprised._

“McKenna Hall? Man, when was the last time we saw her?” Tommy asked as he looked over at Laurel.

 

“I think a year or two before the Gambit.” Laurel remembered.

 

“An old friend of yours?” Diggle asked.

 

“We went to high school together. Plus, she and Oliver dated for a month or two.” Tommy explained.

 

_"Hi." She said with a surprised smile of her own._

_"Here I was, expecting a middle aged guy in a bad suit…" he said walking over to her. “And I got McKenna Hall."_

_"I live to surprise." She said, giving him a hug._

_"Well, I remember. What was that club that you got us kicked out of?" he asked. "The Club Deville?"_

_"Okay, in my defense, there was no sign that specifically said you had to keep your clothes on." She said, chuckling at the memory._

_"So, a cop? I guess you're not hitting the party circuit anymore." He stated, following her as she moved around the office._

_"I still go to raves." She said, filling some paperwork. "I just go undercover now. And I have to dress slightly more appropriately to hide my badge and gun."_

_"Right."_

_"So what do you need with a vice cop, Oliver?" she asked, pausing to look at him._

_The smile vanished from his face. "Vertigo." He said simply. McKenna looked at him in sympathy._

_"Right. I saw your sister on TV. I'm sorry." She told him. They started walking again._

_"The judge is trying to make an example of her" Oliver explained. "So I was thinking, if you could find the person selling the drugs, it make take some of the heat off Thea."_

“That’s not a bad plan,” Laurel admitted, “but he’ll probably need more than that.”

 

_"Easier said than done."_

_"Did some digging and came up with a name." Oliver continued. "Um, The Count?"_

_McKenna stared at him for a moment. "Oliver, we've known about The Count for months." She said finally._

_"Oh." Oliver replied, dejected. McKenna made her way to her desk and picked up a thin file folder._

_"I wish this was thicker," she said, handing him the folder, "but we really don't have much on him. Love to say we're going to catch him before your sister's trial, but it's highly unlikely."_

“Well, at least it’s something for Oliver to start with.” Tommy tried to stay optimistic.

 

“It’s not much though.” Laurel pointed out.

 

“The thing about Oliver is that he can take ‘not much’ and turn it into a lot.” Arsenal told them.

 

_." She looked at her watch. "Oh, I am late for my shift." She said, gathering her things._

_"Well, if you hear of anything about this guy, just…let me know?" Oliver asked politely. McKenna looked at him with a soft smile._

_"I always loved how much you cared about your sister." She said. "But leave the policing to the police, okay?"_

_"Okay." They smiled at each other as Oliver walked out of the squad room. As he walked out, Detective Lance walked in. He glared at Oliver's bask as he left, then turned to Hall._

_"What did Queen want?" he demanded._

_"He's an old friend, sister's jammed up." McKenna said. She looked at the older cop. "Anything else, Sergeant?" she asked_

_"No." he replied. He considered her as she walked out of the room._

“Can’t you just leave him alone?” Tommy snapped.

 

“No, that would mean walking away. Something my dad isn’t good at.” Laurel sighed.

 

_The scene changed to an old abandoned juvenile detention center. The drug dealer The Hood had roughed up sat alone in the darkened kitchen, waiting. He wasn't waiting for long as three men entered, and he sat up straight and gasped as the first man pulled a gun and held it to his head._

_He was tall, dressed in black with a black pea coat, his black hair spiked. He walked up to the dealer, who had raised his arm in front of his face to protect his face. The Count looked at the whole in the man's jacket. "You need a tailor." He quipped._

_"You know about the hood guy." The dealer complained. "He just cornered me, man."_

_"The hood guy?"_

_"I didn't say anything." He promised his boss._

_"Oh, I know." The Count said. "You can't divulge secrets you don't know." The dealer smiled a little in relief. "But examples must be made." The Count continued, walking behind the dealer. As he did, he pulled out a double syringe and jabbed it into the dealer's neck and injected its contents. "Vertigo, in its purest form." He explained, pulling out the needles. The dealer started shaking and sweating profusely. "When injected directly into the bloodstream, it affects the thalamus region of your brain. Which is where all of the information from your pain receptors is collected. No doubt you're in excruciating pain." The Count continued to circle the man. "But actually, you're not. You just think_

_you are. I've seen it last for days, until finally the heart gives out."_

_The dealer screamed in pain. The Count kneeled in front of him and wagged the gun in front of his face, getting his attention. "One bullet left." He said, placing the gun in the Dealer's hand. "Now, you can use that bullet to shoot me and take your revenge," he said with a smile as the dealer shakily raised the gun, pointing it at the Count, "or you could shoot yourself. It's your choice." He raised his hands and backed away. The dealer raised the gun, trying to aim through the excruciating pain. Finally, though, the pain became too much and he jammed the gun under his chin and pulled the trigger, killing himself._

“Good god.” Diggle said as they all stared at the screen, horrified.

 

“The Count is one sick son of a bitch.” Roy muttered.

 

He’s as bad as Malcolm.” Tommy muttered.

 

“No, he’s actually worse,” Dinah said and five sets of eyes looked at her as though she was insane, “Malcolm is the devil, no doubt about it. But there is always a method to his madness, a goal he is trying to reach. But men like The Count? Men like that cause chaos for the sake of causing chaos. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

_"The Hood." The Count said after a moment. "Coming for me." He withdrew a handkerchief from his jacket and used it to pick up the gun, then pocketed it. He stood and considered. "Interesting." He said, and then led his men out of the room._

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment the next day. Laurel was sitting at her table, looking at an article about Thea's trial on her tablet when Tommy walked in._

_"I'm learning you're not much of a morning snuggler." He said, kissing the top of her head._

_"And I'm learning that you don't like to wake up at any hour that ends in a.m." Laurel quipped._

_"That's true." Tommy nodded. "Yeah. So if you're busy being a lawyer all day and I'm managing a night club all night, when exactly do we get to see each other?" he asked, taking a sip of coffee. There was a knock at the door. "Hmm." He put the cup down. "I got it." Tommy walked to the door and opened it- to see Oliver standing there._

_"Hey." Tommy said, surprised._

_"Hey." Oliver replied, equally off-put._

_"Hey, how-- how is Thea holding up?" Tommy asked, trying to recover from the awkwardness._

_"She's doing okay. Thank you." Oliver replied. He looked past Tommy to Laurel. "Umm… actually, I-- I came to talk to Laurel."_

“Surprise surprise.” Tommy muttered a hint of jealousy in his voice.

 

_"Yeah." Tommy said, moving aside to let Oliver in._

_"Hi." Oliver said as Laurel came over._

_"Hi." She replied._

_"Thank you for coming to court yesterday."_

_"Yeah, of course." She said. "But I don't think the judge is willing to move off his position. Taking a hard line against criminals is a platform for his reelection." Laurel advised._

_"I need you to talk to your father." Oliver said without further preamble. "He's inside the system, and maybe he cashes in a chip with Judge Brackett, gets him off throwing the book at Thea."_

“Is that up there with ‘become President’ on his list of things that will never happen?” Roy drawled.

 

“Did he take a big drink of whisky before he came up with that idea?” Tommy asked.

 

“I’d be mad if your concerns weren’t valid.” Laurel sighed.

 

_"Oliver, I don't—" she started, but Oliver cut her off._

_"Laurel, I am working on something on my end, but…" he paused for a moment to collect himself. “If it doesn't work out, this is my best chance to help my sister. Please." He pleaded._

_Laurel sighed. "I'll see what I can do." She said. "But no promises." She added._

_"Thank you." He told her, then patted Tommy on the arm and left the apartment._

_The scene changed to outside the SCPD later that night, where Laurel and Quentin were walking outside in the motor pool._

_"Absolutely not." Quentin was saying. Laurel sighed._

_"Dad, I know how you feel about Oliver…." She began. He cut her off._

_"Then why would you even ask me to do this." He asked._

_"Because Thea, she's only 18 years old." Laurel stated._

_"Which makes her an adult. She can take her medicine." Quentin scoffed. "It's about time someone in the Queen family did."_

“Just when I think your dad can’t sink any lower, he proves me wrong. It’s one thing to hate Oliver, he deserves it at least a little, but taking it out on Thea is going too far.” Tommy said disgusted.

 

“I know I keep asking you this, but how does your dad still have a job?” Roy asked as he looked over at Laurel.

 

“He shouldn’t. If he can’t separate his feelings about Oliver from the job, then he should hand in his badge and gun right now, because he isn’t qualified to be a cop.” Diggle explained and Laurel sighed, knowing they were all right.

 

_"What about the Lance family?" Laurel shot back. She began to plead her case. "A young girl acting out, engaging in reckless behavior, does that sound familiar?"_

_"Laurel, don't go there." Quentin warned._

_"Thea, she's just like I remember Sarah."_

_"That is not how I remember your sister."_

_"That's because you remember her the way that you wish she had been, not the way that she actually was." Laurel said bluntly. They both stopped walking, and Quentin turned to face her. "She's not the Saint that you make her out to be." Laurel added. "I know she was arrested for shoplifting and I know you made it go away."_

_"Well, maybe if I let her go to jail, Queen wouldn't have had her on that damn boat." Quentin growled._

_"Dad, you make it sound like he kidnapped her!" Laurel exclaimed. "For so long, you and I have blamed Oliver for Sarah's death, but Sarah's to blame, too.”_

“Well, at least you admit it.” Arsenal said.

 

“It wasn’t his fault you know,” Dinah said and Laurel looked over at her, “yeah, he asked her, but no one made her say yes. And they had no idea what was gonna happen. Ollie had ridden on that boat many times before; he had no reason to think it would sink. If you want to blame someone for this, blame Malcolm.”

 

 Laurel looked away, thoughtful as the recording continued.

 

_When I look at Thea, I see Sarah's potential in her. And her flaws, too. Yes, Thea made a mistake! But she's been through a lot. She lost a father and a brother. She doesn't need prison, she needs help. So please…" She looked at her father, a pleading look in her eyes._

_Quentin sighed. "I'll make some calls." He said grudgingly, and then walked away._

“It’s a start.” Tommy admitted grudgingly as Thea sighed in relief.

 

“He’s not a bad man; he’s just been through a lot.” Laurel said.

 

“So have I. You don’t see me using my position as the one of one of the city’s richest businessmen to ruin people’s lives.” Tommy said pointedly and Laurel sighed, conceding his point.

 

_The scene changed to the Russian auto repair shop the next day. Oliver and Diggle walked in, Oliver carrying two large duffle bags._

_"I've seen a fair amount of Cyrillic back in Afghanistan left over by the Soviets." Diggle noted. "Is this Russian owned?"_

_"This is the not so hidden headquarters for the Starling City chapter of the Bratva." Oliver explained, stopping the man. "Diggle… whatever I say, whatever goes down, just go with it." He told his friend as Alexi approached. "Good to see you again." He greeted the man in Russian._

_"Good to see you to. Long time." He replied. "Particularly for Bratva captain."_

_"I was trying to figure out where to put my interests." Oliver replied. "I decided on pharmaceuticals." He dropped the bags at Alexi's feet. "I don't mean aspirin."_

_"A wise choice." Alexi replied. "Mepheodrone would be a good investment for you. It's the newest thing."_

_"I was thinking Vertigo." Oliver countered. "Newer thing."_

“Nice, using his Russian contacts to find The Count.” Diggle said impressed.

 

_"Tough market, Vertigo. Only one seller." Alexi noted._

_Oliver nodded. "I know. I was hoping you could do me a favor and arrange a meeting."_

_"He's difficult man. And he does not like new friends."_

_Diggle handed Oliver a folder, and Oliver held it out to Alexi. "This is everything the police have on him." He said. "Tell him it's a gift."_

_"I will see what I can do." He said, taking the folder. "Provided you do favor for me."_

_"Anything." Oliver said in Russian._

_Alexi looked to one of his comrades, who moved off. "It is unusual for an American to hold such a position of esteem in our organization." He looked at Oliver hard. "Mr. Queen." Oliver nodded, acknowledging that Alexi knew who he was. "Anatoli Knyazev." He continued. "He speaks very highly of you."_

_"He should." Oliver replied as Diggle looked on, "I saved his life."_

“Is this Anatoli person how Oliver got into the Bratva?” Diggle asked and Dinah nodded.

 

“Year two, you’ll see how they met.” Dinah promised.

 

_He and Diggle stared as Alexi's associate dragged a man into the room. He nodded towards the man. "What did he do?"_

_"Something I told him not to." He replied. "Now the favor. Kill this man for me, and I will believe your interest in our organization is genuine. And then I will arrange a meeting with The Count."_

_Oliver considered the man for a few seconds, and then moved over to him. He took the man from the goon and held him in a tight choke hold._

_"Oliver…" Diggle said softly._

_"Hey, shut up!" Oliver growled. He tightened the hold, and moments later the man went limp. Oliver dropped him to the ground, and the goon moved over to check for a pulse, finding none, he nodded at Alexi, who in turn smiled at Oliver._

_"Thank you." Alexi said in Russian._

_"What are friends for?" Oliver replied._

 

While everyone else stared horrified, Diggle narrowed his eyes. His gut told that something wasn’t quite right with this scenario. And his gut was rarely ever wrong.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island. Yao Fei was escorting Oliver out of his cage._

_"So I'm out of the gates now." He was saying as Yao Fei pushed him on. "What's going on? Are we getting out of here?" The Asian man said nothing. "Where are you taking me?" Oliver demanded. Soon, he found out._

_Fyers men were in a circle, surrounding two men who were fighting. One looked to be another prisoner, the other was the man in the black and orange mask. Wintergreen was taking the other man apart, and soon he had the man down. He looked over to Fyers, who nodded in ascent, so Wintergreen picked the man up- only to send him back down a moment later, this time without a head._

Thea yelped, Laurel looked away, and Tommy gulped.

 

“That is one ruthless bastard.” Roy noted.

 

“You have no idea.” Arsenal told him.

 

_"While I admit that bout was particularly one-sided, would anybody else like to give it a try?" Fyers asked, and Yao Fei shoved Oliver into the circle. "The point of these little gladiatorial distractions is to strengthen unit cohesion." He continued. "To that end, I think our newest recruit ought to be afforded the opportunity to try his hand." He grinned cruelly at Yao Fei, who handed his AK to another soldier and stepped into the circle. The two men faced off as Wintergreen stepped out, sheathing his sword._

_The scene flashed back to the present. Oliver and Diggle were walking out of the shop towards their car, with Oliver carrying the body of the man he 'killed' over his shoulder._

_"I can't believe you just killed that guy." Diggle growled softly._

_Oliver scoffed. "You really have a low opinion of me." He shot back as Diggle popped the trunk. Oliver dumped the man in the trunk, then looked around to make sure no one else was looking. Seeing it was clear, he reached down and touched a spot on the man's neck. Instantly the man shot up and gasped, very much alive._

“Cool.” Tommy said in awe as everyone who had thought the man dead breathed a sigh of relief.

 

_"Whoa! That's a neat trick." Diggle exclaimed. "You going to teach me that one day?"_

_Oliver delivered a sharp elbow to the man's face, knocking him back out. "No." he said simply, closing the trunk._

“He taught it to me.” Arsenal sang.

 

No one likes a sore winner.” Diggle said annoyed.

 

_"What are you doing?" Dig asked._

_"You need to arrange a new identity for this guy." Oliver ordered. "Get him out of the city."_

_"Right, so your Ruskie pal draws out The Count, vigilante takes him down." Dig surmised._

_"No, Diggle, because then the Bratva would know that I used them, and that relationship is too valuable." Oliver retorted. "I do the meet with The Count as myself, let him leave, then we follow him to his hideout."_

_"Just that easy, huh?"_

_"Well, I will still need my trust bodyguard." Oliver quipped, getting into the passenger side of the car._

_"Fantastic." Diggle groused. "Looking forward to my new and exciting career as a drug dealer."_

“And now I’m a drug dealer.” Diggle deadpanned.

 

“We all have to do things we don’t like for the greater good.” Dinah reminded him.

 

_Inside the shop, Alexi was on the phone. "He's a captain. And he has money. Are you interested?" he asked._

_On the other end of the phone, The Count considered with a smile. "Hmm. Let's say…yes."_

“Man this guy creeps me out.” Tommy admitted.

 

_The scene changed to the next day at Queen Manor, where Laurel and Oliver were seated across from Thea in the sitting room._

_"My father was able to get Judge Brackett to back off his hardline stance." Laurel was telling the younger girl._

_"Your father hates me." Thea said, glowering._

_"No." Oliver argued._

_"No." Laurel agreed, nodding towards Oliver. "My father hates him."_

_"Look, nobody asked you to get involved." Thea started._

_"I did." Oliver interrupted, drawing a surprised look from his sister._

_"The judge has agreed to a sentence of 500 hours of community service and two years of probation." Laurel said. "Provisional on the appointment of someone to act in loco parentis."_

_"In loco what?"_

_"It means that the court will appoint an individual to assume responsibility for you." Laurel explained. "Me."_

_"I say thanks, but no thanks." Thea said snidely._

“Ar-are you kidding me?” Tommy asked angrily.

 

“Do you have any idea how good a deal that was with what you were facing?” Laurel asked angrily as Thea shrunk back.

 

_"Thea!" Oliver said sharply. "You don't actually have a choice."_

_"Oh, actually, I do." She replied. "See, I'm 18 now and I can make my own decisions. So I decide not to be your ex-girlfriend's office monkey." She said sarcastically._

_Laurel looked at her awkwardly. "Well, if you change your mind, then." She said. She rose from the couch and Oliver showed her out._

_"Thank you." He told her softly._

_"Yeah." She replied, walking out. Frustrated, Oliver turned back to his sister._

_"Thea," he started. "You're in real trouble, and rightly so. Doing drugs and driving? It is beyond stupid. That is a good deal that Laurel got you!" he exclaimed. "Why aren't you jumping at it?"_

_Thea scoffed. "I already have a mother."_

_Oliver sighed. "So you're going to go to jail and it will ruin the rest of your life."_

_"No." she chuckled, rising from the couch. "I want to ruin mom's life." She snarled. "She's a liar and a cheat. I mean, deal with it Ollie. You can pretend all you want to that she's a saint, but I hate her. And she betrayed dad." She began to storm off._

_"So you're just--you're going to go to jail to spite her?" he said incredulously._

“The thing is, it won’t hurt your mom, it will hurt you.” Tommy told Thea sternly.

 

“No one wants to hire someone with a prison record. And now that your mom knows about your drug habit, she probably won’t be giving you so much in your allowance. And then there’s the physical and psychological scars prison will give you. I think I’ll ask my dad if we can show you what a night in lockup is really like.” Laurel said thoughtfully.

 

_"Thea, Mom didn't cheat on dad." He said, stopping her in her tracks. "He cheated on her."_

_She stared at him, her arms crossed. "Is that the best you can come up with?" she asked._

_"Dad wasn't the man he said he was." Oliver stated. "On 'The Queen's Gambit' right before he died, he admitted to me that he failed us." He continued, admitting a truth he had vowed he never would. "You. Me. And mom. That he wasn't the man he said he was and that he just wished he wished he had more time to right his wrongs."_

_"I don't believe you." She said shakily, heartbreak written on her face._

_"Yes, you do." Oliver countered._

“I do.” Thea sighed.

 

_Thea glared at her brother. "Leave me alone." She demanded, storming out of the room. Oliver sighed and turned around- to see his mother standing there._

_"How dare you." She growled quietly. Oliver stared back at her impassively._

_"She was old enough to know the truth." He said simply._

“At least now I won’t be going to jail just because I’m mad at my mom.” Thea sighed once more.

 

_. They glared at each other for a moment before Diggle walked in. Moira sighed in frustration and walked out of the room._

_After she was gone, Dig walked over to him. "Oliver, the Russians called. The meet is set." Dig told him. "It's tonight."_

_The scene changed to a parking garage later that night. Oliver and Diggle stood with Alexi and his associate._

_"You know why they call him The Count?" Alexi asked. When Oliver said nothing, he explained. "When he was developing this drug, he experimented on the homeless. Prostitutes, runaways. The police would find their bodies, puncture marks on their neck, like a vampire." He looked at the younger man. "You should not be in such a hurry to meet this man."_

“The Count shouldn’t be in such a hurry to meet him.” Arsenal corrected.

 

_Tires squealed and a SUV pulled up. Several men came out, and Oliver and Diggle held up their hands to be frisked. Once they were cleared, The Count stepped out of the car._

_"Thank you for this." He said, waving the folder Oliver had given Alexi. "But I'm not overly concerned about the SCPD. Now, I understand you gentlemen wish to participate in the feel good business."_

_"Yes." Oliver said._

_"And why is that?" The Count enquired._

_"Well, I am opening a nightclub, and I'd like my customers to have a little… something extra."_

_"Well, as it happens, I'm looking to expand my brand." The Count said happily. The bags of money were thrown down, and one of the Count's men produced a small briefcase. "A good wine's value is measured by its vintage. The number of years it took to ferment." He said, opening the case to show it was filled with baggies containing the little green and black pill. "Vertigo is measured in lives. 56 people died to perfect this high." He waved a baggie in Oliver's face, and then threw it back in the case. "Believe me when I say that they did not die for nothing."_

“What a psycho.” Roy sneered.

 

“You haven’t seen the worst yet. Wait ‘til year two, he’s just getting started.” Arsenal said grimly with everyone paling.

 

_He closed the case and was about to hand it to Oliver when more squealing tires caught everyone's attention._

_"The cops! We've been set up!" someone screamed as several patrol cars arrived on the scene._

“Now they decide to be good at their jobs?” Tommy asked as he stared at the screen.

 

“How’s that for irony, the police are preventing a criminal from being stopped?” Roy drawled.

 

_"Let's get out! Go! Go!" The Count, his men, Alexi and the Russians, and Oliver and Diggle scrambled to leave as Lance and dozens of other Officers got out of their cars with their guns drawn._

_"SCPD! Put your weapons down!" Lance shouted. The Count's men and some of the Russians opened fire, which the cops returned. Oliver looked around and saw The Count making a getaway and took off after them, ignoring Diggle's shout._

_He caught up to them and decked the first man, but when he reached his boss the Count spun and jabbed his dual syringe into Oliver's chest, injecting the pure vertigo._

“Oh no.” Thea gasped as Tommy and Laurel stiffened.

 

“Relax, he survived.” Dinah’s unspoken _that time_ was only understood by Arsenal and Laurel.

 

_"No witnesses." The Count said as Oliver staggered back, his body on fire with pain._

_Up top, the Count's men managed to take off in the SUV, but were blocked from escape by McKenna Hall. She drove at straight at them as they drove towards her, firing her service pistol out the driver's side window while driving one-handed. He managed to tag the man hanging out of the passenger side, then the driver, causing the SUV to skid to a halt. She did as well, jumping out of her car, her gun pointed at the SUV._

_"Get out of the car!"_

“Wow, she’s a total badass.” Roy whistled.

 

“Yeah, she was.” Dinah said wistfully.

 

“Was?” Tommy repeated concerned.

 

“Later.” She promised.

 

_Back in the stairwell, Diggle ran up to Oliver as he pulled the syringe out of his chest._

_"You ok?" Dig asked._

_Oliver handed the syringe to Diggle. "Keep it." He gasped out._

_"Yeah, we got to go." He said, throwing the younger man's arm over his shoulder. "Steps. Let's go."_

_The scene changed to the Lair. In a reversal of roles, Dig laid Oliver down on a table, then ran over to his case and pulled out the herbs. He quickly mixed up the potion and ran back over to his friend. As he leaned down Oliver, lost in the pain, instinctively lashed out, grabbing onto Diggle's throat._

“A man in pain is unreliable.” Arsenal said at their startled faces.

 

_Dig managed to pry the fingers loose and press Oliver back into the table._

_"Oliver!" he exclaimed, trying to break through the haze. He held the bowl up to Oliver's lips. "Drink." He poured the herb-infused water into his mouth, and Oliver began to drink. As the water ran out, Olive threw his head back and screamed._

_The scene flashed back to the island, where Yao Fei was beating the crap out of Oliver. Finally, Yao Fei spun into a choke hold, squeezing tightly. Finally, Oliver went limp, and Yao Fei dropped his lifeless body to the ground._

“So that’s where he learned that.” Arsenal said wistfully.

 

_The scene flashed back to the morning. Oliver awoke, handcuffed to the table in the lair._

_"Mornin'." Diggle said pleasantly as Oliver groaned. "How you feeling?"_

“I’m feeling brilliant after having been injected with a half-dose of Vertigo. Maynbe you should try it!” Arsenal said mockingly and Diggle shifted.

 

“Yeah, stupid question.” Diggle admitted.

 

_"I feel like I'm getting the worst hangover of my life." He replied, sitting up._

_"That coming from a guy who spent most of his twenties in a hangover, that's really saying something." Dig joked._

“Bet he thought those days were over.” Tommy noted.

 

_"You think you can uncuff me?" Oliver asked. Dig stared back at him. "Not going to kill you." Oliver assured him. "Promise." Dig uncuffed him and Oliver stood, stretching painfully. He groaned as Dig looked on, impressed._

_"You're standing. That's pretty impressive." He noted. "The Count only got you with half a dose, but you still sweated out a small swimming pool coming down."_

_"The Count. Any chance our friends in SCPD took him down?" he asked._

“Does he really have to ask?” Roy scoffed.

 

_Dig shook his head. "None at all, but we did manage to get this." He held up the dual syringe. "Think we should analyze it." He looked at Oliver critically as the man got dressed. "Listen, Oliver, maybe you need to give it a few hours." He suggested. "A near drug overdose isn't something you just walk away from."_

_"Neither is Thea." Oliver replied._

_The scene shifted to Queen Manor. Oliver and Diggle walked in to see Moira sitting with Detective's Lance and Hall._

_"What's wrong? Is everything okay with Thea?" Oliver asked, worried._

_"This isn't about your sister, this is about you." Lance said, rising. "Last night we got a call from a C.I., busted up a drug sale between a big time dealer and the Russian mob."_

_Oliver looked at McKenna. "'We'? I thought you worked Vice." He stated._

_"Joint task force. Vertigo's got everybody holding hands." McKenna said._

_"Like I said Last night, drug deal gone south." Lance interrupted. "An eyewitness put you at the scene."_

_"Whoever he is, he's mistaken." Oliver denied._

_"Yeah?" Lance said, moving in closer._

“His unprofessionalism would be impressive if he weren’t such a dick.” Roy noted.

 

_But it was McKenna who spoke next._

_"I saw you, Oliver." She said. Oliver looked at her._

_"Is this true?" Moira asked._

_Oliver sighed. "I was checking into The Count." He began. "He's the guy who sold drugs to Thea. And I figured if I could find out what he looked like, then I could give your sketch artist something to go on. So I paid a low-life with a Russian accent an obscene amount of money to arrange a meeting."_

“Not a bad cover story.” Laurel admitted.

 

“And since Oliver really down played how smart he was five years ago, it’s not that far-fetched.” Tommy agreed.

 

“He was smart?” Thea asked.

 

“He failed from lack of attendance Speedy. He got pretty good grades when he bothered to show up.” Laurel explained.

 

_"And? Did you get eyes on him?" McKenna asked._

_"No." Oliver lied to the cops' disappointment._

_"All right, are you pressing charges against my son?" Moira demanded._

_Lance glared at Oliver, but there was understanding in his eyes. "You get involved in this again, you'll see the inside of a cell, and unlike last time, you will not see the way out." He promised._

_"Detective." Oliver said, stopping the man before he could storm out. "Thank you very much. Thank you for what you did for Thea." He said sincerely._

_"My daughter asked me for a favor and I did it. And that's the end of it." With that, Lance turned and walked out._

 

“Oliver’s patience is astounding. If that were me, I wouldn’t be as patient or understanding.” Tommy said.

 

“You’d be surprised how patient he can be.” Dinah said quietly.

 

_McKenna walked up to Oliver. "Hope you don't think I sold you out." She said._

_"No." Oliver assured her. "Just doing your job." McKenna smiled and walked out._

_Moira sighed and rose to her feet. "What on earth were you thinking?" she demanded._

_Oliver scoffed. "I was trying to help."_

_"By running around with the Russian mob and a murderous drug dealer? Are you out of your mind?!"_

_"Mom, look, the real reason that you're upset is because I told Thea the truth about dad." Oliver stated bluntly._

_"She never needed to know that." Moira exclaimed._

“I deserved to know. About this and a lot of things.” Thea said, still angry that her mother had lied to her for all these years.

 

_"Yes, I did."_

_They turned to see Thea walk into the room. "I'm old enough to know the truth, Mom."_

_Moira sighed. "It wasn't about your age. It was about preserving your memory of your father. He loved you." She continued. "No matter his faults, he loved you."_

_"I said that I wished you had died instead of him, but you still didn't say anything. Why?" she asked tearfully._

_"One day, I hope you're lucky enough to have a daughter, and you'll know why." Moira said._

Dinah and Arsenal looked down sadly. A movement that wasn’t caught by anyone, thankfully.

 

_Thea threw herself into her mother's arms._

_"I'm so sorry for what I said." She said, crying into her shoulder._

_"I know, I know." Moira whispered, holding her daughter close. Oliver watched them for a moment before walking out of the room._

_"Now what?" Diggle asked as he came into the foyer._

_"Like you said, we analyze the Vertigo." Oliver replied, bounding up the stairs. "It's in liquid form, which means it contains water. So maybe we can trace back to where in the city The Count is cooking up this garbage…." He trailed off as suddenly the world spun around him. He collapsed to his knees, a sensation of floating passing over him, and then fell back onto the floor as Diggle hovered over him._

“Damn, Vertigo really did a number on him. and that was half a dose.” Roy said uneasily.

 

“That’s a very dangerous drug. As if we didn’t already know that.” Diggle muttered as Thea shifted, realizing how lucky she had gotten.

 

_The scene flashed back to the Island. A Merc dropped Oliver's body onto a small rocky outcropping overlooking a waterfall. He was about to roll it into the river when Yao Fei spoke up._

_"Děngdài." Yao Fei said. He looked to Fyers' "Wǒ huì zuò" Fyers nodded to the man, and Yao Fei jumped down. He leaned by the body, reached underneath, and then a moment later rolled Oliver off the outcropping and into the river below._

“Did he just try to kill Ollie?” Thea asked fearfully.

 

“I don’t think so. From what we know about Yao-Fei, it doesn’t seem like he’d try to do that.” Diggle said as Dinah nodded.

 

“He was helping Ollie. Wait until the flashbacks resume.” Dinah told them.

 

_The scene flashed back to the present at Queen Consolidated. Oliver staggered out of the elevator followed closely by Diggle._

_"Hey, we need to get you to a hospital." Dig told his friend._

_"No." Oliver growled back._

“That stubborn man.” Dinah shook her head, exasperation mixed with fondness.

 

“Just you’re type.” Arsenal joked and Dinah hit him in the shoulder.

 

_"Oliver, God knows what was in that drug. It could be causing permanent damage." Dig argued. Oliver continued to ignore him, seeing the person he had been looking for._

_"Felicity." He said, causing the woman to turn from the people she had been talking to. "Hey, they said you'd be up here."_

_"You look like something the cat dragged in." she remarked. "Not that there are cats in this building. Well, once a cat did get in, but a guard tazed it." She leaned in and whispered, "It smelled like fur and static in here for like a week."_

_Oliver tried to focus on the woman, but the drugs in his system were making it hard for him to focus on anything. He cleared his throat to interrupt her usual babble._

_"Would you mind stepping away from the window for a moment?" he asked in a raspy voice. "I have a little bit of a hangover."_

_"Sounds like you need a bloody Mary and a pretzel, not the I.T. Department." She noted._

_"Actually, my buddy Kevin is starting an energy drink company." Oliver began, withdrawing the syringe from his coat pocket._

_"He says it's fantastic for curing hangovers, but I am very particular about what it is I put in my body."_

_"I've noticed." Felicity blanched. "I said, not noticed. Right?"_

_Olive chuckled weakly. Normally he enjoyed her babble, but right now he was having a hard enough time staying in an upright position. "I'm trying to find the secret recipe. Could you please do a spectroanalysis of the sample and find out exactly where in the city it's made?" he handed her the syringe._

_"If it's an energy drink, why is it in a syringe?" she asked._

_"I ran out of sports bottles." Diggle looked over at Oliver, then without saying a word walked over to the elevators to call a car._

“Man that’s a bad excuse.” Tommy said.

 

“Under normal circumstances, he’d come up with a better one, but he was barely able to think straight.” Arsenal noted.

 

_Felicity gave him the same 'Really?' look Dig just had, then said "Okay." and walked off. Oliver shook his head and walked over to the open elevator._

_"Your B.S. stories are getting worse." He said dryly._

_"I'm well aware." Oliver replied as the doors closed._

_The scene changed to the lair later that night._

_"Looks like Felicity came through." Dig was saying, staring at the info the I.T. girl had emailed them._

_"The solvent used in the Vertigo sample was run off water originated within a ten block radius of where East Glades meets the bay. Nothing there except for an old juvenile detention center abandoned about three years ago." He looked over to Oliver. "Cutbacks." He explained. As Oliver went to grab his gear, Dig looked at him in alarm. "You can't go out there, though, Oliver. You're still suffering the aftereffects of the Vertigo."_

_Oliver spun to face Diggle. "Did you hear The Count? He's taking this drug citywide. If we don't stop him now, this becomes an epidemic."_

_Diggle rose and stood in front of Oliver. "I can stop you from leaving." He threatened._

“With how out of it he was, you probably could’ve. If he wasn’t so determined to take out The Count.” Dinah noted idly.

 

_Oliver stared back at the man. "Try."_

_Diggle nodded, and then moved over to the workbench. He picked up a tennis ball and held it loosely next to his head. "Oliver, you hit this and you can leave."_

_Oliver picked up his bow and nocked an arrow. He took careful aim- but his senses were still damaged by the vertigo, and he couldn't be sure he would hit the ball and miss Dig. Reluctantly he lowered the bow and removed the arrow, putting both back in the case._

_Diggle smiled. "I'm glad you came to your senses." He said, turning back to the computer._

_"You should always remember one thing, Dig." Oliver said, causing the man to turn around._

_"What's that?" he asked._

_"I don't need the bow." Oliver said coldly, and then grabbed his leathers to change as Diggle chuckled in disbelief._

“It’s true, his skills aren’t just limited to the bow,” Dinah said and Arsenal snickered, “shut up.”

 

“Hey, you would know. After all, you married him.” Arsenal said and Dinah glared at him.

 

“Wait, you and Ollie patched things up?” Thea asked as Tommy looked pained and Laurel surprised, but not truly displeased.

 

“Yeah, although it took a while. A lot of stuff got in the way.” Dinah explained.

 

“Like what?” Laurel asked curiously.

 

“I’ll tell you later.” Dinah promised and Laurel noted as they all turned back to the recording, Tommy’s shoulders slumped.

 

_The scene changed to the Count's hideout. The Hood was making his way unsteadily up the stairs inside; still suffering the effects of the vertigo. As The Count's goons attacked, Oliver managed to defend himself and take them down, though it took more effort than it normally did._

“That’s not good. He’s really out of it. Very bad when going up against someone as unpredictable as The Count.” Diggle noted as they all watched in concern.

 

_And as he worked his way up, the SCPD arrived outside in force, led by Hall and Lance._

_"My C.I. swears this is the place." She told the elder detective, who motioned to another officer._

_"Bring your men up on the flank." He ordered. "Okay, this way. Follow me."_

“Why is it that when you need them, they aren’t there, but when you don’t, they’re in the way?” Roy sighed.

 

“Just the way the city works kid.” Diggle told him.

 

_Inside the main hall, one of the Count's men ran in to raise the alarm._

_"He's here!"_

_"He who?" The Count asked_

_"The Hood!" Just then The Hood busted in, taking out the guards as fast as he could manage as they fired their submachine guns at him._

_In the stairwell, Lance noted the gunfire, along with the unconscious men lying about. "Looks like we're not the only guests." He remarked, moving onward._

_In the main hall, Oliver had just managed to toss the last guard through a glass table and turned his attention to the Count._

_"You should have stuck to your depraved elite." The Count raged, holding a gun on the vigilante. "I am merely providing people with what they want! I am providing a public service!"_

“Public service? This guy’s as mad as the hatter.” Tommy scoffed.

 

“You have no idea.” Arsenal told him grimly.

 

_"So am I." The Hood threw a flechette, disarming the crazed drug dealer, then leapt up onto the table he was standing. They traded punches before The Hood grabbed the Count's double syringe and jammed it into his arm. "Enjoy the fruits of your labor." He hissed as he squeezed the plunger, injecting the drug into the Count._

“Exactly what he deserved.” Roy grinned as everyone else looked disturbed.

 

“Not so sure about that.” Tommy muttered.

 

“When you lose five friends because of this guy, then talk to me.” Roy snapped.

 

“He should have just killed him; it would’ve saved us all a lot of trouble.” Arsenal muttered.

 

“What’s done is done. That’s why we’re here.” Dinah reminded him and he nodded.

 

_Freeze!"_

_Oliver moved directly behind The Count, keeping the man between him and the half dozen cops who had just arrived._

_"Put down the needle, or I will shoot you!" Lance shouted. "Put down the syringe!"_

_"He deserves this!" Oliver argued._

_"Not according to the law!" Lance shot back. "The people that think you're a hero, people like my daughter, if they could see you now… you're no hero." He sneered. "You're what I always said you were-- a killer."_

“He was a killer,” Dinah agreed, “But he was so much more than that. It’s just shame he could never see that.”

 

“What do you mean?” Tommy asked curiously.

 

“No one is harder on Oliver than Oliver. He blames himself for everything. Even when something’s not his fault, he blames himself for it. In his eyes, he is the villain of his own story.” Arsenal explained.

 

“That’s…that’s so sad.” Laurel said softly as those who knew and loved Oliver looked down in sadness.

 

“We’re hoping you guys can change that, by giving him reasons to believe in himself again. So let’s keep watching.” Dinah said and they nodded as the recording continued.

 

_Oliver snarled in annoyance, then cutting his loses tossed the Count directly on top of Lance, sprinting away._

_"Get him!" Lance ordered, but the Hood had disappeared. Looking down at the doped drug dealer, he pulled out his radio. "Get me an ambulance." He ordered. "Now!"_

_The scene changed to CNRI where Oliver was escorting Thea to her community service._

_"Juvenile delinquent reporting for duty." Thea said nervously to Laurel as the older woman approached with a smile._

_"Since you lost your driver's license, I'll pick you up at five." Oliver told her._

_"Six." Laurel interrupted. "We have a lot of work for her to do."_

_"Well, then, let's say seven." Oliver said with a grin._

_"Is it too late to choose jail?" Thea wondered aloud._

_Both Oliver and Laurel said "Yes." In unison, and then laughed._

Laurel and Thea both smiled, both remembering the good times with Oliver before the Gambit sunk. Likewise, Dinah remembered those and many more times they had spent with Oliver, after he had split from Felicity of course.

 

_Laurel handed Thea a stack of folders. "I need you to go through these files and pull out all the documents dated March 2007. Do you think you could do that?" she asked._

_"I think I can." Thea assured her. She moved towards an empty desk, but stopped and turned back to Laurel. "I know I messed up." She said. "I really appreciate this, Laurel."_

_Laurel smiled at the younger girl. "We are going to make an upstanding citizen out of you yet, Speedy."_

_As Thea sat down to start working, Oliver smiled warmly at his Ex. "Thank you." He told her. "And this will be good for her, having a role model, somebody better than me."_

_"Oh, you're not so bad." She argued._

_Laurel smiled wistfully, staring at Thea. "And besides, it'll be nice to have her around."_

_Oliver's phone rang and he looked at the screen. "I got to take this. Excuse me." He told her, and then moved off, answering the phone. "Hello?"_

_"We got The Count." McKenna said. "Busted up his lab, got him on everything from drug trafficking to homicide. He'll be gone for a long while." She assured him._

_"That's great, thanks." Oliver replied._

_"It was great seeing you, Oliver." She said._

_"You, too."_

_"See ya." McKenna hung up the phone with a smile._

“So are they gonna…?” Thea asked, thinking it funny that the recordings kept showing Oliver’s scenes with McKenna.

 

“For a while. It doesn’t end well.” Dinah admitted.

 

“Why? Tommy asked curiously.

 

“Ex’s. Not a good idea.” Arsenal said vaguely.

 

_The scene changed to Iron Heights Penitentiary's hospital wing. Lance was standing with the doctor, looking down at The Count, who was strapped to a gurney._

_"He's still critical." The doctor was telling Lance. "I've never seen anyone OD on this much Vertigo and live. There's just no way of knowing what kind of damage has been done to his brain and nervous system. Or if it's irreparable." She finished as the Count was wheeled away with Lance looking on._

“Exactly what he deserves.” Roy said savagely as everyone else from the past looked uneasy about the whole thing.

 

_Yao Fei leaned next to Oliver's body. He reached underneath and, unseen by Fyers or the other Mercs, slipped a map into Oliver's vest pocket. He looked back at Fyers, who nodded, and then reached down to roll Oliver off the cliff. Before he did, though, he touched a spot on Oliver's neck, just below the chin, and then a moment later rolled Oliver off the outcropping and into the river below._

_Oliver landed in a deeper part of the lagoon and floated for several moments before blot awake. He gasped as he pulled his had out of the water, then weakly struggled to swim to shore. He crawled onto the rocks and hauled himself further onto dry land before collapsing, utterly spent. Feeling something in the pocket of his vest, he frowned and reached in, pulling out a map. Unfolding it, though, he found that Yao Fei had left him a message. On the map a path was marked in red, with an 'X' marking the end of the path. Above the 'X' was written one single word._

_"Shengcún." Oliver read aloud. "Survive." He folded up the map and staggered to his feet, then tiredly began walking the path._

“Where’d that map take him?” Laurel asked curiously.

 

“To someone who, for better or worse, changed his life.” Dinah said darkly and everyone was concerned by the tone of her voice.

 

_Back in the present, Oliver's recollections were interrupted as he saw a familiar blonde walk past. He waved, and she came inside, stopping at the table._

_"Hi." He told the woman._

_"Hi." Felicity responded. "Thanks for meeting me. I was nervous to come to your house." She chuckled nervously. "Okay… the thing is, I've been debating whether or not to share this with you for weeks." He gave her his undivided attention. "Can I trust you?" she asked. At his confused look, she scoffed. "I'm not an idiot." She snapped. "You've dropped some fairly ridiculous lies on me, and yet I still feel like I can trust you." She chuckled. "Why is that?" she wondered aloud._

_"I have one of those faces." He quipped._

_At her look, he smiled apologetically. "Sorry. Yes." He said firmly. "You can trust me."_

_"Then I have something to show you." She reached down into her handbag and withdrew a small, tan notebook. Oliver looked at it as she handed the book to him. Oliver took the book with a frown, which only deepened as he opened the book to see a very familiar list of names._

“She’s bringing him in to what Walter knew.” Laurel realized.

 

“Wonder how he’ll take this.” Diggle noted.

 

_"Have you ever seen this before?" she asked._

_"No." He wasn't lying. He had never seen THIS notebook before. Still, he was trying his best to reign in his emotions as he asked the next question. "Where'd you get it?"_

_"From your stepfather." She replied to his surprise._

_"From Walter." Oliver confirmed. "Um… well, where did he get it?" he asked, his emotions escaping his control._

_"He said he found it in your house." Felicity explained. "That it belongs to your mother. Walter thought she was hiding something. Something more and he wanted me to look into it, but then he vanished." She took a breath. "I think this list might have cost Walter his life." She admitted as Oliver stared into space, his jaw clenched in anger._

 

“This won’t end well.” Tommy said as the screen went black.

 

“It didn’t, for everyone involved.” Dinah admitted.

 

“No kidding.” Arsenal muttered.

 

“So, next recording?” Thea said and Dinah nodded as she pushed play.


	17. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver goes up against Cyrus Vanch as lies are revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I recently started a prequel to this called Rougher Tides. It’s not necessary to read it but it would be much appreciated. It is basically a season five fic that is made to fit in this universe. Updates will be irregular because I have not seen and do not have access to episodes four, five, six, and seven of this season and the story will at least follow the season’s storyline up to episode nine. Like I said, you don’t have to but feel free to check it out.

_The scene opens with a man being released from Iron Heights. The man cockily walks out the debarkation area to his waiting girlfriend, whom he kisses passionately._

“Unbelievable!” Laurel snarled as Tommy and Thea looked at her clueless.

 

“You know him?” Tommy asked curiously.

 

“Cyrus Vanch, I helped CNRI put him away.” Laurel sneered at the screen.

 

“I remember that,” Dinah mused, “he was charged with over forty counts of first degree murder. That we could link back to him. Plus there were also the counts of sex trafficking, drug possession and dealing, sexual assault and bribery.”

 

“How the hell did this guy get out?” Diggle demanded.

 

“Corruption in the system. How else?” Arsenal drawled.

 

_The scene quickly changes to the next day. Attorney George Wolfman is just about to leave when the man and his girlfriend casually walk into his house, startling him._

_"Hi, George." Cyrus Vanch said casually._

_"Vanch" Wolfman breathed in dread._

_"Surprised to see me?" Vanch asked. "I imagine you would be, seeing as how you botched my trial, and from what Viv here tells me, protecting my interests."_

“And he’s a Deadman.” Roy said bluntly.

 

_"There were contingencies that couldn't be anticipated." The lawyer stuttered out._

_"Yes, Vivian told me." Vanch continued. "The head of the Triad getting ventilated, Bertinelli getting collared, and, uh, this archer."_

_"Exactly." Wolfman said, seizing on the thread of shifting blame and holding on for dear life. "What am I supposed to do in the face of something like that?"_

_"Absolutely nothing, Georgie." Vanch replied, holding out his arms. "Tell you what. All is forgiven. Give us a hug." Wolfman hesitated. "Come on." He urged, pulling the man into a hug. "You know," he continued, "I could use a place to stay while I'm getting my sea legs back under me, George. And you got a nice place here. What do you say? George? George?" he let George's lifeless body drop to the floor, his switchblade slipping out of his chest. Vanch looked down at the dead lawyer, then at Vivian. "I hope George has been food shopping. I'm famished."_

“What a bastard.” Roy said as they all stared, disgusted.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair, where Diggle was coming up to speed on recent events._

_"So this book contains a list of the names of the guys you've been hunting." He said, holding up Oliver's notebook. Then he held up the second one. "And this book, your mother's, has the same list of names."_

_"It's identical." Oliver confirmed._

_"So where'd your mother get her copy, Oliver? For that matter, who gave it to you?" he asked._

_"Felicity Smoak." Oliver told him. "She said that Walter found it in their bedroom."_

_"And now he's missing." Diggle said. Oliver frowned at the implication._

_"She's my mother, Diggle." He argued. "She's not the kind of person who would—"_

_"Have her husband disappeared?" Dig finished. "Because that's really the question, isn't it, Oliver? I understand why you would believe your mother over your stepfather, but I tend to believe the innocent party is whoever's missing- and presumed dead."_

“Something tells me he’s not gonna believe that.” Laurel noted.

 

“He won’t,” Dinah agreed, “but then again, we all have blind spots when it comes to the people closest to us.”

 

_The scene flashed back to the Island. After walking the path Yao Fei had set out for him on the map, Oliver came upon the wreckage of a downed cargo plane. He approached the wreck and cautiously entered it, looking around._

_Suddenly a man dropped from the top of the wreck, landing behind Oliver. The man grabbed him from behind and placed a sword at his throat._

Dinah and Arsenal tensed as they stared at the man. Despite knowing that this was not the version of Slade Wilson who had done all the terrible things his future self had done, neither could help the swell of hatred that rose up in them at the sight of him.

 

_"What?!" a confused Oliver said._

_“You have ten seconds to tell me something I believe before I cut out your voice box.” He snarled._

“Man, this guy is ruthless.” Tommy said uneasily.

 

“That’s one way of describing Slade.” Arsenal muttered.

 

“You know him?” Tommy asked curiously.

 

“You could say that?” Dinah said as she stared stonily at the man who killed her husband.

 

_"Wait, wait, wait!" Oliver exclaimed. "Yao Fei sent me here, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't so you could kill me."_

_The man paused. He spun Oliver around and stepped back, but still held the sword out at his nose. "What?" he asked._

_"Yao Fei." Oliver repeated. "He gave me directions to your… plane." He finished, alternately looking at the point of the sword and the man's grizzled face beyond it._

_The scene flashed back to the present at the SCPD where an upset Quentin Lance was following his Lieutenant, Frank Pike._

_"Frank, you got to be kidding me." He was saying. "You can't throw me another assignment now." He argued._

_"It's Lieutenant, and I'm pretty sure that's what gives me the authority." He pointed out._

_"I'm drawing in on the Hood investigation." Lance argued. "I am going to get this bastard."_

_"Have you considered the possibility no one wants you to?" Pike asked. At Lance's puzzled look, he pressed on. "He saved the Christmas hostages. He took down an arsonist and armored car thieves, and just last week, he busted the Vertigo drug ring when we couldn't. What was urban legend's becoming heroic."_

“Oh, he’s not gonna take that well.” Laurel winced.

 

_"If this man's a hero, I don't know what my life in this city as a cop means." Lance snapped._

_"Let me suggest you find meaning in following orders." Pike replied harshly._

_"Frank, listen! I'm close." He pleaded. "If my lead comes to something more…"_

_Pike's tone softened. "Come to me with something real, Quentin, and we'll talk. In the meantime, I'm assigning you another case." Pike walked off and Lance sighed in temporary defeat._

_The scene change to Queen Manor. Moira was in her office putting her shoes on when Oliver walked in._

_"Hey." He said. "Heading out?"_

_Moira smiled at her son. "Oh, yeah, it's a meeting with the financial planners." She said. Moira noted Oliver's far-off look and frowned. "Are you all right?" she asked._

_"There was something that I wanted to talk to you about." He said hesitantly. He paused, then resolutely pulled the small notebook out of his back pocket and held it up for Moira to see. "I want to talk to you about Walter." He began. "Right around Christmas, when he disappeared, he gave me this." He handed her the book._

_She looked it over, keeping her emotions carefully masked. "This is your father's notebook." She lied, flipping through the book. "He kept a list of all the people in Starling City who owed him favors. I had no idea there was so many of them."_

“She really loves telling half-truths, doesn’t she?” Thea muttered.

 

“Can you explain what exactly the list is? I mean, why was it created in the first place?” Laurel asked as she turned towards her future self.

 

“The list was compiled by Malcolm, Robert, and others like them,” Dinah began after a moment, “they were part of a group called Tempest. The list was a collection of the worst of the worst of Starling City. Tempest’s original goal was to blackmail these people into helping clean up the city instead of running it into the ground. But after a while, Malcolm grew unsatisfied with the lack of progress and came up with a new plan.”

 

“And this new plan is this thing that will cause the deaths of thousands of people?” Tommy asked and she nodded. “Great.”

 

_"I've just been researching some of those names online, and, um, they're not good people." He said timidly. Moira looked up at him sharply._

_"Oliver, I have no idea what your father was involved in or with whom." She stated._

“How many lies can she tell?” Thea scoffed.

 

_"And you and your sister both now know that he wasn't exactly honest with me."_

_"Then we need to find out—"_

_"No." Moira said firmly. "If what you say is true and this list is filled with bad people, and Walter was looking into it, and now he—" she threw the book into the fire. Oliver schooled his face before his frustration at the act could be seen. "The only way to keep this family safe is for everyone in it to stop asking questions, including you, Oliver." She placed her hand on his chest. "Promise me." She pleaded. Oliver looked at her, and then at the fire as the book burned._

“The lengths she will go to in order to protect herself.” Thea scoffed.1

 

_The scene changed to CNRI, where Thea was walking in with Laurel._

_"So this is really happening." She groused. "498 hours of community service to go."_

_"499. This orientation doesn't count." Laurel quipped with a smile._

_Thea groaned. "Tell me how this is not cruel and unusual punishment."_

_Laurel smiled. "Anastasia," she called out, catching another woman's attention. "I'd like you to meet our new intern, Thea Queen."_

_"Interns get school credit. I'm more like a court-ordered slave." She argued._

_"Oh. I can relate." Anastasia replied, shaking the girl's hand._

_"Anastasia is on a one year pro-bono sabbatical from her law firm." Laurel explained._

_"And apparently from my six figure salary." The woman quipped._

_"The experience of helping others is its own reward." Laurel replied as Thea rolled her eyes._

_"I have yet to see any evidence of that." Anastasia said. "And speaking a lack of evidence, Cyrus Vanch was released from Iron Heights." She turned from a shocked Laurel to a confused Thea. "We represent a victim's advocacy group who's trying to keep Vanch locked up." She explained as Laurel strode over to her desk._

_"I'm calling Kate Spencer." She said, picking up her phone._

“Yeah, ‘cause that’ll help.” Arsenal scoffed.

 

“How naïve I was.” Dinah mused.

 

“Let me guess, Spencer is on the list?” Tommy guessed.

 

“She might as well have been. She threw in with the wrong.” Dinah said scathingly and Laurel frowned in concern.

 

_"I already did." Anastasia said. "She said there's nothing the D.A.'s office can do without further evidence." Laurel slammed down her phone._

_"Well, then I'm going to her office." She said, moving to leave._

_"And then she also said not to show up at her office." Laurel skidded to a halt._

“Of course she did.” Laurel sneered.

 

_"Vanch is connected to human trafficking, drug running, racketeering, and at least 52 different homicides." Laurel ranted._

_"Ok, so what's the play?" Anastasia asked. "Because unless you have access to some private police force, Vanch will stay free to roam the streets."_

“Well, it’s a good thing you have the vigilante on speed dial.” Thea said optimistically.

 

“Yeah, but now my dad is gonna set a trap for Ollie. Right?” Laurel looked over at Dinah, who nodded.

 

“Oh yeah. It’s not pretty.” Dinah winced as she remembered everything that had happened that night.

 

_An idea formed in Laurel's head, but before she could act on it her phone rang. She pulled her phone out and looked at it. "I have to get this." She said, moving off to answer it. "Hello?"_

_"How does a night with me and a dozen famous chef's sound?" Tommy asked as he walked down a street downtown._

_"Like an episode of 'The Bachelor'." Laurel replied._

_"I'm auditioning potential chefs for the club tomorrow night." Tommy explained. "I've arranged a tasting, and I could use an extra set of taste buds."_

_"I'm trying to figure out how to get a vicious criminal back in jail. I can't." Laurel said sadly._

_"It's perfect. It sounds like hungry work." Tommy argued._

_"Tomorrow night?" Laurel considered. "Maybe, if we could do it early. Look, I got to go." She said. "There's someone I have to call."_

_"I'll see you later." Tommy said with a smile. "Bye."_

“You just lied to me.” Tommy glared at Laurel, hurt.

 

“I didn’t.” Laurel insisted.

 

“A lie of omission is still a lie.” Dinah winced as she remembered her father’s reaction to learning she kept Sara’s death from him.

 

“That’s for the support.” Laurel grumbled.

 

_The scene changed to the lair._

_"You don't find that a little convenient," Diggle was saying, "her just so happening to have burned the book?"_

_"She did it out of concern for my safety, Diggle." Oliver said, defending his mother._

_"Or her own." Diggle replied. "Oliver, you said it yourself. Whoever compiled that list is involved in something very dangerous. And if your mother is lying to you…"_

“Which she is.” Thea said sharply.

 

_"And she didn't know any of the names on the list." He argued weakly._

_"She said she didn't." Diggle clarified. "You don't have to take her word for it." He sighed in frustration. "Oliver, if this were anybody else, you'd be hooded up right now on your way to having an arrow-side chat with them."_

_"This isn't anybody else. This is my mother." He exclaimed. "And I know her."_

“He used to. But he’s not the only one who’s changed in five years.” Diggle noted.

 

_Before the argument could proceed, a phone rang. Diggle looked at it in confusion._

_"What's that?" he asked as Oliver picked the phone up from the table._

_"That is the phone that I gave to Lance so that he could contact the Hood." He said,_

_"Is he asking to you turn yourself in?" Dig quipped._

_"He gave it to Laurel." Oliver explained, answering the call. "Hello?"_

_"I need your help." Laurel said without preamble._

_"That's why you have the phone."_

_"Cyrus Vanch was just released from prison on a technicality." She said. "Living large in his lawyer's house."_

_Oliver ran a search in his computer. An article about George Wolfman going missing popped up. "Who is now missing."_

_"There's no evidence of foul play." Laurel said. "But I know he's just Vanch's first victim, and he won't be his last."_

_Oliver sighed. "What about the police?"_

“A vigilante asking you to go to the police. I’m pretty sure there’s some kind of irony there.” Roy drawled and Thea giggled.

 

_"They can't move on him without evidence of new criminal activity."_

_"Laurel, obtaining evidence isn't what I do." Oliver stated._

“Stopping people who abuse power and kill people? Pretty sure that’s exactly what you do.” Laurel muttered.

 

_"Vanch is dangerous." She pleaded._

_Oliver considered the situation. "Hold on to the phone, I'll call." He hung up, and then turned to Diggle._

_"Laurel needs my help." He said, moving to leave._

_"Oliver, are you running to help her or away from the truth about your mother?"_

“Probably a little of both.” Arsenal noted.

 

_Oliver stared hard at the other man. "I have work to do." He said, and then left._

_The scene changed to SCPD. Lance was at his desk, grudgingly working on his new case when Kelton walked up._

_"Hey, Detective?"_

_"I'm busy, Kelton." Lance said without looking up._

_"I'm pretty sure you're going to want to hear this." Lance looked up at the man. "The bug I put in that phone from the Vigilante just lit up. Your daughter's playing Maid Marion to Robin Hood again."_

_Lance shot to his feet._

_"Where you going?" Kelton asked._

_"Lieutenant Pike's office." The Detective replied. "If she's meeting with the Hood, there's going to be a task force there when she does."_

“Using your own daughter to carry out a vendetta. And you have the nerve to call yourself my father.” Laurel sneered, enraged.

 

_The scene changed to the Wolfman house. Vanch and Vivian were inside strategizing, while outside the Hood was taking out the guards, trying to get close enough to listen in._

_"See, we got to look at all this as an opportunity." Vanch was saying. "The Triad and the Bertinelli organizations are leaderless. The giant sucking sound you're hearing is the current power vacuum in Starling City, the one that I plan on filling."_

_"How are you going to convince the Triad and Bertinelli's crew that they should sign up with you?" Vivian asked._

 

_Vanch paused a moment, thinking he heard something. He looked out around the grounds, but saw nothing._

_"Well that's an excellent question." He said finally. "I need to do something. Something spectacular, to get their attention and earn their respect." The sounds of gunfire brought him up short. Vanch stood and began walking along the deck- and then he spotted it. A single arrow with a recording device attached was stuck in one of the pillars. He yanked it out and turned back to Viv. "You know what I learned in prison? If you want to be respected, you find the biggest guy and you put him down permanent." He held up the arrow. "I think I just found the biggest guy."_

“Well, it’s your funeral.” Tommy said as though Vanch was stupid.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Laurel and Tommy were preparing to leave for Tommy's tasting._

_"This is going to be fun." Laurel told him with a smile. "I even wore my fat pants."_

_Tommy chuckled. "I don't want to know what those are, do I?"_

_"Nope." Suddenly she felt a vibration in her pocket that brought her up short. "Ohh." She pulled out the phone. "This is work." She told him. "It'll just be a second, okay?" she moved deeper into the apartment before answering. "Hello?"_

_"It's me. I have something. Can you meet?" The Hood asked._

_"Yeah, where?"_

_"Rooftop, Winick building. 30 minutes."_

_At the SCPD, Lance smiled grimly as he listened to the bugged conversation. "Good work, Kelton." He told the tech. Lance then turned to his taskforce. "Okay, everybody. Rubber bullets. This is my daughter here. She cannot come to any harm. But outside of that, you do whatever needs doing to bring that archer down."_

_The cops nodded and moved off to get ready. Lieutenant Pike came up to Lance. "You sure about this?" he asked._

_"Look, she knows I'd do anything to catch this bastard." Lance justified. "And this is the best- it's the only option I've got."_

“Whatever helps you sleep at night dad. But at the end of the day, you used me as a pawn.” Laurel snarled anger and hurt clear in her voice.

 

_"Look, I want to get this guy just as badly as you do." Pike assured him. "I just don't want to see anything come between you two."_

_"I warned her." Lance replied. "I said stay away from this lunatic. She didn't. You don't think that turns a knife in my back?"_

_"I hope she sees it that way." Pike said._

_Back at Laurel's apartment, she hung up the phone, and then turned to Tommy with a sad face._

_Tommy frowned. "Mmm, put those puppy dog eyes away."_

_"Something's come up at work." Laurel started._

_"That can't wait until tomorrow?" he asked._

_"It'll only be an hour." She replied. "I can meet you at the club." She assured him, putting her arms around his neck._

_"One hour." He confirmed._

“And you just lied to me again.” Tommy muttered bitterly.

 

“You have something you want to say, then say it Tommy.” Laurel snapped, annoyed.

 

“I think I’ve said all I need to say.  You lied to me Laurel.” Tommy said angrily and Laurel sighed.

 

_"An hour and a half. Tops." Laurel hedged, and then gave him a kiss._

_The scene changed to Moira in the back of the Bentley. She was being driven to a business meeting by Diggle._

_"Ricky has been driving me for six years now." Moira remarked. "I can't remember the last time he missed a day. Thank you for offering to fill in, Mr. Diggle." She said._

“Dig, you sly dog.” Tommy said as they all gave him impressed looks and Diggle shrugged.

 

“I have my moments.” He said simply.

_"It's my pleasure, Mrs. Queen." Diggle replied. "Believe me."_

_"Are you sure my son won't miss you?"_

_"He said he was staying in for the evening."_

_"And you believed him?" she asked._

_Diggle smiled. "It's been my experience when your son wants some alone time, there's not much I can do to stop him."_

“Aint that the truth.” Tommy said dryly as Laurel and Thea laughed.

 

_"Hmm. Much to my chagrin." Moira replied wryly. She indicated to a building ahead of them. "You can stop just up ahead." Diggle did do, and then got out of the car to open her door. "No need to escort me inside. I'm fine on my own, Mr. Diggle."_

_"Of course, Mrs. Queen." He watched her walk into the restaurant._

_Several minutes later he followed, and spotted Moira sitting with a group of ladies around a table, sipping wine and nibbling on food at what was obliviously a birthday celebration. Moira spotted him and looked at him in confusion._

_"Mr. Diggle." She said and he flashed her an apologetic smile._

_"Mrs. Queen. I was just, uh, looking for the restroom." He looked at the rest of the ladies, memorizing their faces just in case. "Excuse me, ladies. Happy Birthday." He finished, and then headed off towards the men's room._

“Well that was awkward.” Tommy said as they all laughed.

 

“Shut up.” Diggle grumbled but even he had a slight smile on his face.

 

_The scene changed to the roof of the Winick building. Laurel came out of the stairwell and looked around. Moments later The Hood came into view._

_"Hello, Laurel." He said through his voice changer._

_"Thank you for helping." She replied._

_"I couldn't do much. Vanch's position is too heavily fortified. But I did get this." He held out a small flash drive, which she took, hesitantly. "Evidence he's trying to take over the positions vacated by Frank Bertinelli and…" he paused, listening. Something felt off. "And the Triad."_

_Laurel noticed his discomfort at the situation. "What's wrong?" she asked._

_"We're not alone." Moments later the stairwell door opened and Lance, Hilton, and the rest of the task force poured out onto the room, their guns drawn. The Hood instinctively grabbed Laurel, putting her between himself and the cops._

“He’s using her as a human shield?!” Tommy asked angrily as Laurel stared, stunned by the turn of events.

 

“He’s trying to stop any overzealous cops from starting a fire fight and Laurel getting caught in the crossfire.” Diggle corrected.

 

_"SCPD! Get down!" Lance shouted. "Hands where we can see 'em!"_

_"Dad!" Laurel shouted in surprise, and not a little bit of fear._

_"Do it now! You so much as leave a bruise on her, and I swear I will drag you down to hell myself." Lance snarled._

_"Laurel, I'm sorry." Oliver whispered, and then pushed her right at Lance. He quickly dived off the room of the building, falling the two stories to the small park area below. Lance shoved Laurel into Hilton's arms and ran after the vigilante, pausing briefly at the ledge._

_"Quentin, don't!" Hilton shouted, but Lance ignored him and jumped, landing hard onto the grass below. He staggered to his feet and saw The Hood running away, making his way into one of the office buildings, and quickly resumed pursuit._

“I knew your dad was a jerk but I didn’t know he was suicidal.” Roy told Laurel.

 

“He was lucky that Ollie wasn’t the killer he thought he was. Otherwise, he’d have been dead.” Dinah admitted.

 

_He followed him down a stairwell of a parking garage. He saw the door to the 5th  floor of the garage close and he stopped beside it. Cautiously, he opened the door and made his way out into the darkened garage. He proceeded slowly, his gun pointing straight ahead- only for The Hood to drop down behind him and clock him on the back of his head, knocking him out._

_The scene changed to the SCPD later that night. Lance was sitting on his desk, gingerly rubbing the back of his head while Laurel yelled at him._

_"I don't know what's worse- the fact that you lied to me or nearly got me killed!"_

_"You were completely safe." He argued._

“Really?” Laurel stared at the screen incredulously.

 

“Did he come up with that crap by himself or did he get help from his friend Mr. Alcohol?” Roy drawled.

 

_"I was on a rooftop with an army of men pointing their guns in my face!" she shouted._

_"Well, you shouldn't have been on that roof in the first place."_

_"No!" she yelled. "You wanted me on that roof. Wasn't that the whole point of your little trap?"_

_"I'm trying to catch a killer." Quentin snarled._

_"You manipulated me." She shot back._

_"Manipulated?" he said in disbelief. "You practically ran to this guy. I told you; I said stay away from him and you did not!"_

_"That was before you gave me the phone!" Laurel exclaimed._

_"What?!"_

_"That's before you realized that you could use me as bait. Your own daughter."_

_"Yeah, but you wouldn't listen to me!" Quentin shouted, his patience at an end._

_"You are so blinded by your hate for him that you don't realize the damage that it's doing in your own life." She pressed on. "To your family. So what happens when you catch him?" she continued. "What happens then, Dad? You're going to find another criminal; somebody else to blame for mom leaving? For Sarah dying, for your drinking?"_

_Quentin was trembling with rage. "That's enough, Laurel."_

_"Yeah, you're damn right, it is." She shot back, turning to leave._

_"Laurel!" he said quickly. As she turned back to him, he held out his hand. "The phone." Laurel stared at him in disbelief "Give me the phone." He ordered. Laurel stalked up to him, withdrew the phone from her pocket, and then slammed it down on the desk, hard._

Laurel crossed her arms, practically glowering with rage. Roy and Thea exchanged a look and subtlety started inching away from Laurel. Wisely, no one said anything.

 

_The scene changed to the lair, where Oliver threw his bow down into the crate and slammed the lid._

_"Laurel could have been hurt, or worse." He was ranting._

_"And I suppose that was Lance's fault." Diggle said calmly as he leaned against a table._

_Oliver turned to glare at him. "What's your point, Dig?"_

_"Just that you don't really see straight when it comes to Laurel. Or your mother." He added._

“Understatement of the century.” Arsenal snickered and Dinah rolled her eyes as she hit him on the shoulder.

 

_Oliver stalked up to the man. "This is not the time to bring this up again." He hissed._

_Dig held up his hands in surrender. "Ok, ok." He said. "But there's something I should tell you and its better I tell you now than later." He continued. "I'll be driving your mother around for a few days."_

_"You're spying on her?!" Oliver growled angrily._

_"Just doing my due diligence, Oliver. See if she meets with anyone we might be interested in."_

_"She's not a suspect." He stated emphatically. "She's my mother."_

_"Which is exactly why someone needs to take a close, objective look at her." Dig reasoned. "Oliver, something's going on in this city. You know it."_

_"That doesn't mean she's involved." Oliver replied._

_"Then there's no harm in me driving her around for a few days, is there?" Dig said, taking his jacket and walking out._

“I seem to keep saying this, but thanks for trying to keep his head on straight.” Thea said as she looked over at Diggle.

 

“Just doing my job.” Diggle shrugged.

 

_The scene changed to the plaza outside the SCPD. Laurel was pacing, still furious at her father as a just arrived Tommy looked on helplessly._

_"I still can't believe it. He used me as bait!"_

_"Who?" Tommy asked._

_"My father. He was trying to catch the Vigilante. He eavesdropped on my phone conversation with him and then lied in wait with his jack boots." She explained._

_"This was tonight?" he asked._

_"Yes."_

_"While you were working." He stared at her._

_"This was work." Laurel said, suddenly on the defensive._

_"So you met up with the Hood guy? Knowingly?" Tommy asked incredulously._

_"He's contacted me before." Laurel said. "He helped me with the Declan case and Joanna's arson investigation."_

_"The Declan case was months ago." Tommy said, surprised._

_"I know, Tommy, I've been wanting to tell you." She said._

_"Laurel, he's a murderer!" Tommy exclaimed._

_"God! You sound like my father." She groused._

_"Well, I hate to break it to you, but he's right."_

_"Are you seriously taking his side? He's been lying to me for weeks!" she exclaimed._

_Tommy stared at her, hard. "Yeah, it feels like crap, doesn't it?" he asked bitingly, then turned and walked off, Ignoring her when she called his name._

Laurel and Tommy pointedly ignored each other as everyone else began feeling awkward.

 

_The scene changed to Vanch's new house. Vanch was standing in the kitchen, eating his breakfast and watching a news report about the failed effort to catch the Hood._

_'A sting operation to catch the notorious Starling City vigilante wreaked havoc last night. Despite the police's failed attempt to apprehend the Vigilante, police have continued to insist that their warnings remain. This archer is to be considered armed and dangerous. Should you find yourself in harm's way, always, always, call 9-1-1.'_

_Vanch turned off the TV. "Interesting." He said, thinking out loud. "Using deception and intimidation to make a name for himself. This guy stole my move."_

_Vivian walked in. "I have news." She said. "From my friend in the police department. I think I've figured out a way to get the Hood out and into the open."_

“So that’s how it happened.” Arsenal mused and Dinah muttered.

 

“How what happened?” Laurel asked uneasily.

 

“You’ll see. But know this: everything that’s about to happen to you is your dad’s fault.” Arsenal told her grimly and Dinah couldn’t defend her father, as Arsenal was right.

 

_"Huh. Astonish me." He said._

_"Remember that attorney? Laurel Lance?" she asked. Vanch smiled._

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Oliver was in the sitting room going through papers when Tommy walked in._

_"Now what's wrong with this picture?" Tommy asked, taking a seat next to his friend. "You look like you're working."_

_Oliver chuckled. "I'm going over rsumés for the Chef's position at the nightclub." He held out one to Tommy. "This guy looks pretty good. He won 'Top Chef' Season Six."_

_"At this point, it is basically a culinary prerequisite to be on that show." Tommy said._

“No kidding.” Laurel muttered and Thea laughed, some of the tension in the room breaking.

 

_"Ohh." Oliver frowned._

_"Can I talk to you about something?" Tommy asked seriously._

_"Tommy," he said, looking at his friend. "Every time you want to talk to me about something and that something is Laurel, you look like you're about to tell me you have a terminal disease."_

“So true.” Thea and Roy laughed as Tommy blushed.

 

_She's been working with the Hood guy." Tommy stated._

_Oliver pretended to look shocked. "What?" he said. "You're letting her work with that crazy person? She could get hurt, Tommy."_

“Funny coming from you.” Tommy muttered.

 

“Hey,” Dinah snapped and he turned to her, “he stayed away. I reached out. If you want to blame someone, blame me.”

 

Tommy slowly noted, bitterly noting that somethings don’t change.

 

_"I'm not 'letting' her do anything, okay?" Tommy shot back, defending himself. "I only just found out about it because she accidentally slipped up on one of her many lies."_

_"She's lying to you?" Oliver leaned forward. "That doesn't sound like Laurel."_

_"Lying, keeping secrets about who she's spending time with- does that remind you of anybody we know?"_

_"Me, in every relationship that I've been in." Oliver replied lightly._

_"Me, too. Except this one." Tommy said. He rose and began pacing. "There's some sort of infatuation thing going on here." He ranted while Oliver sat there uncomfortably. He schooled his face quickly as Tommy turned back around. "I… We both know that she has a pretty strong track record of being attracted to guys who are dangerous, who break the rules. Show me a more dangerous rule breaker than the Hood."_

“Really? You think I have such a fixation on bad boys that I would throw in with a murder I know nothing about?” Laurel stared incredulously at Tommy, who flushed.

 

“Well…” he trailed off and Laurel gave him a disgusted look.

 

“It’s like you don’t know me at all.” Laurel shook her head and turned away from him.

 

_"I just think you need to have an honest chat with her." Oliver said, trying to help. "Find out the real reason she's keeping secrets."_

_"I just can't believe that Laurel, of all people, would lie to my face." He sighed as Oliver squirmed slightly. "I guess that's the way that it is with the people that you're closest to."_

_"I know." Oliver agreed. "But talk to her anyway, and fix this." He stared at Tommy. "Before it becomes something that's unfixable."_

_Tommy nodded and walked out, and Oliver sat back in the chair, remembering…_

_The scene flashed back to the fuselage on the island. Oliver was showing the sword-wielding man the map Yao Fei had given him._

_"Shengcún." He read._

_"It's Chinese." Oliver said. "It means sur—"_

_"Survive."_

_Oliver swallowed hard. "What do you think he meant, besides not getting killed?"_

_"There's an airfield about 10 klicks from here. It's key off this island." Slade said. "Yao Fei and I had been observing it for months, familiarizing ourselves with their operations. We were supposed to get off this island together. But then Yao Fei was compromised, and we were separated." Slade reached into a munitions crate and withdrew another sword. He tossed it to Oliver, who caught it clumsily._

_"What's this for?" he asked._

_"I think Yao Fei sent you because he knows I cannot take the airstrip alone."_

_"Sounds like Yao Fei."_

_"He is a softer judge of character than I am." Slade continued. "If you're going to have my back, I need to know you can cover it." Slade lunged with his sword, and Oliver barely managed to block it. Surprised, Slade knocked his sword away and held his to Oliver's throat. "What are you doing?" Slade asked. "Fight back." Oliver snarled and took a wild swing at Slade, who easily deflected it and then sent the younger man sprawling. "Keep your blade up." He advised. "Always stay behind your sword." Oliver lunged, and Slade easily sidestepped him, sending Oliver into a stack of crates. "You have no skill." Slade snarled, disgusted. "No strength. No training. To say you fight like a girl would be a compliment."_

“Pretty accurate sum of Oliver before the island.” Tommy noted and Laurel and Thea nodded absently.

 

_"I told you- I'm not a soldier." Oliver growled. "I was shipwrecked here. I killed the guy that was wearing this uniform by accident." He said, gesturing to his clothes._

_"Where was Yao Fei?" Slade asked._

_"He told me to run. And I did." Oliver admitted. Disgusted, Slade bashed him on the side of the head with the hilt of his sword, knocking him out._

“Ouch.” Tommy winced.

 

“Slade punches hard. Trust me.” Arsenal winced.

 

_The scene flashed back to the present at Laurel's apartment. She was calling Tommy, trying to apologize, but only got his voice mail._

_'Hey, it's Tommy, hit me on the beep.'_

_"Hey, it's me again. Please call me back." She sighed. "I think we should talk." Just as she hung up the phone, the doorbell buzzed. Thinking it was Tommy, she moved to open the door. "I was just leaving you a message." She said, but then screamed in alarm as two men burst in to her apartment. Or tried to, at any rate as she quickly managed to knock one down, then slam the other's leg in her door. She ran towards her bedroom, throwing over furniture to slow her pursuers, trying to reach her gun, but didn't get there before the first man was on her again. Laurel grabbed an umbrella and used it to beat him down. The second man had recovered and came at her; she clocked him in first in the face, then in the gut, then sent him face-first into her curio cabinet's glass doors. She spun around- only to come face to face with Vanch._

“Nice.” Roy said impressed.

 

Daughter of a cop.” Laurel reminded him.

_"I love a girl who can take care of herself." He quipped. Then he brought his taser to the side of her neck, and she dropped like a stone, unconscious. "But can't block a taser."_

“Hey, relax. I survived.” Dinah reminded them as they all tensed.

 

“Doesn’t make it any easier to see.” Thea muttered.

 

_The scene changed again. Diggle pulled the Bentley up to the curb next to an office building, and was about to get out to open the door when Moira stopped him._

_"Oh, no need to get out of the car, Mr. Diggle." She told him. "It's just my accountant. The only threat is boredom."_

_"Well, it's no problem at all, Mrs. Queen." Diggle replied modestly. "It's my job."_

_"Yes. Well, then, take the night off. I'm quite all right." She assured him, then opened her own door and left the car. Diggle watched as she walked into the building and head to the elevator. He saw her get in and the doors close, then watched as the number next to the door increased until it stopped at 6._

_Diggle got out of the car and followed her to the sixth floor. He arrived just after she entered the office marked Faquet-Lemaitre Consulting. Looking around, he noticed a utility closet next to the office and went into it. Turning on the light, he quietly made his way to the adjoining wall, then withdrew some equipment from his pocket. He put his Bluetooth earpiece in and turned it on, then activated the second device and held it on the wall._

_'It's taken care of.' He heard Moira say. 'I've taken care of it.'_

_Inside the office, Moira was standing before Malcolm Merlyn, who was seated behind a desk. "Carl Ballard will not be a problem anymore." She assured him._

_"Given your propensity for squeamishness, I'm assuming that Mr. Ballard remains in good health." Malcolm said._

_"I made it clear to him persuasively that his plans endangered the undertaking. I didn't have to make the usual threats." She replied._

_"Excellent." Malcolm said with a smile. He rose and held out a piece of paper. "Now, one more matter to attend to. I need you to have to contents of this address removed and disposed of thoroughly." Moira took it, and blanched slightly to see what address was on it. "The warehouse where you're storing the remains of 'The Queen's Gambit'._

“Oh shit.” Tommy breathed as everyone tensed.

 

_Moira glared at him. "I already told you, I knew Robert's yacht was sabotaged."_

_"And I don't think it serves for anyone to find evidence of that. Do you?"_

_Back in the utility closet, Diggle was listening breathlessly when he heard the door open._

_"What the hell are you doing?" a man's voice asked._

“Oh crap.” Thea muttered.

 

_Diggle turned off the device,, then put it and his ear piece in his pocket. "Nothin'." He said, turning around. "Just hangin'. I work for Mrs. Queen."_

_"And I work security for the man she's meeting with." Said the man. He was older, with a balding head and graying beard. But is eyes were hard and cold._

_"I guess that means we're on the same team." Dig said easily._

_"I don't think so." The other man said coldly. "And I'm going to need to see what you put in your pocket just then."_

_"What are you, man, the police?"_

_"Show it to me. Do it now." He demanded._

_"Right." Dig said. He calmly reached into his pocket and withdrew a butane lighter. Flicking it on to show the man what it was._

_"Just thought I could come in here and ruin my lungs a little bit." He said. His other hand withdrew a silver cigarette case, which he flicked open. He offered him a cigarette. "I know, it's a filthy habit." He admitted, snapping the lid shut with a smile._

“Man that was close.” Thea said as they all breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“Good cover man.” Tommy told Diggle.

 

“Always have a backup plan.” Diggle told him.

 

“Words to live by Dig.” Arsenal said, looking away from the man for a moment.

 

Dinah, sensing his emotions, placed a hand on his shoulder. Something that did not go unnoticed by Roy, who raised an eyebrow.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Tommy walked up to the door and started to knock. "Laurel, it's me." He trailed off as the door opened on its own. Cautiously he walked in. "Can we talk?" he looked around at the devastated apartment. "Laurel? Laurel?" he called out, walking slowly around. He stopped when he saw an arrow stuck in the wall. It had some kind of recording device on it, and its light was blinking red. He yanked it out of the wall, then found the play button and pressed it._

_'Make sure this message finds its way to the Vigilante. Do it fast, because at sunrise, I'm going to leave pieces of this girl all over Starling City unless he pays me a little visit. You know, gives us a chance to get to know each other better.'_

“That son of a bitch.” Tommy snarled as Thea gripped Laurel’s hand tightly. Laurel did not notice, as she had paled and simply stared at the screen.

 

_Detective Lance collapsed into his chair at the SCPD, where Tommy had taken the arrow personally._

_"What do we do?" Tommy asked, distraught. "Can your CSIs, I don't know, can they track this or trace it or something?"_

_"How did he know about Laurel?" Lance mumbled to himself, equally distraught._

_"What?"_

_"How does this guy know Laurel is connected to the Hood?" Lance repeated._

_"I have no idea. I only found out about it myself last night." Tommy said. "She-she said you knew."_

_"Well, just me and…" Lance's head shot up, and he glanced around the squad room, and then suddenly he knew._

_There was a leak._

_"Mr. Lance," Tommy continued. "This maniac has got Laurel! You got to call in posse or something, I don't know, SWAT teams."_

“Except he can’t trust anyone. He has no idea who the leak is.” Diggle noted.

 

“Which means there’s only one call he can make. Karma’s a bitch, aint it Detective?” Roy said smugly.

 

_Lance continued to stare at his 'fellow' officers. "I can't." he said. With a sinking gut, he realized there was only one person he could call. He dug through his desk drawer for a moment before he withdrew a familiar black Smartphone._

_"Detective Lance-" Tommy tried._

_Lance got up. "I got to go make a call." he said, walking out of the squad room._

_The scene changed to the lair. Diggle was waiting in the dark as Oliver finally arrived._

_"Thanks for coming." Dig said. "It didn't seem like a good idea to talk about this at your house."_

_"Yeah, it would have been a little awkward for you to explain to my mother that you're spying on her." Oliver said harshly._

_"No, man." Dig shook his head, holding out the device he had used in the utility closet. "Awkward part's coming up."_

_Oliver took the device and noticed it was one of his recording devices he usually put on his arrows. "You bugged my mother?"_

_"Just listen."_

_Oliver sighed and turned the device on. 'It's taken care of.' Though distorted, he immediately recognized the unmistakable voice of Moira Queen. 'I've taken care of it. Carl Ballard will not be a problem anymore.'_

_'Given your propensity for squeamishness, I'm assuming that Mr. Ballard remains in good health.' A second voice, one he did NOT recognize, said._

“Things would’ve been so much easier if Malcolm’s voice hadn’t been so distorted.” Arsenal noted.

 

“Yeah, it would’ve. But things can never be easy for us.” Dinah sighed.

 

_'I made it clear to him persuasively that his plans endangered the undertaking. I didn't have to make the usual threats.'_

_'Excellent. Now, one more matter to attend to. I need you to have to contents of this address removed and disposed of thoroughly. The warehouse where you're storing the remains of 'The Queen's Gambit'.'_

_'I already told you, I knew Robert's yacht was sabotaged.'_

_Shocked, Oliver shut the device off._

“Oh man. That’s rough.” Roy said as they all stared, knowing what this must be like for Oliver.

 

_"I'm sorry, man." Dig said apologetically._

_"The yacht was sabotaged." Oliver gasped. "Somebody tried to kill my father."_

_"And your mother was involved somehow."_

_Oliver spun and glared at the man. "You do not know that she was involved, Diggle!"_

“He still doesn’t believe it?” Thea stared, stunned at her brother’s denial.

 

“He was probably still in shock about what he had just heard.” Diggle reasoned.

 

_Dig stared back impassively. "What I do know Oliver, and so do you, is that she kept this a secret. Why would she do that if she didn't have something to hide?" a faint buzzing sound could be heard. Diggle frowned. "Is that…"_

_"Yeah!" Oliver took out the phone and picked up the call. "You have three seconds before I have this line permanently disconnected." He growled._

_"It's Laurel. She's been kidnapped." Lance said without preamble. "Listen, whoever this is, he's going to kill my daughter. Please believe me."_

“He’ll believe it. Whenever Laurel is involved, Oliver’s common sense goes out the window.” Arsenal said and laughed as Dinah punched his shoulder, though she was grinning.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver awoke, his arms tied behind him, seated on a chair. He moved around, trying to wiggle out of the bonds._

_"Sorry." Slade said, taking a pull from his canteen. He wiped his mouth and put the cap on, then moved to stand before Oliver. "It's nothing personal." He continued. "The airfield was a very heavily fortified position. I've been there. And I cannot take it on my own." He withdrew one of the swords from his back and held it at Oliver's throat._

_"So-so what?! Huh? You're just going to kill me?" Oliver exclaimed, gasping in pain as the sword drew a thin line of blood._

_"Like I said, it's nothing personal." Slade repeated as Oliver continued to struggle against the ropes. "But if you're alive, they will find you. And if they find you, they will torture you until you give up my location, and I cannot allow for that to happen."_

_"Hey, don't…" Oliver shot to his feet. "No, please don't do this, all right?! I'm not going to say anything to that—" he pleaded. Slade pushed him back into the chair._

_"Don't make it more difficult upon yourself. I can do this in a way that you will not feel it at all."_

“That’s…surprisingly compassionate for him.” Arsenal said surprised.

 

“He wasn’t always the way we knew him.” Dinah reminded him and the others were beginning to get a picture of the experience their future selves had with Slade. They didn’t like the picture.

 

_Desperately, Oliver twisted his hand hard, and with an audible crack, dislocated his thumb. Sliding his hands free of the now loose rope, he dragged himself to his feet-_

_And punched the other man._

_Slade barely moved, but was finally impressed by the boy. He chuckled in appreciation. He pulled Oliver upright, then extended his hand._

_"Slade Wilson." He said, properly introducing himself._

_"Oliver Queen." Oliver replied, taking the man's hand and shaking it the best he could with a dislocated thumb._

_"Well, Oliver Queen, there might be a fighter inside of you after all." Slade said._

“So that’s how they became allies.” Arsenal mused.

 

“Everybody, meet Slade Wilson. The person who helped Ollie survive the island.” Laurel introduced.

 

“Then why do you tow look at him like you hate him?” Diggle asked.

 

“You’ll learn in year two.” Arsenal assured him, avoiding looking at Diggle.

 

_The scene changed. Once more Detective Lance was standing on the roof of the Winick building, waiting for the Hood- though this time he was alone._

_"Detective." Lance spun around to see The Hood standing behind him. "If this is another trick, you will not like the consequences." The Hood warned._

_Lance sighed. "I'm not particularly happy right now." He stated. "I hate you. I hate everything you stand for. But this lunatic has my little girl." He held up the recording arrow. "He left this behind as some kind of ransom note."_

_Oliver didn't even need to listen to it. "His name is Cyrus Vanch." He told the cop._

_"Jeez…" Lance said. "He'll kill her if he doesn't get to you."_

_"He'll kill her anyway." The Hood said bluntly. "So why come to me?"_

_Lance sighed. "It's a pretty tight circle that knows about you and my daughter working together. If Vanch knows, it's because someone at the precinct talked. There isn't anybody else I could trust." He admitted._

“Hell has frozen over.” Laurel said idly.

 

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Arsenal quipped and Laurel nodded.

 

_Vanch is holed up in a mansion. It's a heavily fortified position. I was there. I can't take it by myself." The Hood said._

_"I need your help." Lance pleaded._

_"Then I need yours." The Hood replied._

_The scene changed to Vanch's mansion. He and Viv were in the dining room with a bound Laurel seated at the head of the table._

_"Time's running out." Vanch said casually. "And still no visit from your friend. I might have overestimated his fondness for you." He said, yanking her head back by the hair and placing his knife at her throat._

_"Assault with intent." A tearful Laurel said defiantly. "And kidnapping. You're going to rot in prison for life this time."_

“Laurel, please don’t antagonize the guy with a knife at your throat.” Tommy begged as Thea gripped Laurel’s hand tightly.

 

“He’s right. There’s a time and a place to mouth off to scum. That wasn’t it.” Diggle told her and Laurel nodded slowly.

 

_Vanch chuckled. "That's assuming your hooded BFF saves you. And his chances of survival are not so great. He's going up against trained men with their fingers on the trigger of guns that fire up to 600 rounds per minute. Now, I'm no Einstein, but that is a lot of bullets."_

_Outside, Oliver was bobbing and weaving through the shadows, taking out man after man, most before they even got one shot off._

“You were saying, you son of a bitch?” Thea sneered.

 

_"And even if he were to take them out, I have two sharpshooters on the roof."_

_Oliver spotted the sharpshooters, and then shot off an explosive arrow. The explosion momentarily blinded the two sharpshooters, and that was all he needed to take them out._

_"And even if he were to get by them, what's he going to do against the veritable army of sons of bitches I've got waiting for him?"_

_More men fell- by his arrows, by his flechettes, by his fists. No one could stop him._

_"Now, as I said, I'm no Einstein. But I can count to 24." Vanch continued, unaffected by the sounds of battle coming from outside. "And in case you're wondering- I was so I studied up on my news footage—24 is the exact number of arrows he carries in his quiver and flechettes around his forearm."_

“Oh no.” Tommy said as he realized where this was going.

 

“Oliver’s gonna run out of ammo.” Diggle realized.

 

“This is so not good.” Thea moaned.

 

“Relax. I’m sitting right here.” Dinah reminded them and they nodded, realizing she was right.

 

_The Hood walked into the house, but froze at the sound of a shotgun pumping. He instinctively reached for his quiver for an arrow- but it was empty. The gunman forced him deeper into the house so that he stood in the dining room with Vanch, Vivian, and Laurel._

_Vanch chuckled. "Lose the bow, Merida." Oliver placed the bow on the ground. Vanch nodded at the gunman. "Ventilate him."_

_The man raised his gun- but was shot in the back by Quentin Lance. Vivian moved to escape, but The Hood, took her down with little effort._

“Thank god for my dad.” Laurel sighed in relief.

 

“First time since this started that I can agree to that.” Thea nodded.

 

_"My daughter! My little girl!" Lance screamed, his gun aimed right at Vanch's head as he stormed towards the criminal. Just as he was about to fire, The Hood tossed Vanch's dropped knife, knocking the gun off target. It discharged as it fell, but the bullet went harmlessly into a wall. Vanch stared in shock._

_"I'm the Vigilante." The Hood told Lance. "You're the cop."_

“Thank god he stopped dad from doing something he’s regret.” Laurel sighed.

 

_Collecting himself, Quentin rose and stalked towards Vanch. "That doesn't mean I have to read the bastard his rights, though." He snarled, pistol whipping the man on the side of the head. As Quentin secured him, The Hood grabbed his bow and ran out of the house._

_"Laurel, are you ok?" he asked his daughter._

_"Yeah. I'm ok." She assured him._

_The scene changed to the SCPD. Quentin was finishing up things up as Laurel sat perched on the side of his desk, wrapped in a blanket and holding a cup of strong coffee. Quentin came back into the squad room and walked over to her._

_"All right, you're good to go." He told her. "I'll, uh, I'll take you home now."_

_Laurel stared at him for a moment, then shook her head. "I can take a cab." She said._

_"Laurel, you had a trauma. I'll drive you home." Quentin insisted._

_"No."_

_He looked at her, confused. "What?"_

_Laurel stood. "I'm going to need you to keep your distance for a while."_

_"Laurel…"_

_"Dad, I love you. I'll always love you." She assured him. "But what I can't do right now is trust you."_

_"I was just doing my job." He justified. "I thought you'd understand at least that."_

_"That part I do understand." She said. "But lying to me, using me?" she sighed. "It's going to take longer." She said, walking out._

“He can justify it however he wants, but he used me like a tool to get to Ollie. He crossed a line.” Laurel said stonily.

 

_Laurel walked out into the motor pool. Down the line of cars The Hood stepped out._

_"Are you all right?" he asked her._

_"What would you think if I said I didn't know?" she asked._

_"That you were being honest."_

_She sighed. "My father has the phone now. And I don't think he'll be giving it back any time soon."_

_"Maybe that's good." The Hood replied. "I didn't see how it would put you in danger."_

_"I'm a big girl. I knew the risks." She assured him._

_"Now I know them." He said. "And I'm not willing to take them with you."_

“In more ways one.” Laurel said sadly as she remembered all the times Oliver had pushed her away.

 

_She looked at him, confused. "What does that mean?"_

_"It means good-bye."_

_She wanted to say something, anything to make him change his mind, but suddenly she heard Tommy calling for her. She turned around to see him running towards him, and behind her The Hood slipped away._

_"Oh, my God, Laurel." Tommy cried, pulling her into his arms. "Laurel, tell me you are okay, please."_

_"No, no, I'm fine, I'm fine." She promised him. "I'm so sorry." She said tearfully, but Tommy just held her closer._

_"No, no, it doesn't matter, just as long as you're okay." He told her. High above them both, Oliver watched with a stoic look._

_The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver and Slade sat in front of a fire in the fuselage._

_"You know, this does not change anything between you and I." Slade said. "It takes two men to take the air field. And if you compromise my getting off this island, I will kill you. You've had your second chance."_

_"You need me just as much as I need you." Oliver said coldly. "So what's our next step?"_

_Slade chuckled. "Turning you into something that won't get us both killed." He said. He waved his hand towards the crates lined along the side of the downed plane. "Choose a weapon."_

_"We're starting now?" Oliver asked. Slade gave him a look, so he stood and walked over to the crate. He opened it and looked inside- and saw a frighteningly familiar mask. Pulling it out, he held up the blue and gold mask, glaring at Slade._

“Slade was the one who tortured him?” Thea asked as Tommy jumped to his feet, stunned.

 

“What the hell is going on? This son of a bitch is the one that tortured Oliver?!” Tommy demanded, shock and rage filling him.

 

“Slade didn’t torture him.” ‘ _This time’_ Dinah added silently.

 

“Sit down and you’ll find out.” Arsenal ordered and Tommy sat down, grumbling.

 

_"That's mine." He stated._

_"You are the lunatic who tortured me?!" Oliver snarled._

_"No, that was another guy."_

_"Bull!" Oliver exclaimed._

_"This mask, it's my operational equivalent to a balaclava." he explained. "My partner and I wore them to keep our identities classified during our missions."_

_"You're lying. Fyers told me this nutcase is a prisoner on the island."_

_"And Fyers is such a trustworthy individual?" Slade said calmly. "He lied to you. My partner and I came here to free Yao Fei and get him off this island. We're A.S.I.S.- Australian intelligence." He stepped back. "Now. You are going to find yourself a weapon. Have you considered a sword?" he smiled. "I like swords."_

“Of course you do.” Dinah muttered bitterly and Arsenal placed a hand on her shoulder.

 

_Back in the present, Oliver sat at his desk in the Lair, listening to the recording over and over. 'I made it clear to him persuasively that his plans endangered the undertaking.' His mother's voice was saying. 'I didn't have to make the usual threats.'_

_"I've listened to this 15 times." He told his partner as Diggle walked into the lair. "It's definitely her voice, Diggle. I just… I can't believe it's her."_

_"We all have blind spots when it comes to family." Dig said._

_"Yeah. Laurels' almost got her killed tonight. Vanch never would have known about her connection to me if Lance hadn't had lied to her."_

“No kidding.” Laurel muttered, still angry with her father.

 

_"I guess the lesson here is blind trust can be dangerous." Dig noted. Oliver turned the device back on. 'I made it clear to him persuasively that his plans endangered the undertaking. I didn't have to make the usual threats.' "What's the undertaking?" Dig wondered._

_"I don't know." Oliver said. "But with all this talk about threats, it can't be good." He sighed. "You warned me that if she was lying it would be to cover up her involvement in something dangerous. I need to know what The Undertaking is."_

_"What are you going to do?" Dig asked as Oliver rose._

_Oliver looked at the man. "I need to have another chat with my mom."_

“Because that worked so well last time.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

“I don’t think he means that kind of talk Speedy.” Laurel said and Thea’s eyes widened once she realized what Laurel was talking about.

 

“Oh.” Thea said, stunned.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Moira was in Walter's office, meeting with a pair of executives._

_"I'll need the Unidac merger finalized by the end of the week." She told the men. "We're on something of a clock here."_

_Suddenly The Hood crashed through the window. He landed in a roll, coming up to take out one of the guards. He attacked the second bodyguard as the executives fled, knocking him out with a vicious uppercut. The Hood Spun and fired an arrow at the desk lamp, destroying the bulb and sending the office into darkness. He knocked another arrow and held it pointed at Moira's heart._

_"Moira Queen, you have failed this city." He said, his voice disguised, as Moira stood, terrified, behind her desk._

“Holy shit.” Tommy said, stunned as the screen faded to black.

 

“I never thought he would ever go after mom.” Thea said, as stunned as her brother.

 

“And he wouldn’t have. If she not given him a reason to.” Dinah told them and the two nodded.

 

“So, next one?” Diggle suggested and Dinah nodded as she picked up the remote and pressed play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: now, I know Moira Queen is a very controversial character and lots of people have differing opinions on her, so let me explain. I do think that when she originally threw in with Malcolm, it was to protect her family. But I think, over time that just became an excuse she would use to justify everything she did because she could not accept the person she had become. This is just my opinion; you don’t have to agree with it, that’s why it’s called an opinion.


	18. The Odyssey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The viewers learn of Oliver's first escape attempt and one of Oliver's biggest blunders.

_"I'll need the Unidac merger finalized by the end of the week." She told the men. "We're on something of a clock here."_

_Suddenly The Hood crashed through the window. He landed in a roll, coming up to take out one of the guards. He attacked the second bodyguard as the executives fled, knocking him out with a vicious uppercut. The Hood Spun and fired an arrow at the desk lamp, destroying the bulb and sending the office into darkness. He knocked another arrow and held it pointed at Moira's heart._

_"Moira Queen, you have failed this city." He said, his voice disguised, as Moira stood, terrified, behind her desk. In desperation she lunged for the phone, which The Hood shot off of her desk "Stand still!" he demanded._

_"Please don't kill me." She pleaded, tears in her eyes._

_"Do you know anything about your husband's disappearance?"_

_"What?!"_

_"Is Walter Steel still alive?!" he shouted._

_"I don't know where my husband is." She told him. "I swear."_

“Well, at least that part’s true.” Roy acknowledged, the others too stunned by the turn of events to even listen to him.

 

_"Do you know anything about the Undertaking?" Moira turned and grabbed something off the shelf behind her. "I said don't move!" he shouted._

_Moira fell to her knees, holding a picture of himself and Thea in front of her like a shield. "I'm-I'm a mother." She pleaded. "I have a son-Oliver. A daughter, her name is Thea." Oliver stared at her, his face hidden from her view by the hood. "She's just a teenager. Please don't take me from my children. They lost their father. They can't lose me, too. Please, whoever you are, please."_

_Oliver let out a slow breath. "Okay." He said, slowly lowering his bow. "I'm not going to hurt you."_

_That was a mistake._

_Moira dropped the picture and turned, sliding up a panel on the hutch behind her. She grabbed the gun that was in inside and spun again, opening fire. Oliver, taken completely by surprise, went down with a bullet in his shoulder._

“Holy crap.” Tommy breathed as they all stared in shock at what had just happened.

 

“Damn. I knew your mom was cold, but I didn’t know she was ruthless to.” Roy told Thea, who nodded numbly.

 

“Moira could be very ruthless. We learned that over time.” Dinah explained.

 

_The gun emptied, Moira dropped the gun and dug through her purse for her phone. Pulling it out, she dialed Securities number._

_"This is Moira Queen, I'm on the 39th floor, I need help." She said breathlessly. "There's an intruder. Please!" Hanging up, Moira rose slowly and peered over the top of the desk-_

_But the Hood was gone, leaving behind only a large bloodstain._

“That’s not good,” Laurel noted worriedly, “the police will be able to identify him from the blood stain.”

 

“Relax. It all works.” Arsenal assured her.

 

_Down in the parking garage, Felicity Smoak walked towards her Mini after a long day in the I.T. Department. She got in her car and started it, but when she turned to look behind her to back out of the spot; she received the shock of her life._

_"Ohh!" she screamed, startled as she looked at The Hood's bloody form lying on the rear floorboards._

_"I'm not going to hurt you, Felicity."_

_She looked at the hooded man, puzzled. "How do you know my name?"_

_Oliver pushed the hood back, revealing his face to her. "Because you know my name." he said._

_"Oliver, oh wow." She stammered. "Everything about you just became so unbelievably clear."_

“That’s her response?” Tommy asked incredulously.

 

_She noticed the hole in his shoulder. "You're bleeding."_

 

“Thank you, Captain Obvious!” Thea snapped.

 

“Yeah, I’m sure he had no idea.” Laurel hissed.

 

_"I don't need to be told that." He stated painfully._

_"You need a hospital."_

_"My-my father's old factory, in the Glades." He gasped out._

_"No, you- you need a doctor, not a steelworker." She argued._

_"Felicity," he gasped, rapidly fading. "You have to promise me that you are going to take me to my father's factory and nowhere else."_

_"Yeah, promise." She breathed. She put the car in reverse and backed out of the space. "Something tells me blood stains are not covered under my lease." She muttered._

_The scene changed to the Lair where Diggle was watching a news report of the attack at Queen Consolidated._

_'So far the police are unwilling to comment, but unsubstantiated eyewitness reports claims that the Starling City vigilante attacked Mrs. Queen in her office earlier tonight. She was unharmed in the assault.'_

_"Excuse me."_

_Startled, Dig spun around, drawing his gun. He was astonished to see Felicity Smoak standing there, her shirt bloody._

_"Can you help me?" she asked, ignoring the gun. "He's really heavy!"_

“Hey, how’d she get in?” Tommy asked confused.

 

“Oliver told her before he passed out.” Arsenal explained.

 

_Soon Diggle had Oliver laid out on a metal table with his jacket and shirt off. He wheeled the table under a light to get a better look at the wound. "Oh, damn it. He just missed a carotid." He muttered, placing a clean cloth over the hole. "It's a zone two wound." He told Felicity. He placed her hands on the cloth. "Press there." He told her, and then moved to wheel the medical cart over._

_"I should have taken him to a hospital." She said._

_"No, Felicity, that's why he asked you to bring him here." Dig told her. "Because he knew the police would want to know how and why he got the wound."_

_"I'm guessing how and why are Oliver Queen's least favorite questions." She noted._

“She’s got him there.” Arsenal muttered to Dinah, who nodded.

 

_"Yeah, well, there's also when and where, he's not too fond of." He replied, pulling out various surgical tools._

_"So if we can't bring him to the hospital…"_

_"We bring the hospital to him." Dig said, opening the bottom drawer, which was refrigerated. He pulled out a bag of blood._

“Wow, that pretty clever.” Laurel said impressed.

 

_Felicity stared at it in shock. "Is that…"_

_"Yeah." Dig confirmed. "His blood. He stored it for a rainy day. And I say right now, it's pouring." He moved back to Oliver and gently nudged Felicity out of the way. "I got it. Over there." He told her, directing her to the other side of the table. He quickly donned a pair of surgical gloves._

_"Do you know what you're doing?" she asked._

_"Yeah, I had some medical training in the army." Diggle replied, pulling back the cloth and checking the wound. "I just hope it's enough." He looked up at the woman. "Remember playing 'Operation' when you were a kid?" he asked._

_"Yes." She replied. "And it never made me want to throw up."_

_Diggle reached over and put a comforting hand on hers. "Hey Felicity, listen-trust me. He'll be fine." He looked down at his friend. "He's been through a lot worse than this."_

“You don’t know the half of it.” Arsenal said grimly.

 

_All the while Oliver lay on the table, remembering…_

_Oliver and Slade were sparing in the field around the fuselage. Slade was hurriedly trying to train up Oliver, but wasn't having much luck._

_Hand to hand? Nope._

_Fighting with a knife? Dead in 10 seconds._

_Slade was trying him out on escrima sticks, and very soon introduced him to the concept of variable acceleration, sending the young man to the ground. Oliver pounded the ground in frustration, but picked himself back up, holding on to one of the bamboo sticks._

_"How did you survive here for six months?" Slade asked. "I know girl scouts who have more fight in them."_

“Ouch.” Laurel winced.

 

“It was probably a good thing Slade was so hard on him. If Slade hadn’t been, I’m not sure Ollie would have survived the island.” Dinah grimaced, it practically being physically painful to say anything positive about Slade.

 

_"Fighting girl scouts now, Slade, huh?" Oliver jibed. Slade effortlessly smacked the bamboo stick out of his hand. "Oww! What the hell?!" he exclaimed._

_"Listen, kid." Slade growled in his gravelly voice. "We have ten days until the supply plane lands. Ten days to turn you into at least half a soldier. So start taking it seriously."_

_Oliver attacked again, but soon Slade had completely disarmed him. "What is the point of this?!" he yelled. "These soldiers don't carry bamboo! They have guns! So what am I supposed to do if one of them jams a gun in my face, huh? Threaten them with my stick?!" he said mockingly._

_Slade glared at him, then dropped his sticks and drew his service pistol. He held it out to Oliver. "Jam this in my face." He told the younger man. At Oliver's hesitation, he gave him a look. "Do it."_

_Reluctantly, Oliver took the gun. He knew what was coming, but did as he was told anyway and pointed the gun at Slade's face. In an instant, Slade had reached up and grabbed the gun, pushing it up and out. Still holding onto it he spun, driving his elbow into Oliver's spine. He then hooked he arm around Oliver's and flipped him over his back, pulling the gun from his limp hand. Oliver landed hard and Slade stood over him, his recovered firearm in his hands, pointed right at Oliver's head. "I give up!" Oliver exclaimed. "I give up."_

_Angered, Slade hauled the boy to his feet and held the gun directly in his face. "There is no giving up to these guys!" he shouted. "No crying, or buying your way out of it! You have two choices- escape, or die. So choose."_

_Oliver glared at the man. "Escape." He said finally._

“Man, he’s one brutal teacher.” Tommy noted.

 

“He needed to be. In order to survive the island, Oliver needed to be more than a former playboy. Slade had to turn Oliver into a weapon if they had any chance of getting off the island.” Arsenal explained.

 

_Slade let him go. "Then let me show you how not to die." He said. He turned and walked over to the fallen bamboo sticks, holstering his gun as he went. He bent down and picked two up, then tossed one to Oliver. Oliver caught it and immediately attacked._

_Later that night, Slade and Olive were in the fuselage of the plane. Slade pulled out several satellite photos of the island and laid them out on a makeshift desk._

_"Lian Yu." Slade said._

_"It's the name of the island, I know." Oliver replied. "It's Mandarin for 'Purgatory'."_

_"It is? Wonderful." Slade said drolly._

_"Is that the air strip?" Oliver asked, pointing at the map._

_"A.S.I.S. took satellite images of the whole island." Slade explained, pointing to a spot on the map. "This is Fyers' main camp, where I was held for almost a year."_

_Oliver looked up at the man. "Do-do you think that's where Yao Fei is now? 'Cause we could get a message to him." He said hopefully. "We can tell him we found a way off the island."_

“Except he wouldn’t go. A father will do anything to protect their child.” Arsenal muttered as he thought of his own daughter.

 

_"Forget about him." Slade said harshly. He moved over to the airstrip. "This is the airstrip. And these infrared images show there are at last ten soldiers guarding the perimeter at any given time."_

_"Too many of 'em for you?" Olive said mockingly._

_"No." Slade replied with a grin, sobering Oliver's mood fast. "My problem is the guy here in the tower. It's a PTAC. A portable air traffic control tower. The U.S. government set up these for disaster zones, like Thailand after the Tsunami."_

_Oliver looked at him. "So what's the problem?" he asked._

_"The glass is bulletproof. I can't take out the tower guard with my sniper rifle." Slade explained. "And if he suspects anything's wrong, he'll radio Fyers and we're cancelled." Slade looked Oliver in the eyes. "It'll be up to you to take him out. Up close and personal. Are you ready for that?" he asked._

_"Do you think I'm ready?" Oliver asked in response._

_"What I think is there's only one supply plane every 3 months." Slade said. "We leave tomorrow, or we die soon afterwards. I pick leaving." He gave the boy one last look. "So get some sleep. We leave at 0600." The two men moved to opposite ends of the plane. Oliver sat down and pulled out the picture of Laurel, and stared at it._

Laurel softened slightly. She remembered giving that to Oliver. She’d think it was sweet…if he hadn’t had it on him when he was screwing her sister.

 

“You know, Ollie told me once that that picture got him through some of the worst times while he was away,” Dinah mused and Laurel looked over at her, surprised, “he called it-and me-‘the only bit of light in five years of darkness.’ He said whenever he felt like just giving up, he’d take a look at the picture and he’s find the strength to keep on fighting.”

 

“So basically, you saved him.” Thea said as she looked over at Laurel and Dinah.

 

“Not us completely, but we did give him the strength he needed to go on fighting, yes.” Dinah nodded as Laurel looked away, her expression thoughtful.

 

_"Don't worry." Slade called out. "You'll be back with your girlfriend soon enough." The two lay down to sleep._

_Oliver opened his eyes. He was laying in his bed at Queen Manor. Sighing, he rolled over to stare at Laurel, who smiled sleepily at him._

_"Morning." She said._

_"Please don't hate me." Oliver asked softly._

_"Why would I hate you?"_

_"For cheating on you with Sara."_

_Laurel's smile faded, but only a little. "Did it hurt, Ollie?" she asked._

_"Did what hurt?"_

_"When they killed you?" she asked as Oliver lay there, a bullet hole in the head…_

Thea gasped in horror as Laurel put a hand over her face. Tommy looked down, any jealousy he had been feeling moments prior instantly vanished.

 

_Oliver gasped as Slade shook him awake. "Rise and shine." He said, moving off. He grabbed several bags and tossed them to Oliver. He grabbed another bag, then reached into an open crate and withdrew his mask. He stared at it for several moments, then tossed it back into the crate and slammed the lid shut. "Come on. We're moving out." The two men left the downed plane and began the long trek through the woods._

_They walked for hours, crossing the rocky terrain and darting between trees. They were crossing a river when Slade motioned for him to stop with a raised fist. He listened hard, but heard no evidence of pursuit. "All clear." He called out and finished crossing the shallow river. Oliver lagged behind._

_"Hey, can we, um, can we rest for a second?" he asked._

_"You can rest on the plane." Slade growled._

_Oliver scoffed, but started walking again. "Gosh, well, really looking forward to that in-flight movie-"_

_Click._

“What was that?” Thea said as those from the past sat forward, alarmed.

 

“A mine.” Diggle said, reconizing the sound and Laurel, Thea, and Tommy paled.

 

_Olive froze in place. "Oh, God." He said. Slade, having heard the click, spun around to face the boy._

_"Don't move." He ordered him, dropping his gear and lying on the ground in front of Oliver. Carefully he started digging around Oliver's foot with his hands, exposing the edges of a landmine._

_"Is it a mine?" Oliver asked._

_"Yeah." Slade confirmed._

_"The soldiers mine the island?"_

_"No, it's probably Japanese, left over from World War II." Slade explained. "Still active. Impressive." He commented._

“She’s impressed by the bomb?” Tommy asked as he stared at the screen.

 

“That’s Slade for you.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

_"Can you disarm it?" he asked as Slade rose to his feet._

_"Without disarming you?" Slade replied. Suddenly his eyes widened as he glimpsed something over Oliver's shoulder. "Soldiers."_

_Oliver looked over his shoulder as much as he could. "Can they see us?"_

_"They can only see you." He replied. Slade ripped the bags off of Oliver's shoulder, and then turned and ran back into the forest._

“He just left Ollie there?!”Thea shouted angrily as Laurel and Tommy glared at the screen.

 

“Wait.” Dinah said briskly, unwilling to defend Slade.

 

_"Wait!" Oliver yelled. "Stop!" Angered by the desertion, Oliver took a second to think of what to do. Seeing only one option, he pulled out his balaclava and put it on just as the three soldiers came upon him._

“Thank god he kept that mask.” Thea muttered with Laurel and Tommy nodding in agreement.

 

_"What are you doing so far from camp?" the first soldier said as the three surrounded him._

_"I got separated from my unit." Oliver lied._

_The soldier grunted. "Come with us."_

_"I-I can't." Oliver said, gesturing towards his foot and the landmine beneath it. The soldiers all looked down to stare at the device. "I'm kind of having a bad day, you know?"_

_With a deafening roar, Slade suddenly leapt out of the trees at the soldiers, his sword drawn. Oliver ducked down as Slade impaled the first, then ripped the sword out and wound in a wide arc, slitting the other two's throats. As the last soldier's body dropped, Oliver lifted his head, looking in astonishment._

“Wow.” Roy said stunned as those from the past stared at the screen.

 

“Yeah, if you thought Slade was ruthless then, well…just wait.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_Slade kneeled down in front of him. "Be still." He said. Then, grabbing the sliders body, he yanked it forward with him as he leapt, pushing Oliver off the mine at the same moment the dead weight of the body fell on it, keeping the mine primed but unexploded._

_"Thanks." Oliver said after a moment._

Simultaneously, Tommy, Laurel, and Thea released breaths they didn’t know they were holding at seeing Oliver saved from the mine.

 

_The scene changed to the main Mercenary camp. Yao Fei was walking across the main road, nodding to the guards stationed at the command tent before entering. Inside Fyers sat at his desk, going over some paperwork. He looked up and gave him a friendly smile._

_"Yao Fei. Come in." he gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Sit." Fyers rose and turned around, opening a case on the table behind him. "Now the first time I saw you with this contraption I thought you looked utterly ridiculous." He said, taking out a longbow. He turned back to Yao Fei and set the bow down on his desk. "That is, until you took out three of my best men with it." He sat down. "25 compound bows will be arriving on tomorrow's supply plane. I'd like you to train a few of my men on how to use them."_

_"Archery can take years to master." Yao Fei hedged._

_Fyers looked back indifferently. "Well, I trust you'll be a proficient instructor." He said. "That'll be all."_

“Probably good for Fryers that that never happened,” Arsenal mused and everyone looked over at him, “if Oliver and his friends hadn’t stopped him and Yao-Fei had tried to teach Fryers’ army how to shoot, then they probably would have destroyed themselves trying to kill Oliver.”

 

_." Yao Fei rose to leave just as Wintergreen came into the tent. The two men glared at one another. "I hope you are steadfast in your commitment to our cause, Yao Fei." Fyers said. "For her sake."_

_Yao Fei glanced over at Fyers. "I am." He said, and then walked out, Wintergreen's eyes never leaving him._

_The scene changed to the forest later that night. Oliver was rubbing two sticks together, trying to start a fire while Slade was checking and cleaning his sniper scope._

_"Obviously you were never a boy scout." Slade remarked at Oliver's lack of success._

_"Yeah? What tipped you off?" he shot back._

_"We better hurry. The wolves come out at night." Slade said, grinning._

_Oliver looked up. "There are wolves here?" he asked, then sighed in aggravation. "Right. Of course there are. Because what would the worst place on earth be without wolves."_

_"The only thing that will keep them out is fire." Slade said._

_"Well, you know, you're welcome to help." Oliver said finally, glaring at the other man. Slade calmly reached into his pants pocket and withdrew a Zippo lighter. With a flick the lid was open and the lighter was lit, and he reached down and lit the kindling on fire as Oliver stared in disbelief. "Seriously?" he said. "I've been working on this for two hours."_

_"I know. I was watching you." He said, attaching the scope to his rifle. "Thank you for the entertainment."_

Even Arsenal and Dinah couldn’t help but snicker at that.

 

_Later still, Oliver was sitting at the fire, staring at the picture of Laurel._

_"You're going to wear that thing out just by looking at it." Slade noted. "Don't worry. She'll be waiting for flowers when you get back."_

_"I doubt it." Oliver said. "Remember how I told you I was shipwrecked here?" Slade nodded. "Her sister was with me when the boat went down."_

_"That's funny. I never took you as being the bad boy." Slade told him. "You seem to lack the spine."_

_"That's why I've got to get home." Oliver said emphatically. "To make this right."_

_"If you think you can sleep with your girlfriend's sister and still make it right… you're dumber than I thought. And believe me when I tell you that is saying something."_

_"Yeah, well, you don't really strike me as the type of guy who accepts apologies, so." Oliver threw his hands up in defeat._

_"Well, everybody is in this life for themselves." Slade said with conviction._

_"Learn that at Australian spy school?" Oliver asked mockingly._

_"No. I learned that here." He sighed heavily. "Do you remember I told you that I had a partner?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Do you remember the guy who tortured you?" he asked. Oliver thought back to the man in the mask who had tortured him so many months ago._

_"That freak show was your partner?!" Oliver exclaimed._

“Irony huh?” Dinah muttered to Arsenal, who nodded.

 

“Karma’s a bitch.” He agreed.

 

_"His name's Billy Wintergreen." Slade explained._

_"Oh, Ok."_

_"Our mission was to exfiltrate Yao Fei and to find out why Fyers and his men were so interested in him. But our bird got shot out of the sky before we even saw the airstrip."_

_"That's where I found you." Oliver said in realization. Slade nodded._

_"When Fyers took us prisoner, he asked if we would join him and his men. Billy accepted Fyers' invitation. I declined. He was the godfather to my son Joe. And yet, he turned his back on me without even thinking twice about it. Everybody is in this life for themselves!" he repeated. Sighing, he got up to do a quick patrol around their small camp, leaving Oliver alone with the fire._

“Hell of a way to live.” Tommy muttered.

 

“You’re telling me.” Arsenal muttered back.

 

_Later that night, Slade and Oliver stealthy approached the airstrip. They stopped at the edge, looking around. Slade pointed to the tower. "If you let him radio camp, we're done." He said. He drew one of his swords and handed it to Oliver._

_"What about the others?" Oliver asked._

_"You worry about your one. I'll worry about my ten." Oliver nodded, then moved off to the tower, pausing only to pull down his mask._

_The scene flashed back to the present. In the lair, Diggle was finishing up suturing Oliver's wound._

_"Good job." Felicity told Dig. "I think."_

_"His heart rate's elevated, but at least the bleeding stopped." Dig announced, putting his tools down. He looked over to the woman. "Thanks for your help. You kept your head on."_

_"Well, I always wondered how I'd react if I found my boss shot and bleeding inside my car." She said. "Not that I helped because he's my boss. I'd help anyone who was shot and bleeding in my car."_

_"I was thinking all of this would be more of a shock." Dig noted, watching as Felicity wandered around the lair, looking at the different arrows. "What, are you saying you called this all along?"_

_"I'm not saying anything." Felicity replied. "Except Oliver brought me a laptop riddled with bullet holes, had me trace a black arrow, and research a company involved in armored car heists." She looked up at Dig. "I may be blonde, but I'm not that blonde."_

“And that is why Oliver gave all those lame-ass excuses: to test her, see if she could figure out something was up with him and if she would still help him. She did.” Arsenal explained.

 

_"Yeah, Oliver's not too great with the cover stories." Dig admitted._

_Felicity chuckled. "Neither are you. The two of you with that whole energy drink hangover cure? Please." She paused and looked to Dig. "What was really in that vial, anyway?"_

_"Vertigo." He answered._

_Felicity snapped her fingers. "I knew it! I mean, I didn't know it was Vertigo for sure, but I definitely knew it wasn't something that could cure a hangover."_

_"Yeah, we needed it analyzed so we could take down the count." Diggle admitted. Felicity looked at him in surprise._

_"That was you and Oliver?" she asked._

_"And you, Felicity." He said. "Without you, we never would have found him."_

_"But why come to me?" she asked, confused._

_"Hard as it probably is for him to admit, even Oliver needs help sometimes." Diggle replied, sitting down and staring at his friend._

_Back on the island, Slade took down the soldiers with mechanical precision, clearing a path for Oliver to the tower. Oliver ran, reaching the tower and clambering up the steps. He paused at the door, slowly peeking in the window inside and seeing only person working at the radio. Slowly, he reached up and opened the door, and moved inside. He crept up on the soldier, but he spotted Oliver out of the corner of his eye and jumped up. Oliver swung clumsily with the sword; the soldier ducked and sent Oliver sprawling into the equipment. The soldier drew his sidearm and aimed it at Oliver, who tried in vain to disarm the man the same way Slade had disarmed him the day before. The solder contemptuously threw Oliver off of him and back into the equipment and held him there, reaching for his radio to call in the attack._

“Oh no, this isn’t good.” Tommy groaned.

 

“If only Slade had had more time to train him.” Diggle cursed.

 

_The scene flashed forward to the Lair. The heart monitor Diggle had attached to Oliver was beeping erratically and the man was shaking on the table. Diggle and Felicity ran over to him._

_"What's happening?!" Felicity asked, worried._

_"There's a syringe labeled Ativan." Diggle said, pointing to the cart. "It should stop the seizure. Go!" Felicity ran to the cart, but suddenly the monitor flatlined. "His heart stopped." Dig announced._

“No.” Thea whimpered.

 

Laurel took her hand, even as tears formed in her own eyes. Tommy put his head in his hands, telling himself this couldn’t be happening.

 

_"I'm calling 9-1-1." Felicity decided._

_"No. Wait, you can't." Dig argued. He ran over to the crash cart. He pulled off the shock pads and placed them on Oliver's chest, then reached for the paddles as he turned the machine on._

_"You know how to use one of those?" she asked._

_"We are about to find out." Diggle replied. He put the paddles on Oliver's chest and hit the buttons, but nothing happened._

_"You didn't say clear!" Felicity exclaimed as Diggle lifted the paddles._

“I don’t think that’s the problem!” Laurel snapped her fear and worry coming off as anger.

 

_He tried again, but again there was nothing, "I heard the charge." She said, running around to the machine. "That's good news." She reached into the drawer and pulled out a scalpel, then moved around the back and pried open the casing to the defibrillator._

_"How's that?" Dig asked._

_"It means it might not be the machine, it could be the wiring." She fiddled with the wires while Diggle watched his friend continued to flatline._

_"Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on!" he exclaimed under his breath._

_"Try again." She exclaimed, closing the case._

_"Clear." Diggle called. The paddles worked, and sent a shock through Oliver's heart. A second jolt restarted his heart, and Diggle put the paddles down with a sigh of relief._

“Oh thank god.” Laurel sighed in relief along with Tommy and Thea.

 

_"What the hell did you do?" he asked breathlessly._

_"I've been building computers since I was seven." She replied, a little breathless herself. "Wires are wires." Felicity looked up at Dig. "What do we do now?"_

_"Pray we don't have a heart attack ourselves." He replied._

_The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver watched as the soldier reached for the radio- then flinched back as a sword protruded through the man's chest. Slade pulled out the sword, letting the man's body drop to the floor._

_"One job to do, and you manage to screw up even then." Slade said sarcastically. He reached for the radio and hung it back up. "I'm going to go make sure that everything is clear. Stay here, keep the door locked. Do not let anybody in except for me. You got that?"_

_"Yeah." Oliver replied._

_"Here," Slade handed him the soldiers' sidearm. "Keep this. And try not to shoot yourself by mistake."_

_Slade walked out, leaving Oliver alone in the tower. He looked around, looking at all the equipment- and spotted a military satellite phone. Hesitantly he reached for the receiver. Picking it up, he held it to his ear and heard a dial tone. Making a decision, he dialed a familiar number._

_"Hello?"_

_Back in Starling City, Laurel paused in the hallway of Starling University, trying to hear who was on the other end._

Laurel stiffened. She remembered the call that day. At the time, she figured someone had pocket dialed her on accident.

 

_"Hello?" she checked the phone to see if the call was connected; it was. "Is anybody there?"_

_On the Island, Oliver could not bring himself to say anything, he was so overwhelmed with emotion._

“Why didn’t he say anything?” Laurel sighed.

 

“He was ashamed.” Dinah told her.

 

_Before he could speak, though, Slade came back in the tower and ripped the phone off the desk, cutting the line._

_"Have you lost your mind?" he snarled. "They might be monitoring the calls."_

_Oliver sighed, but before he could say anything the radio sounded._

_“This is Skyhawk 801 Foxtrot, we are 700 kilometers southeast of your position. ETA, three hours, 22 minutes, over.”_

_Slade took the mic. "Island tower, Skyhawk 801 Foxtrot. Acknowledged." There was silence. Worried, Slade hit the mic again. "Skyhawk 801 Foxtrot. Acknowledged."_

_“Of all creatures that breath and move upon the earth.”_

_Slade looked worried, Oliver was just confused. "What is that?" Oliver asked._

_"It's a challenge code." Slade explained. "They're trying to verify our identity." He lifted the mic once more. "Skyhawk 801 Foxtrot. Please repeat."_

“Oh crap.” Tommy groaned, not seeing Dinah’s smile.

 

_“Of all creatures that breath and move upon the earth.”_

_"Wait." Oliver said._

_"What?" Slade asked._

_"Wait, I know this. I know this!" he laughed shortly. "They picked the one book that I read in college."_

“Oh my god.” Laurel grinned as she realized what he was talking about.

 

“What?” Thea asked.

 

“It’s a line from The Odyssey. I remember it because I practically had to force him to read it.” Laurel explained.

 

_"What the hell are you talking about?" Slade demanded._

_"It's a quote, from 'The Odyssey'." He explained, thinking furiously. "Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the earth, nothing-nothing is born that is weaker than man."_

“Bred. Not born, bred.” Laurel said as they all stared at the screen intently.

 

_Are you sure about this? Because if you're wrong, this plane will turn around." Slade said._

_"Yes, yes. I'm positive." Oliver assured the man. "Nothing is born that is weaker than man. Say it." Slade lifted the mic, put Oliver put a hand on his to stop him. "Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait." At Slade's glare, "Sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Bred." He clarified. "Not born, bred. Nothing is bred that is weaker than man. That's it."_

“Thank god.” Laurel sighed in relief.

 

_Slade lifted the mic up and activated it. "Nothing is bred that is weaker than man." He said, staring at Oliver._

_“Roger that”. The voice on the radio said a moment later. “See you in a few hours. Out.”_

_Slade looked at Oliver, impressed. "'The Odyssey'." He said._

_"Yeah! It's, uh, well, it's a story about a guy who's trying to get home, so..." He gave a relieved sigh._

_"Well, after a few days at Langstughl Airbase, you'll be on your way home." He assured the boy._

_Oliver looked at him in confusion. "But you sound like you're not coming with me." He said._

_"I'll be coming with you." Slade replied. "After I radio in an airstrike on this location. I'm going to send Fyers and all his men straight back to hell."_

_"Wait." Oliver said, stopping the man in his tracks. "You can't blow up the island. Yao Fei is still out there."_

_"He is not my concern." Slade said._

_"Really? He's the only reason you came here." Oliver replied. "Rescuing him was your mission!"_

_"Well, the mission has changed." Slade seethed. "Edward Fyers is a mercenary and he is not on this island by mistake. He has plans for me and you that involve Yao Fei. And whatever they are, they must end."_

_"Yao Fei saved my life." Olive said plainly._

_"That is your debt to repay, not mine." Slade said simply. Oliver looked at him, then walked past him towards the door. Slade reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Where are you going?!" he demanded._

_Oliver stared back at him. "All my life," he began, "all that I've ever thought about is myself. I took my family for granted. I betrayed people that I loved. And I'm not going to be that person anymore." He stood straighter. "I can't leave Yao Fei here to die." He stated. "I won't."_

_"The plane leaves in three hours." Slade said. "If you and your friend are not on it, I am going to leave without you."_

_Oliver nodded, then turned back and opened the door. He stepped halfway out, then stopped and turned back to Slade. "If I don't make it back in time, and you get out of here I want you to call my family." He told him. "Call my family."_

Those who had known Oliver before the island stared at the screen. Although they had seen him perform such feats in the past, to see him do such things when he was closer to the selfish playboy was another thing. They all stared at the screen with a mix of emotions such as shock, pride, and others.

 

_Slade stared back, a myriad of emotions playing over his face. "Sure, kid." He said finally._

_Oliver went out the door, then ran down the stairs and sprinted across the airfield to the forest, heading for the main camp._

_Back in the present, the heart monitor flatlined again._

_"He's going into cardiac arrest again." Diggle said, reaching for the paddles._

_"No." Felicity reached down and fiddled with the sensor on his chest. "Ah. The leads just came loose."_

“He’s gonna give me a heart attack.” Tommy said wearily as he leaned back in his seat.

 

“He was always good at doing that.” Dinah said fondly.

 

_"Arghh!" Dig exclaimed in frustration. He dropped into a chair. "It's less stressful when he's jumping off rooftops."_

_Felicity chuckled, walking around the lair again. "Ohh." She said, picking up Oliver's bow. "This bow has put arrows in quite a few people." She said, drawing back the string._

“You don’t know him. You have no right to judge my brother.” Thea hissed angrily.

 

_"Yeah, bad people." Diggle noted._

_"That doesn't bother you?" she asked. "Because… and I mean this in a good way, you seem like the kind of guy it would bother." She said, putting the bow back down._

_Diggle considered her for a moment. "When I was in Afghanistan, my unit was tasked with protecting this local war lord. Gholem Qadir. Qadir was less than human, sold opium. Sold children. One day, we were accompanying him to Mosul when my convoy was ambushed by insurgents. We had them outgunned. Fire fight didn't last more than a minute. When the smoke cleared, I moved in on their position. They were all dead. I knew which one I had killed. When I pulled off his keffiyeh, I could see it was just a kid, no more than 18. Shot him in the throat. I killed this kid to protect this human piece of garbage, and I thought, am I still good? Am I still a good man?" he stood and walked over to Felicity. "Doing this with Oliver; doing what we do, I feel good again for the first time in a long time." He said._

“So this is about redemption for you?” Laurel asked and Diggle and he was silent for a moment.

 

“I’ve seen go to crap for years. Even though I haven’t been back often and seen how bad it has gotten, I’ve seen the city go from bad to worse. It’s not about redemption as much as it’s about saving the city.”

 

_"And that's worth all the collateral damage?" she asked._

_"I haven't killed anyone, if that's what you're asking."_

_"But he has." She looked down at Oliver._

_Diggle sighed. "Unfortunately, there are always casualties when you're fighting a war."_

_The scene changed back to the past. Oliver stealthily approached the camp, ducking behind a truck as several soldiers walked past. By chance he spotted Yao Fei entering a tent; once the coast was clear he ran across the road and ducked into the tent._

_Yao Fei looked up in surprise. "How did you-"_

_"Come on, let's go." Oliver said. "I'll explain on the way."_

_"Stupid boy. You should never have come back here!" he exclaimed._

_"I found Slade Wilson and he has a way off the island, but we have to go right now." Oliver said quickly._

_"No."_

_Oliver looked puzzled. "No! What? What do you mean, no? This is our chance. What-what reason could you possibly have for staying here?!" he asked._

_"Not what." Yao Fei said. "Who."_

“A parent will never leave their child behind.” Dinah said softly.

 

_Suddenly Fyers entered the tent, followed by Wintergreen. Thinking fast, Yao Fei punched Oliver in the face, sending him to the ground._

_"Ah, Mr. Queen," he said as his vision dimmed. "I think its past time you left this island. Permanently."_

“This is so not good.” Tommy said as he, Laurel, and Thea stared at the screen worried and tense.

 

_Back at the ACT, Slade was still manning the radio._

_"Skyhawk 801 Foxtrot. This is island tower. You're clear to land." Slade said. He checked his watch, then looked up, considering._

_Back at the camp, a bound Oliver was thrown into a ring of soldiers, much like the night Yao Fei 'killed' him._

_"Simply to satisfy my own curiosity, why aren't you already dead?" Fyers asked. "I saw Yao Fei choke you to death."_

_"I guess he's not as strong as he looks." Oliver quipped darkly. The surrounding soldiers laughed._

_"Still, you return for him." Fyers said. "So you're either a fool, or is it possible you now think yourself a hero?"_

_"I'm not a hero." Oliver said quietly._

_"Of course not." Fyers replied. "It's not possible to be a hero when there's nobody worthy of saving." Fyers turned and walked out of the circle._

_"Is this what you want?" he called out to him. "Did you want me to fight him again?!"_

_Fyers turned around. "Oh, no, Mr. Queen. That's where you're mistaken." He said. "This is not a match. It's an execution."_

_"I'm sorry." Yao Fei said._

_He felt more than heard the man approach, and Oliver turned to see Wintergreen standing there._

_"It's Wintergreen, right? Bill Wintergreen?" Oliver asked defiantly. Wintergreen backhanded him hard across the face, staggering the boy. Oliver pulled himself up. "I know all about you. I know you work for the Australian government. And that you used to fight for your country. That you used to stand for something!" he shouted. Wintergreen let loose with a devastatingly quick combo of lefts and rights that sent Oliver to his knees._

“Don’t antagonize the bad guys Ollie.” Tommy groaned.

 

_Wintergreen unsheathed his sword and cut Oliver's bonds, and he managed to push himself back to his feet- just for Wintergreen to hit him twice more, sending him back to his knees. Wintergreen reached down and grabbed Oliver by the throat as the soldiers looked on. "Whatever he's paying you, I'll triple it." Oliver gasped._

“Wintergreen won’t be satisfied with simply money. He wants power, that’s what he craves.” Diggle noted.

 

_Suddenly, and explosion ripped through the camp. Soldiers in the circle started dropping by sniper fire, even as more explosions rocked the camp. Wintergreen dropped Oliver to the ground and stood there defiantly, even as Fyers and Yao Fei ran for cover._

_"How many of them are there?!" Fyers shouted into his radio. Oliver ran off and ducked behind a truck as Slade Wilson walked towards Wintergreen._

“He came back.” Arsenal said surprised.

 

“He was a good man. Once.” Dinah admitted looking like she had swallowed something sour.

 

_"Slade." His old friend said. "Come back to die?"_

_Slade withdrew his sword and attacked. Oliver watched as his former tormentor battled his new found ally in a fast, brutal fight. Both men hit hard, aiming to maim and kill._

_"Was it so easy to betray me, Billy?" Slade asked through gritted teeth. Wintergreen took a swipe with his sword, but Slade caught his arm, twisting it, then landed several hard shots to Wintergreens head. Finally he took his sword and held it up to Wintergreen's throat. "You know Billy, you always had a good kick." He snarled, and then jammed the sword through his eye._

“The universe likes to laugh at Slade to.” Arsenal said dryly and Dinah nodded, smirking viciously.   


_Slade dropped the body and looked over at Oliver, who rose from behind the truck. All of the sudden a shot rang out and Slade went down, hit in the arm. Oliver saw Fyers behind another truck, firing his sidearm, so he ran to Slade, grabbing a Type-95 assault rifle off the ground as he went. He pulled up Slade and returned fire, forcing Fyers to take cover._

_"Come on! Come on!" Oliver urged, pulling Slade to cover. He was leading him down the road when suddenly a soldier appeared, jamming his gun in Oliver's face. On instinct, Oliver disarmed the soldier exactly as Slade had done to him days earlier, much to Slade's amazement._

“Holy shit.” Tommy muttered as they stared at the screen in amazement.

 

_Holding the gun on the fallen soldier, he found he was unable to pull the trigger. Instead, he cracked the butt of the gun over the soldier's head, knocking him out._

_The sounds of engines roaring overhead caused the men to look up to see the cargo plane abort its landing and takeoff back into the sky._

_"There goes our plane." Slade said needlessly._

They had known Oliver would not make it home that day. Still, Tommy, Laurel, and Thea still deflated, surprised by how disappointed they were.

 

_Later, back at the fuselage, Oliver was digging Fyers bullet out of Slade's arm with a K-Bar knife. Slade screamed through gritted teeth, his arms flexing but unmoving thanks to the ropes that secured his wrists behind his back. Oliver finally managed to get the bullet out, and then stepped back to compose himself._

_"Wow." Slade gasped in pain. "I'm impressed. You didn't puke."_

_"I swallowed it." Oliver admitted weakly._

“Ew!” Thea wrinkled her noise as she and Laurel looked disgusted.

 

_"You can untie me now." Slade said which Oliver did._

_"Why'd you want me to tie you up in the first place?" he asked._

_"A man in pain is unreliable." Slade explained._

“That’s who taught Oliver that? Why’d he teach me that if he learned it from him?” Arsenal groaned.

 

_"I was afraid I might kill you." He examined the wound. "Thanks." Suddenly Oliver started chuckling. Slade looked up at the boy. "What?"_

_"It's just… I'm trapped on an island and my only friend is named Wilson."_

Everyone suddenly snickered, as they saw the humor.

 

_"So." Oliver moved off, sighing. "What now?" he asked._

_"We hope my fireworks show set Fyers back, maybe enough for those who hired him in the first place to call things off." Slade said._

_"Hired him?"_

_"Well, Fyers is a merc. He follows the money. So he's on this island under someone's employ." Slade explained._

“Who on earth would employ that psychopath?” Laurel asked.

 

“Argus.” Arsenal said and everyone whirled towards him.

 

‘What?” Roy demanded.

 

“What we are seeing right now,” Dinah began, “is a plan by the head of Argus to assassinate a high profile target. Not that Fryers knew that. He was under the impression that it was something much different.”

 

_"Then what do we do?" Oliver asked._

_"We have to make sure that neither of us dies on this godforsaken island." Slade said._

_"I thought you said if we didn't get on the plane… we weren't going to make it." He said_

_Slade looked at Oliver with a genuine smile. "Well, that dumb kid that I trained, he would never have made it. You?" He held out his hand, and Oliver grasped it firmly. "You might just have a chance." Slade declared._

“I never really believed they were friends until this moment.” Arsenal muttered to Dinah, who simply nodded in agreement.

 

_That night at the Mercenary camp, Fyers was talking to employer on his satellite phone._

_"Yes, it's Fyers."_

_“Satellites showed multiple heat blooms on the island”. A man's voice said. “What the hell is happening there?”_

_"There was a complication."_

_“Slade Wilson””_

_"I'm handling it."_

_“Handle it better. I’ve worked too hard and planned for too long to have complication arise near the end.”_

_"I assure you, it won't happen again."_

_“And Yao-Fei?”_

_"I've ensured his cooperation."_

_“Good. I’ve paid you a lot of money Fryers. I expect a return on my investment.”_

_The call ended, and Fyers hung up his phone. He looked up to see Yao Fei walking towards him._

_"You sent for me." The Asian man said._

_"I'm a man of my word." Fyers said. "You made the right call today, turning in your young castaway. And for that, I'll grant you five minutes."_

_Fyers walked to the command tent, where a young, dark haired Asian woman lay on the ground. She was dressed in a tank top and cargo pants, and her hands were bound in front of her._

_"Shado? Shado! Shado!" he exclaimed, running to her and dropping to his knees. He pulled the woman into a hug._

_“Father?” She asked in her native language._

_“I’m so sorry.” He replied in the same language._

_“Father, what’s happening?” She asked tearfully._

_"Shh, shh, shh." He held her close. "It will all be over soon." he assured her. He held her close, his arms tightening around her back._

_On her left shoulder was a tattoo of a dragon's head._

“Isn’t that…?” Tommy trailed off.

 

“The exact same tattoo Ollie has on his back? Yes.” Dinah confirmed.

 

“Relax, it’ll all make sense soon enough.” Arsenal promised.

 

_In the present day, Oliver opened his eyes, noting he was lying on a table in the infirmary. "I guess I didn't die." He said weakly as Diggle and Felicity looked down. "Again." He added. "Cool." Diggle shook his head, causing Felicity to laugh._

“That’s all he can say?” Laurel shook her head in exasperation.

 

“He’d almost died so many times it had stopped fazing him.” Dinah explained and everyone looked, sad at all Oliver had had to go through.

 

_Soon he was sitting up, inspecting the wound with a small mirror. "It's not bad." He told Diggle. "So how am I going to explain this one?" he asked._

_Dig shrugged his shoulders. "Hickey gone wrong?" Oliver gave him a look, then gingerly pulled a blanket up over his shoulders._

_"The police collected a sample of your blood at Queen Consolidated." Felicity said from the computer. "I just hacked the crime lab and ordered the sample destroyed." She smiled. "Oops."_

“Oh thank god.” Thea sighed in relief, glad her brother’s secret was safe.

 

_Oliver walked over to her as she spun around in the chair. He noted the new set up for his computers. "Heh. I hope it's all right." She continued. "Your system looked like it was from the eighties, and not the good part of the eighties, like Madonna and, well, legwarmers."_

_"It's a lot of work." Oliver said. "Does that mean you're in?"_

_"You mean in as in I'm going to join your crusade?" she asked._

“This whole time, he was trying to recruit her?” Tommy aked and Dinah sighed.

 

“Yep, one of the dumbest things he ever did.” Dinah said.

 

“Really?” Laurel asked, not seeing how it would cause problems.

 

“He stopped researching his targets, which left him vulnerable more often than not. He let her do all the hacking, so his hacking abilities withered away to almost nothing.  And, over the years, Felicity developed a disturbing amount of influence over not just Oliver, but all of us.” Dinah explained and everyone shifted, not liking this.

 

“So, make sure she doesn’t get recruited is what you’re saying?” Tommy asked.

 

“That’s exactly what she’s saying.” Arsenal said.

 

“Okay, just checking.” Tommy said.

 

_"Well, you're practically an honorary member of the team already." He noted._

_"Hmm. So Mr. Diggle said." She said. Then added, "No."_

_Oliver looked at her, confused. "Then why'd you upgrade my system?" he asked, baffled._

_"First, because seeing a network that poorly set up hurts me. In my soul." She confided. "And second… I want to find Walter."_

_"My stepfather."_

_"He was nice to me." Felicity said. "And Mr. Diggle told me that the notebook you use to fight crime is the same notebook that got Walter abducted." Oliver glared at Diggle, who looked slightly abashed. "I'll help you rescue him, but that's it. Then I want to go back to my boring life of being an I.T. girl. That's my offer." She said._

“Then why didn’t you stick to it?” Dinah muttered.

 

_"Ok." Oliver said at once._

_"So I've been meaning to ask…" Felicity started, "Is there a bathroom? 'Cause I've had to pee since I got here."_

_Oliver chuckled. "It's upstairs to the left." He directed._

_"Great." She said, heading towards the stairs._

_"Felicity." Oliver said softly, stopping her in her tracks. She turned around and he held out his hand, which she took._

_"Thank you." He said, shaking her hand._

_"Yeah." She said, and then walked briskly up the stairs._

_"Oliver," Diggle started as Felicity walked up the stairs, "I know you don't want to hurt this girl and you didn't have any choice in telling her who you really were, but we're asking her to get involved in some pretty dangerous stuff."_

_"We can protect her." Oliver said._

_"How? Your mother just shot you, Oliver." Dig pointed out. "You can't even keep yourself safe."_

_"She was scared. She was defending herself."_

_"Or, she was hiding something." Dig countered. "Like maybe her involvement in Walter's disappearance, or worse."_

_"Diggle, we don't always know why people do what they do." Oliver said. "But what I do know is that when I was standing in her office with an arrow aimed at her heart, she begged me to spare her, all on behalf of me and Thea. Now, I've taken down a lot of bad people. None of them brought up their kids, Dig."_

“Because she hides behind you two like a shield, as if it will justify everything.” Arsenal noted.

 

_"Oliver, she had the list. Now she may not be in charge of whatever 'it' is, but she's definitely involved." Diggle said._

_"Involved in what?!" Oliver growled. "We don't even know what 'it' is, and until we do, she is off limits!" he ordered. "Am I clear?"_

_Diggle nodded. Oliver dropped into the chair Felicity had vacated. "But Oliver," Dig said, "are you saying this because you truly believe she's innocent? Or because you don't want to face the fact that your mother might be guilty?" he asked._

“It was probably the latter. He just couldn’t accept it, didn’t want to accept it.” Dinah explained.

 

“Something tells me that comes back to bite him in the ass.” Tommy said sarcastically.

 

“You have no idea.” Dinah said softly as she looked at him sadly.

 

_Diggle grabbed his jacket and headed out, leaving Oliver to think. The blanket slipped off his shoulder, and on his left shoulder was a tattoo of a dragon's head, marred by the new scar his mother had given him._

_The next day Oliver finally walked into Queen Manor. As he walked through the foyer, he heard his mother speaking to someone in the sitting room. Walking in he saw Moira, with Thea next to her, talking to Detective Lance._

_"… 6'1, and a deep voice." She was describing. She stopped when Oliver entered the room._

_"Hey." Oliver said. "What's going on?" he asked, feigning ignorance._

_Thea jumped to her feet and stalked towards him. "Where have you been?" she demanded. "I've been calling you all night!"_

_"I was at the club. I get zero reception in there." He told her._

_"Well then, maybe it's time you invest in a land line." She said, her arms crossed in annoyance._

_"Thea." Moira chastised lightly._

_Lance stood. "Your mother was attacked last night." He said. "By the Vigilante."_

_"What?!" he exclaimed._

_"He came after me at the office." Moira said._

_"Did he hurt you? Are you ok?"_

_"Actually, she hurt him." Lance said. "She shot him point blank with a gun hidden in her office."_

_"That should help with your investigation." Oliver said. "Did you get any evidence, like a blood sample, or..."_

_Lance cleared his throat uneasily. "There was a screw-up at the lab." He admitted._

“A screw up. Right.” Roy drawled.

 

_"That's too bad." Oliver said, masking his relief._

_"Hmm." Lance replied. He looked over at Moira. "We'll be in touch." he said._

_"Thank you." Moira said as Lance walked out. She looked over to Oliver, and then grabbed him in a hug. "Oh, sweetheart. I was so scared."_

_Oliver gritted his teeth, hiding the pain in his shoulder. "I'm just glad you're ok." He told her._

_"I thought he was going to kill me." She admitted._

_"Hey." Oliver pulled back slightly, but kept his hands on her shoulders. "I promise you, he's never going to bother you again." He told her, and then hugged her once more._

“Please tell me he finally put it together.” Thea begged.

 

“He did…but by then it was almost too late.” Dinah admitted.

 

“So, like, one or two more then dinner?” Arsenal suggested.

 

“Two more, then we’ll go eat.” Dinah agreed as she started the next recording.


	19. The dodger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The viewers see the strengths and weakness of Felicity joining the team as Oliver and his team go after The dodger, a high profile jewel thief.

_The memory set opened in the Starling City Museum of Antiquities. A guard walked nervously into one of the numerous viewing galleries, his tie pulled down slightly and uniform shirt's collar unbuttoned. He moved towards the display in the center that held the massive Sherwood Ruby. In behind him walked his fellow guard Max, who looked at his colleague in concern._

_"Jerry." He said, trying to get the man's attention. "Jerry, you ok?"_

_"Yeah." He replied distractedly._

_"You look a little peaked, man." Max noted._

_"I'm fine. It's, uh… Mrs. Hill wants us to move the Sherwood into the vault." Jerry stammered out._

_"Now? It's mid-day." Max argued._

_"I know. She says it's a security threat. It's, uh, all the robberies lately." Jerry replied nervously._

“Uh-huh. And pigs fly.” Roy drawled.

 

_"Right, right." Max replied with a chuckle. Both men reached under the base and placed their index fingers on two hidden fingerprint scanners. Registering that both men were authorized, the base began to lower, exposing the massive gem. Max leaned in for a closer look-_

_And Jerry wacked him on the back of the head with his baton._

“Shit.” Roy said as they all stared at the screen, stunned.

 

_Hesitantly, he reached in and grabbed the ruby, which immediately set off alarms. A few moments later, he was walking as fast as he could down the hall, directing other guards and responding police back towards the room as he fiddled with his collar. He moved off into a side hall where a well-dressed man was leaning against a column. "Take this thing off me, all right?" he demanded, moving his collar aside to reveal the explosive device attached to his neck._

“The dodger.” Diggle muttered and Dinah nodded.

 

“Who?” Tommy asked confused.

 

“That’s what the media calls him. He’s a jewel thief. He puts explosive collars on the security detail of the place he’s gonna rob, makes them steal for him, then kills them if they don’t do exactly what he says.” Diggle explained.

 

“That’s sick.” Thea said as she paled at the information.

 

“There are sick people in the world.” Laurel told her.

 

_The man smirked in response, so Jerry reached into his coat and withdrew the ruby. "I got it like you asked. Here!" he handed it over to the man. "Take it off me!"_

_The man calmly reached into his own pocket and withdrew a small remote. A couple of clicks later the bomb collar disarmed and unlocked. Jerry quickly removed the device. "Were… were you… were you bluffing? I mean, would the thing have detonated?" he asked._

_"Violently." Dodger replied blandly. "Don't worry, though. You did exactly as I asked, so it's just unconsciousness for you."_

_"Unconscious?" Jerry said in confusion. An instant later Dodger tapped the end of his stun wand to Jerry's chest, and the guard collapsed, unconscious._

“I guess he was feeling merciful that day.” Diggle noted grimly.

 

_The scene changed to the Foundry. Oliver was working on the training dummy with an escrima sticks while Diggle looked on. Felicity was sitting at the computers, diligently running searches for Walter and surreptitiously watching Oliver as he worked out._

_"You might want to take it easy if you plan on taking someone off that list tonight." Dig noted. Oliver stopped hitting the dummy and caught his breath._

_"This is me taking it easy." He growled, snapping the bamboo stick in half on one of the dummy's arms._

_"So who's our lucky guy tonight?" Dig asked._

_"Ken Williams." Oliver replied. Felicity pushed her searches to the background as she pulled up information about Williams. "His pyramid scheme stole millions. People didn't just lose their homes. Their lives are ruined." Oliver walked to his work table and picked up his bow. Why don't you call it in early tonight, I'm not expecting much trouble." He said, walking away to quickly get changed._

_Felicity pulled up more information on Williams, and then looked back to where Oliver was walking towards the door. Making a decision, she locked the doors and blocked Oliver's code._

_Oliver walked up to the door and punched in his code, then tried to open the door. When it didn't budge, he entered his code again. A third time and he finally caught on._

_"Felicity!" he yelled, stalking back into the main area. "Did you just-"_

_"Computer override your lock." Felicity finished. "Maybe a little."_

“And she’s already interfering.” Thea grumbled.

 

“This is nothing. Be grateful you’re not seeing beyond year two.” Dinah told them.

 

_"What are you doing?" he asked._

_"I pulled up some information on Mr. Williams. Did you know he's a widowed father of a 10-year-old boy?" she said quickly. "I told you. I'm only in this to help Walter. Not to be an accessory to orphaning little kids!"_

“And I suppose him being a father makes everything he’s done all better!” Roy said in a fake chipper voice.

 

“Felicity tended to see only the black and white in situations. There was never any room for grey.” Arsenal explained.

 

“She knew who Oliver was before she signed on. She doesn’t get to have second thoughts now.” Laurel said firmly.

 

_"I'm just giving him a warning." Oliver argued._

_"Has it ever occurred to you that you could do some real good in the city?" she asked. "Beyond just recovering people's stock portfolios and their saving accounts."_

_Oliver leaned in close, and then reached past her to input a command into the computer. He heard a satisfying click s the doors unlocked. "You're not the only one who knows how to reboot my system." He told her softly._

_"I made a mistake." Felicity decided, standing from the chair._

“For once I agree with her.” Thea grumbled.

 

_"Getting in my way? I don't disagree." Oliver said._

_"No." Felicity said. "Signing on with you. Even provisionally." With that she stalked out of the lair. Oliver watched her walk away, and then glanced back at Diggle, who smiled in amusement._

“If only she’d stayed gone.” Dinah grumbled.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island. Slade way laying in the fuselage, wracked with a fever and coughing up a storm. Oliver walked up to him and knelt down, handing him a cup of water._

_"Hey, hey." He called to the man to get his attention. "Drink."_

_Slade did so, then immediately spat it out. "That tastes like dirt." He complained between coughs._

 

“They’re on a deserted island being chased by mercenaries. What did he expected, red wine?” Tommy asked dryly.

 

_"You've got to stay hydrated, ok?" Oliver said._

_"Hydration is not my problem." Slade argued. "My problem is getting a bullet dug out of my arm with a dull blade."_

_"Let me take a look." Oliver said. Gingerly, he pulled back the bandage on his arm and grimaced._

Laurel, Thea, and Tommy looked away at the sight, the only ones not used to such sights as Slade’s infected flash.

 

_Slade groaned. "It's infected. Go figure."_

_"Yeah, uh I got to stop that before it spreads." Oliver declared. He stood up and started gathering some equipment._

_"When you swing past the drugstore for those antibiotics, you want to get me a copy of 'Maxim', or maybe a 'Sports Illustrated'?" Slade gasped sarcastically._

_"Yao Fei had these super herbs back in the cave that'd heal anything." Oliver told the man. "I'm going to go get them."_

_"You're not going to last an hour out there." Slade said bluntly._

_"Well, I guess you better hope I get back in 45 minutes, then." Oliver replied glibly as he walked out of the fuselage._

_The scene flashed back to Queen Manor. The doorbell rang and Moira herself opened the door. On the other side stood Frank Chen, a businessman and old friend of hers and Roberts. "Thank you for coming." Moira said, hugging the man. "Ahh. It is so good to see you, Frank. It's been far too long."_

_"Yes." Frank said as Moira took his arm and began leading him to the sitting room. "My interests in China have kept me away more than I'd like. But with The Undertaking approaching, I thought a return to Starling City was in order."_

_"Hmm." Moira said thoughtfully. "Actually Frank, it's The Undertaking that I wanted to talk to you about. I want to get out." She declared. Frank looked at her in surprise._

_"Is this because of what happened to Walter?" he asked._

_Moira sighed. "With Walter, with Robert. Last week the Vigilante nearly made my children orphans. I've reached my limit, Frank."_

“So that’s how it happened.” Arsenal mused as those from the past stared in shock.

 

“So, Oliver went after Mrs. Queen because of my dad. And because of that, Mrs. Queen is going after my dad? I’m sure there’s a special kind of irony there.” Tommy said dryly.

 

_"That's, uh, a lot to confide in me, Moira." Frank said cautiously, making his way to the sofa._

_"Robert did." Moira replied. "I know he reached out to you; whether I was supposed to know it or not. He had misgivings. He sought you out because he knew you did, too."_

_"But then he was murdered." Frank said bluntly. "And that should be a cautionary tale for both of us."_

“You would know, you traitorous son of a bitch.” Dinah sneered.

 

“What?” Thea asked confused.

 

“Frank Chen is the one who told Malcolm about Robert planning to back out of The Undertaking.” Dinah explained.

 

“That son of a bitch.” Tommy sneered angrily.

 

_"Yes, I know." Moira said. "And I've gone along with this for as long as I can stomach it. We started this to fix the Glades, Frank." She argued. "To cure the city, not lay it to waste. You got into this because of what happened to your daughter. Frank… what would Amanda want you to do?" she asked. Frank looked indecisive for a few moments, and then looked back at Moira, giving her a subtle nod._

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Diggle and Oliver walked into Felicity's office in the I.T. Department- to find it empty._

_"Well. Maybe we should come back later." Oliver said glibly, walking around the small space._

_"No, maybe we should wait, Oliver." Dig argued. "This is really serious. What if her next attack of conscience leads her right to the police?"_

_"Oh, she won't say anything." Oliver said. "I know. I had to make the same calculation when you found out about me."_

_"Mm-hmm. And what would you have done if you were wrong, and I decided to make a call to detective Lance?" Dig asked._

_Oliver looked at him, his face dead serious. "I would have put an arrow in you." He said, walking past the man with a smirk._

_"Ha!" Dig laughed, and then looked back at his boss, worried. "Really-really-you really would have done that, really?"_

“He would’ve.” Arsenal agreed and Diggle paled.

 

_Oliver was about to reply when Felicity walked in. She gave Oliver a cold look. "Hmm." She said, walking past him to her desk. "I had a bet going with myself on how quickly you two would visit. Tell me not to reveal your secret. Looks like I won."_

“God, even back then she was a bitch to Ollie.” Dinah said disgusted.

 

“Yeah, and it only got worse over the years.” Arsenal noted.

 

_"Actually, Felicity, I was hoping that I could get you to change your mind." Oliver said quickly. "I was worked up on adrenaline last night, and I didn't exactly put my best foot forward. I was hoping you'd give me the opportunity to do that now."_

_"How about you start with Ken Williams?" she said as she sat at her desk and booted up her computer. "Did he also get to enjoy your adrenaline last night?"_

_"No, he returned the money that he stole just in time to put his son to bed." Oliver replied, leaning on her desk. "Like I said, Felicity, just a warning."_

_Their attention was taken a moment later by the news playing on Felicity's computer. McKenna Hall was talking at a press conference about the Dodger case. 'At this time, we'd like to remind the public that we are coordinating our efforts with Interpol as the Dodger operates primarily in Europe, and they have advised us to warn the public that he is to be considered armed and extremely dangerous.'_

_"You know, I heard about this guy." Dig said. "They call him the Dodger because he avoids getting his hands dirty. He uses hostages to do his stealing for him."_

_"How?" Oliver asked, curious._

_"Puts a bomb collar around their necks." Dig replied. "Last year, a guy in Madrid didn't steal what the Dodger told him to, and it took his head off. Literally."_

_"And now the psycho's in Starling City?" Felicity said. "It's too bad his name's not in your notebook." She added mockingly._

“I’m liking her less and less. Which is saying something.” Thea grumbled.

 

_"You know, not all the people that I target are on the list." Oliver said, sensing an opportunity. "Every once in a while, I make an exception." Felicity looked at him, interest playing in her eyes. "A hostage-taking jewel thief, for example. How about you help us take him down?"_

“And she doesn’t even realize he’s manipulating her.” Laurel scoffed.

 

_The scene changed to a small art gallery downtown. A short, portly man with a gray beard paced around while his security guards looked on, impassively._

_"He's late." The man growled. From behind him, footsteps could be heard and a moment later Dodger walked into the room._

_"Never." He told the man in his cultured voice. Dodger walked up to a table and laid his briefcase down upon it. He opened it to reveal the Sherwood Ruby._

_"I maintain a Swiss account for financial transactions." Dodger said calmly, handing him a card. "Here's the number."_

_"Thanks. I'll wire you the money. Assuming I don't misplace the numbers." The dealer said sarcastically, tossing the card over his shoulder. "My bookkeeping method is a little sloppy."_

_"Really?" Dodger said in dark amusement. The dealer's three bodyguards moved in, all pointing their guns at his head. "Clearly you're under the impression that you can have the Sherwood Ruby for a steal."_

_"Well, you're new here in town." The dealer said cockily. "We're not as refined in Starling City."_

_"I am getting that impression." Dodger replied with a smile. Then his left hand snapped out, grasping the first man's gun and forcing it up. At the same time he pulled out his stun wand with his right hand and shocked the two men on either side of him, then shocked the man in front of him. The confrontation lasted less than three seconds. Dodger cleared his throat. "Don't worry. Your men are merely unconscious." He told the dealer, pointing the gun at his head. "In about 17 minutes, they'll wake up with the ability to tell every other fence in this town that I'm not a man not to be trifled with."_

_"What about me?" the dealer stammered._

_Dodger gave him a look. "Umm…" he pulled the trigger, putting a bullet into the other man's head. The dealer collapsed to the ground, dead. "What about you, indeed." Dodger finished sarcastically._

“Wow. And I thought Deadshot was bad.” Diggle muttered disgusted.

 

_The scene changed to Big Belly Burger. Oliver, Diggle and Felicity were seated in a booth brainstorming._

_"So to catch this guy, we need to either figure out where he is, or where he's going to be." Oliver declared._

_"Is this really how you guys figure out how to get your target?" Felicity asked in bemusement. "Over burgers and shakes?"_

_"Sorry it took me so long." Carly said, running up to their table and dropping off a sugar shaker for Felicity's coffee. "I'm waiting on a bunch of particularly rowdy customers." She nodded to a far window seat populate with young kids making a racket._

_"You need me to handle that?" Dig asked._

_Carly smiled at him. "I appreciate it, but I'm a pro by now."_

_"I'll be here if you need me." He told her as she walked away. Felicity looked at the bodyguard._

_"Girlfriend?" she asked._

_"No, it's my sister in law." Dig replied._

_"Hmm." Felicity said noncommittally._

_"Sort of." Diggle amended._

_"Carly was married to Dig's brother. And he passed away." Oliver explained._

_"Hmm." Felicity said again. "Well, looks like she's hot for you." She told Diggle, winking at him._

_"Can we get back to crime fighting, please?" Diggle asked, embarrassed._

_"Actually, Dig, I was thinking, you probably should ask her out." Oliver said._

_"Really?"_

_"Mm-hmm."_

_Diggle sat back in his seat, his arms folded. "I'll do that just five minutes after you ask out McKenna." He dared the younger man._

“You got him there.” Arsenal chuckled although he avoided looking at Diggle.

 

Something his younger self was noticing he did every time he talked to the military man. In fact, he hadn’t even looked at Diggle during lunch, Roy realized. What went on between his future self and Diggle, Roy wondered.

 

_"Ooh, the detective on the Dodger case." Felicity said with a smile. "You have a thing for her?"_

_"Yes." Dig confirmed._

_The two smiled at Oliver, who looked stoically back. He turned his stare on Diggle. "I don't see you asking Carly out." He noted._

_Diggle starred back, and then rapped on the table with his knuckles as he pushed himself out of the booth. Felicity smiled as she watched him head towards Carly._

“Good for you Dig.” Tommy said as he patted the Bodyguard on the back.

 

_"Felicity," Oliver said, getting her attention, "this guy, he's targeting a very specific type of jewel. We figure out why, and that'll give us the how to catch him."_

_"I have an idea." Felicity said suddenly._

_"Mm-hmm?" Oliver looked at her with interest._

_"Your crush object with a badge said they were working with Interpol." She started._

_"Yeah…"_

_"Why don't I work up a little tech, you distract her with a little flirty flirt, slip said tech onto her phone. It'll turn into a micro transmitter, and boom, we'll learn everything she knows."_

_"Hmm." Oliver considered. "It's not how I typically get my information."_

_"How do you typically do it?" she asked._

_"I find the person. And then I put the fear of God into them until they talk." He said seriously. "But we can try your way." He added._

“Say what you will about Felicity, but she did introduce him to a more effective and subtle way of gathering information.” Arsenal pointed out and Dinah grumbled something that was either ‘sure’ or ‘bite me.’

 

_Over at the counter, Diggle stood nervously with Carly. "You know, Carly," he stammered, "I don't want this to, um, you know, to come off weird or anything, it's just…" he took a breath and just went for it. "Would you like to have dinner?"_

_"How about tonight?" she replied at once._

_"Tonight?" Dig said, surprised._

_"What?" she asked. "We haven't waited long enough?" Diggle smiled._

Diggle grinned even as he felt the stirrings of guilt.

 

_The scene changed to the Glades. Thea and Laurel were at a street vendor getting some lunch._

_"Mmm." Thea said after taking a bight of her hot dog. "Who knew street meat could taste so good?"_

_"I had a feeling you needed a break from the office." Laurel replied after she paid. The two started walking back towards the office. "Hank was my first client. I kept his son from being sent away for a mugging that he didn't commit." She confided._

_"And how did that not score you free hot dogs for life?" Thea asked._

_"CNRI gives low income people access to the legal system. Without them, his son could have gone to prison forever."_

_"I could have gone to prison, too." Thea argued weakly._

_Laurel chuckled. "He couldn't afford a dream team of super lawyers."_

_"So I'm supposed to feel guilty because I'm lucky enough to have a rich family?" Thea asked defensively._

_"No. You are lucky." Laurel said. "And hopefully CNRI will show you that."_

_Thea opened her mouth to respond when suddenly her purse was snatched from her hand. "Hey!" she yelled as the young man in a red hoodie took off at a full sprint._

_Laurel took off right behind him, with Thea following close behind. The thug barely missed a car, and then turned down an alley that was blocked by a high fence. He stopped in annoyance, and then turned to see Laurel and Thea standing not four feet away._

“Hey, it’s me.” Roy said surprised as Thea glared at him.

 

“Yeah, and you’re stealing my purse.” Thea glared at him.

 

“Our first date. Good times.” Arsenal said cheerfully and the two turned to him startled.

 

“Him?” Thea said as she pointed at Roy.

 

“Her?” Roy mimicked her tone and action.

 

“Us?” They asked in sync.

 

“I guess that old saying’s true: opposite’s do attract.” Diggle quipped.

 

“Just enjoy the show. You’ll see.” Arsenal assured the two teens.

 

_"Give us the purse, and we won't press any charges." Laurel offered. The thug smirked, then ran up the wall, grasped the top of the fence and jumped over it. He landed on his feet facing the two stupefied women, and then bolted._

_Thea scoffed. "Yeah, you're right." She said, trying to catch her breath. "I really do feel lucky."_

_Laurel walked up to the fence and pulled a long chain loose. "This got snagged as he bolted over the fence." She noted, tossing it to Thea. "Looks like a chain from his wallet."_

“Aw man!” Roy groaned as Thea smirked.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD. McKenna Hall was going through some files on her desk when she looked up at a knock on her cubicle. She smiled to see Oliver Queen standing there. "I thought you gave up crime fighting." She said with a chuckle._

_That startled Oliver. "What?"_

_"Well, the business with your sister." Hall explained, and Oliver instantly relaxed. "I figured you'd stay out of police precincts."_

_This time Oliver chuckled. "Yeah, I saw you on the news and I realized that I never thanked you for everything that you did, so..." He smiled. "Thank you." He looked around her cube. "So you got promoted." He noted._

_Hall nodded with a smile. "Major Crimes." She told him._

_"Wow."_

_"And they assigned me to the Dodger case. He extorts people into stealing for him." She explained._

_Oliver nodded. "How's that going?" he asked casually._

_"Slow." Hall admitted. She gestured for him to stay put for a minute, and walked away to quickly file some papers in the file cabinet._

_Oliver watched her walk off, and then looked down on her desk. There sitting on top of everything was her phone. Casually he picked it up, peeled back the rubber cover, and placed a small micro transmitter Felicity had made onto the back of the phone. It beeped to let him know it was active, so he replaced the cover and set the phone down just as he found it. A moment later Hall walked back over._

_"Well… it was nice seeing you the last time that I saw you." He started._

_Hall smiled. "Yeah. It's good seeing you, too. It was like old times. Except the PG version." She added._

_Oliver smiled. "How do you mean?" he asked._

_"Well, you and I always knew how to have a fun time. Something that's been missing from my life lately." She noted sourly._

_"So how about a drink?" Oliver said suddenly "Not now. Would you, maybe… I'll take you for a… would you like to have dinner with me, McKenna?" he stammered out. Both laughed lightly at his delivery. "I don't know if you heard, I was on a deserted island for five years and I am totally out of practice with this whole… hmm." He noted with a wry smile._

_"Well…well, dinner would be nice." Hall said with a smile. "In fact, I can make myself free tonight."_

_"Yeah." Oliver said with a smile._

_"Great." Hall replied._

_"So I'll grab you at eight?"_

_"That's perfect."_

_"All right."_

_"Ok."_

_Oliver smiled shyly. "I'm lingering. I'm going to go." He turned and walked away with a bounce in his step._

“He accomplished his mission and scored a date. He’s still got game.” Tommy noted, not noticing Laurel’s jealous expression.

 

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Oliver walked into the cave, pausing a moment to look at his former 'home'. Then he moved over to Yao Fei's supplies, rotting around for a moment before finding the small leather pouch that contained the herbs. He put them in his vest and was about to leave when the sounds of someone coughing caught his attention. "Who's there?! " he called out, whirling around to face the cave's opening and turned on his flashlight to see a young man, his bearded face swollen and bloodied, his hands bound behind him staggering in._

“Good god.” Laurel breathed as she, Tommy, and Thea stared at the screen in shock.

 

_"Help me." The man said weakly as he leaned against the cave wall._

_The scene changed to the Lair. Felicity sat at her computer, surrounded by Dig and Oliver, and listened as the bug Oliver had planted did its job._

_-Lance.-_

_-Sergeant, it's Detective Hall. I have an update on the Dodger case. A body was found in an art gallery, shot point blank. There were three other men there, all rendered unconscious by a highly focused electric current to the heart.-_

_-Same M.O. as that guard at the museum. Got an ID on the vic?-_

_-His name is Cass Derenick.-_

_"Pause." Oliver said, and Felicity did so. "Who's Cass Derenick?" he asked._

_Felicity quickly pulled up the info on the art dealer, including his rap sheet. "Arrest, possession of stolen goods. Arrest, conspiracy. Conviction, attempted sale of stolen goods."_

_"This guy's a fence." Diggle surmised. "The Dodger's looking to unload the Sherwood Ruby."_

_"Which means he'll be in the market for a new fence." Felicity noted. "One he hasn't, you know- killed."_

_"So we find the fence and we find the Dodger." Oliver declared._

“Somehow, I don’t think it’ll be that easy.” Tommy muttered.

 

“It rarely is.” Diggle told him.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Thea was on the phone with a shop she had been looking into on line, trying to find a lead on the guy who stole her purse._

_"Anyway, I saw online that you sell a chain wallet with an eight ball on the chain." She was saying. "I was wondering if you could give me a name of one of your customers if I gave you a description? Yeah, sure, you can call be back." She sighed, annoyed. She looked up and gave Oliver a tired smile as he walked into the office. "Like every other used clothing and leather goods store I've called today." She finished, hanging up._

“You won’t give it a rest, will you?” Roy asked amused.

 

“You know how much that purse cost?” Thea demanded.

 

“Do you?” Roy challenged.

 

“Don’t change the subject!” Thea snapped.

 

“Children? When you’re done, we have a recording to view.” Arsenal drawled and they flushed.

 

_Oliver looked at her curiously. "What was that about?"_

_"What's up with the fancy-fancy?" Thea asked, ignoring his question._

_"What?" Oliver looked down at his suit. "Oh, um, I have a date. Contrary to popular opinion, I do have a life."_

_"Then why do you seem so nervous?" she asked._

_"Is it obvious?"_

_"Just be your charming and brooding self." She said with a wry smile. "I mean, the girls seem to dig that."_

_Oliver sighed. "This girl is different. She knew me before the island, before I was-" he was cut off by Thea's phone ringing. She looked down and saw it was one of the stores she had called earlier and snatched it up._

_"That's CNRI." She lied. "I've got to take this. I'm working on a very important purse snatching case."_

_"Yeah." Oliver said curiously. Taking the hint though, he turned and walked out of the office as she took the call._

_"Hello?" Thea said, ignoring her brother's exit completely. "Yes, I called you this morning. Yeah, he might have been wearing a red hoodie. Kind of Abercrombie-looking._

Arsenal burst out laughing as everyone but Dinah looked at him weirdly.

 

“Something funny?” Roy asked.

 

“A friend of mine used to call me that, that’s all.” Arsenal said as he calmed down.

 

_His face, not the hoodie." She clarified. "Really? You wouldn't happen to have his name?" she asked excitedly. She wrote down the name. "Thank you so much." She gushed, and then hung up. Quickly scrolling through her phone, she found Laurel's number and dialed. "Hey, Laurel. Does your dad still like arrest people?" she listened for a moment, and then smiled. "I found the dirt bag. His name is Roy Harper."_

“I’d take offense to that but I did steal your purse.” Arsenal noted.

 

_The scene changed to a small park lit up with Christmas lights. Diggle and Carly were walking slowly on the main path, taking in the sights._

_"I can't remember the last time I was here." Carly said. "It's so beautiful."_

_"Yeah, this was the place to take a girl in high school." Dig said with a grin._

_"Hmm, I was never lucky enough to experience that." Carly lamented. “I had braces and terrible bangs back then."_

_Both of them chuckled. Dig turned to her and smiled. "I'm sure you looked amazing."_

_"I'm glad we finally got around to doing this." Carly said as they came to a stop._

_"Me, too." Dig agreed. The two looked at each other for a few moments, and then Dig continued. "You know, Andy set a pretty high bar when it came to first dates." He noted._

“You idiot.” Tommy told Diggle who flinched.

 

“Even he knows that was dumb.” Laurel told Diggle scornfully.

 

“Yea, hey!” Tommy glared at Laurel.

 

“Get over it Tommy. Point is, the last thing she wants to talk about on her date with you is her dead husband.” Laurel told the wincing Diggle.

 

“Not my best moment.” Diggle admitted.

 

_Carly's happy expression fell from her face. "Hmm." She said noncommittally._

_"You know, he'd face down armed gunmen for a living but I've never seen him as scared as he was before that first date with you." Dig finally realized what he was doing, and groaned. "Ohh, Carly, I'm sorry." He apologized. "That wasn't good first date etiquette, was it?"_

_"Bring up Andy when we are having a romantic night? Probably not." She replied coldly._

_"Look, Carly, this is difficult and complicated." Dig said. "It's not like there's a manual, you know?"_

_"You know… for a moment, I…I felt like a girl who likes a boy, and nothing else mattered." Carly said, near tears. "But if this is too hard for you, or too complicated, then please, just get out now, because I've already been hurt too much."_

_"Carly, listen, I'm sorry-"_

_"Can you just please take me home?" she interrupted angrily before stalking away. Diggle sighed._

“Nice going man.” Tommy said sarcastically and Diggle winced.

 

_The scene changed to Oliver's date with McKenna as the two were sharing a chocolate soufflé at Table Salt._

_"Mmm." She moaned in pleasure. "No, no, no, no, it is not possible for something to be this good!"_

_Oliver smiled. "Right?" he agreed._

_"Ohh! So you must have missed soufflés." McKenna said absently._

_Oliver frowned slightly in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked._

_"Five years on an island, away from civilization." She said, and his smile slipped further. "Ah, what did you do? What did you eat? Where'd you sleep? How did you make it?" she rambled on._

_Oliver leaned forward. "McKenna." He whispered, interrupting her._

_McKenna blushed. "Sorry." She said contritely. "Didn't mean to drill you."_

_"It's ok." Oliver lied._

_"It's just I haven't had a conversation with a guy in a while without it resulting in me reading him his rights." She added, and both chuckled. The both paused and took a drink. "Yeah, but those years, they must have changed you." McKenna noted._

_Oliver thought back to being shot with an arrow right after burying his father._

_"From a guy I used to party with to who you are now."_

_Oliver thought about the beating given to him by Wintergreen._

“And the award for least tact goes to.” Thea said scornfully.

 

“I get that she’s a cop but doesn’t she think if Oliver wants to talk about it, it’s not gonna be on the first date?” Laurel said scornfully, glaring at the screen.

 

_"Yeah." Oliver thought back to the bound man staggering into Yao Fei's cave. "Because I had to make some tough choices." The happy smile was gone, and in its place was the mask. "You're right. It changed me."_

_"What kind of tough choices—" she started, but Oliver cut her off._

_"I don't want to talk about those experiences, McKenna." He said with finality. They stared at each other in awkward silence, until McKenna's phone suddenly rang._

_"Saved by the cell." She remarked, picking up the call. "Hall." Oliver watched her intently. "Ok, put what the C.I. told you in the warrant application. I'll be right there." She hung up and looked at Oliver. "It's work, I got to go." She said. There was more awkward silence, and then Hall got up and quickly moved away._

“And there’s the end to the most awkward date in the history of awkward dates.” Tommy muttered.

 

_Oliver waited a few moments before pulling out his own phone. He dialed a number, and moments later started talking._

_"Felicity, listen, please. I need you to activate the bug in McKenna's phone. I think the police just got a lead on the Dodger. Ok." He finished, hanging up._

_The scene flashed back to the cave. Oliver stood in front of the beaten man, who had fallen to his knees._

_"Who are you?" he demanded._

_"My name is Alan Durand. I'm an exchange student. I was on a fishing excursion with my class. We got lost and our boat caught fire. It was some mechanic malfunction. We had to jump ship." He stammered out._

_"When?"_

_"Two days ago." Adam replied, crying. "It was awful. I thought I was going to die."_

_"Where are the other students? Where's the boats crew, huh?" Oliver demanded, not sure if he believed him or not._

_"I think I'm the only one who made it." Adam said. "I managed to get to shore. I thought I was lucky, but…"_

_"What? Somebody found you?" Oliver said. "Soldiers, or-"_

_"Yes! Yes." Adam sobbed. They had these masks on and they attacked me and beat me. They left me here! Who are they?!" he sobbed harder. He looked up at Oliver with his one good eye. "You can untie me at any point, by the way." Oliver just stared at the man, unsure._

“Don’t do it Oliver.” Diggle muttered.

 

“What, you don’t him to help that guy?” Laurel asked angrily.

 

“This could be a trap set by Fryers. If it is, and Oliver lets him loose, then he’ll be leading him right back to him and Slade.” Diggle explained and everyone tilted their heads to the side, thoughtful.

 

_The scene changed to a factory in The Glades. The Dodger walked in with his newest fence, Tori._

_"Nice place you have here." He remarked glibly._

_"Oh, thank you." Tori replied dryly._

_The Dodger noted the six security guards and sighed. "Tell me. Does every fence in this town hire muscle?"_

_Tori chuckled. "I did as soon as I heard about what you did to Cass Derenick."_

_"Oh, yes, Cass. God rest his soul." Dodger said sarcastically. "He wasn't a very nice man. He tried to steal from me."_

_"Oh." Tori said, the story now making more sense._

_"I've heard that you have a better sense of judgment." He set his case down on a table and opened it to reveal the Sherwood Ruby. "And that you have no trouble in moving this."_

_"Well, it's only a recession for some people." She said with a smile. She pulled the jewel out and examined it with a jeweler's eye. "I take a 15% commission off the top." She noted._

_"Let's call it at 12, shall we?" Dodger said disdainfully. "Obviously I don't have to remind you about what happened to the last person who tried to screw me over."_

_The sounds of running feet grabbed their attention, and both looked up to see a swarm of cops moving through the warehouse, their guns drawn._

_"SCPD!" McKenna Hall shouted. "Grab the floor!"_

_Bedlam broke out as the guards opened fire on the cops, who quickly returned fire. Tori threw the Ruby back in the case, but the bullets whizzing around her head made her leave it and bolt for the exit. The Dodger likewise chose discretion of valor, jumping over the hood of a car and managing to avoid a stream of bullets. He spied an exit door and made a break for it. Tori was not so lucky, as she got broadsided by McKenna and thrown to the floor. Hall was quickly on her back, wrenching her arms behind her._

“This could give the cops, and by extension Ollie a lead in the case.” Laurel said optimistically.

 

“Don’t bet on it.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_The Dodger slammed through the exit door and ran as fast as he could down the alley, only to come to a sudden stop as an arrow whizzed by his head and planted itself into the dumpster in front of him. Slowly he turned around and looked up to see The Hood standing on the roof behind him._

_"Come quietly!" The Hood growled._

_"I'm afraid I'll have to decline." The Dodger shouted back._

_"Then I'm afraid you won't be going to jail." The Hood snarled, letting loose another arrow, The Dodger dodged it and ducked behind the dumpster. As The Hood made his way down to the street, Dodger pulled out his collar bomb and activated it. The Hood jumped down to the street and readied his bow, and the Dodger threw the bomb towards the vigilante. The explosion blew The Hood off of his feet, giving the Dodger an opening. And by the time Oliver looked up- he was gone._

“Damn.” Diggle cursed.

 

_The scene changed back to the Foundry. Oliver and Diggle both leaned against tables looking dejected when Felicity walked in._

_"I heard on the news the Dodger got away." She said as she made her way to her computer. She sat down and spun her chair around to face the two men. "Hopefully the night wasn't a complete waste. Your dates. How'd they go?"_

“Terrible.” Diggle muttered.

 

_"Great." Oliver said tonelessly._

_"Awesome." Dig said at the same time, equally toneless._

_"You two suck at lying." Felicity said._

_"The police and I busted it up before the Dodger could get himself paid." Oliver tried, but the hacker turned her gaze on him._

_"Don't change the subject." She said._

_"Is your hacker chip still working?" Oliver asked, ignoring her._

_Felicity sighed. "You two are no fun." She turned back to her computer and checked her bug. "Yeah. Still getting a strong signal."_

_"You should pull up the police records." Oliver decided. "Everything the Dodger's stolen so far."_

_"What are you thinking?" Dig asked._

_"We know the Dodger has a taste for a very specific type of antiquity." Oliver said._

_Felicity pulled up the files, and then cross checked what was stolen. "Yeah. These all look like they're from the ominous decade. The last ten years of King Ferdinand's reign."_

_Diggle scoffed. "And she says we have no lives." Felicity gave him an exasperated look._

_"Are there any other places that sell or display items from the ominous thing?" Oliver asked._

_"Decade." She corrected absently._

_"Not really. I guess people in Starling City prefer the Elizabethan era." Felicity said._

_Oliver spied something on one of her screens- an ad for a fundraiser. "The Starling City Cancer Society. It says right there they're holding a fundraising auction tomorrow night. We could lure him out into the open." He continued, thinking as he spoke._

_"With what? A fake?" Felicity asked._

_Oliver shook his head. "No. The Dodger clearly has a trained eye for this sort of thing. He's not going to fall for anything less than the genuine article."_

_Felicity chuckled. "Where are we going to get our hands on a rare Spanish antiquity?" she asked._

“She has no idea how loaded the Queens are, does she?” Tommy asked.

 

“Nope.” Arsenal said, popping the p.

 

_Diggle looked at her. "You really have no idea how rich his family is, do you?" he asked. She looked at Oliver, who just shrugged._

_The scene changed to the SCPD. Quentin Lance entered the interrogation room and flipped open the folder he was holding._

_"Roy William Harper Jr." he began reading as he walked around the young man in the red hoodie. "Where's senior?"_

_"Norris cemetery." Roy said coldly._

Roy’s face hardened and everyone wisely chose not to comment.

 

_Lance sat down across from him. "Sorry to hear that." He said. Behind him was a two way mirror, and on the other side stood Thea and Laurel, who wanted to observe the man who stole her purse._

_"You and an army of bookies." Roy replied. "Can I go?"_

_"No. You've been ID'ed as a suspect in a purse snatching." He looked though the file- Roy's rap sheet. "It's quite a résumé you've compiled here. Petty theft, B &E, robbery, petty theft. Stolen car." He looked up. "Well, it's nice to change things up once in a while." He glanced back down. "And petty theft. You got something against banks?" he asked Roy sarcastically._

_"Well, it is hard to run with one under your arm." Roy replied, equally sarcastic._

_"Well, maybe you'll learn a few new skills in prison." Lance said blithely._

_"Look, I don't want to steal, ok?" Roy started, emotion barely contained in his voice. "I don't have any other choice."_

“I don’t. no one wants to hire someone with my rap sheet, but that’s the only way to survive in The Glades, by stealing.” Roy said grimly and everyone looked at him sympathetically. 

 

“I used to think that. Then someone showed me another way.” Arsenal said and Roy scoffed.

 

“Sure.” Roy said sarcastically and Arsenal decided to let him see for himself.

 

_Lance scoffed._

_"My mother, she… she has a problem." He continued._

_"Yeah, her son's a moron." Lance said dryly._

_"No." Roy argued harshly. "Vertigo. She got hooked on Vertigo last year. She kicked it, but I guess she'd done enough that it messed her up."_

_"Hmm." Lance hummed noncommittally._

_"She hasn't been the same, and her medical bills… look, I'm…I'm just trying to help her get out from under." He said emotionally. "Look, we're not privileged enough to have as much as other people. Ok?" he pleaded._

_One the other side of the glass, Thea was trying to reign in her own emotions. Roy's story had hit her especially close to home. "Fine." She said finally. "Let him go. It's just a damn purse, right?" with that, she turned and walked past Laurel out of the viewing room._

Roy laughed and Thea looked at him weirdly.

 

“You realize I just played you, right?” Arsenal asked and she looked at him startled. “I heard about your Vertigo incident on the news and knew it was you who was charging me. I’m a pretty good actor.

 

“Jerk.” Thea snapped and Arsenal shrugged.

 

“Besides, my mom’s dead. Happy fourteenth birthday to me.” Roy said bitterly and Thea’s anger subsided a bit.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor, where Frank Chen was meeting with Moira. He handed her a note._

_"They'll meet with you." Frank told her. "It has been arranged."_

_"Thank you for this." Moira told her friend. "There's one more thing I need you to do for me. Malcolm's the only one who knows where Walter's being kept. I just…I just need a clue." She pleaded. "Some lead to follow. If our plan works, I can't let it damn Walter to hell."_

_Frank looked t her sadly. "No." he said. "That's the fate that's in store for us, I'm afraid."_

“You have no idea.” Dinah sighed, knowing the fate of Chen.

 

_The scene changed to the Downtown Hilton, which was hosting the charity auction. Oliver had come through and donated a rare jewel encrusted brooch from the Ominous Decade. Oliver, in a suit, walked through the crowd, looking around. As he paused, Diggle walked up next to him._

_"The police are here, too." He told Oliver. "Your bait's attracted them, at least."_

_"That's not exactly who I'm looking to catch." He looked around, and stopped suddenly as he saw a new person enter the room. She was tall, blonde, and showing a lot of leg in a very short form-fitting gold dress- and it took Oliver a moment to realize that it was Felicity._

“You know, I don’t like, don’t get me wrong, but she’s not unattractive.” Tommy said as he eyed Felicity.

 

“Whose side are you on?” Laurel asked as she and Thea glared at him.

 

“Ollie’s of course, but I do have eyes.” Tommy shrugged.

 

_She smiled at the pair as they walked up to her. "So I'm getting a good signal from the GPS I put in your family's broach." She told them as they turned and walked down the hall. "I can track it on my phone. Speaking of, have you given any thought to what might happen if this doesn't work and the Dodger absconds with your family jewels?" Olive and Diggle both stopped and turned to look at Felicity, who blushed. "I'm sorry, that came out very wrong."_

_"Let's just keep our eyes open, Felicity." Oliver said. Both he and Diggle were having a very hard time keeping their laughter in. Felicity moved off, and Diggle spotted another familiar face- McKenna Hall, also dressed in a short, form fitting dress- though hers was purple._

_"Hey, isn't that…" Diggle started._

_Oliver saw who it was and grimaced. "Mm-hmm." He confirmed. "I would rather take my chances with a deadly jewel thief."_

“Smart choice.” Tommy said.

 

_"Right." Diggle said, and the two moved off._

_Over at the case containing the Queen brooch, the Dodger calmly walked up, slid open the glass top, and grabbed it. He took a moment to slide the glass closed, then walked briskly towards the exit._

_Felicity had noticed the brooch's movement on her phone, and spent several seconds looking around until she spotted it in the hands of the thief. Heedless of the danger, she walked up behind him. "Hey!" she said, gaining his attention. "That broach was donated by the Queen family. If you want it, you're going to have to bid." She said boldly._

_He looked at her disdainfully. "Actually, love, I thought I'd just take it."_

“For someone so smart, she can be really stupid.” Tommy sighed.

 

“Why was she in the field in the first place? She may be a huge asset behind the scenes, but she’s only a liability in the field.” Diggle noted.

 

“She insisted and you two, for some reason, listened to her.” Dinah explained.

 

_Diggle and Oliver were both still circulating, looking for the thief. They came together briefly._

_"Maybe I should check out front, see if the security guards had any problems." Dig suggested._

_"That's a good idea." Oliver said. "I'm going to go check on the bait." They both turned to leave- then froze in horror as Felicity walked up to them with a bomb collar on her neck._

_"I think I have a problem."_

“And this is why she shouldn’t be in the field.” Diggle groaned.

 

_The scene shifted to a small, empty room off of the main gallery. Felicity backed away from the men, running into a table as she did so. "Get away from me!" she exclaimed. "If this thing blows…"_

_"Not going to happen." Oliver told her with a confidence he didn't feel._

_"The Dodger said if I called the police, he'd… I'm going to get decapitated, aren't I?" she asked fearfully. Diggle looked around for some kind of tool to use, but all he saw was a glass full of pens. He knocked it over and grabbed a pen, then pulled the small metal clip off of it. He used that to open a small access panel on the front of the bomb, exposing the circuitry._

_"The tracker's on the move." Oliver said. "If I find him, I can get him to disarm it. Talk me in." he told her in a calm voice. "Stay calm."_

_"Too late." She said with a watery smile._

_"Go." Diggle told the vigilante. "Just go. Go, go, go."_

_Oliver ran outside, looking around. "Talk to me, Felicity!" he called to her over his Bluetooth earpiece._

_"Ahem." Felicity tried to compose herself. She pulled out her phone and brought up the tracking app while Diggle examined the collar. "Heading towards Adams and O'Neil. At the clip he's going, he's got to be in a vehicle."_

_Oliver looked around, and saw a man putting up his motorcycle. "Hey." He called to the man, walking briskly towards him. "I need your bike."_

_The large biker stood up tall and glared at Oliver. "Are you kidding me?"_

_Oliver dropped him with two moves. "No." he said._

Tommy couldn’t help but laugh as everyone else looked on in amusement.

 

“Oh Ollie.” Dinah shook her head fondly as Arsenal smirked.

 

_. He put his headset back in, put the helmet on, and slipped on a pair of gloves before climbing onto the bike. He hit the ignition and sped off. "I'm mobile. Where is he?" he asked._

_In the room, Felicity got out her tablet and brought up the tracking program, then tied that into the traffic cameras to get a real-time image of where the tracker was. “Talk to me, Felicity.” Oliver said over the phone._

_"Come on." Felicity growled as the search ran. Finally she found what she was looking for- the Dodger's car. "First time anyone's ever been grateful for traffic cameras. He's one block from your position. If you cut through Harris Plaza, you'll end up right behind him."_

_Oliver did just that, startling several pedestrians as he rocketed past them down the stairs. He darted onto the main road and dodged between vehicles, looking for the thief. "Where is he now?" he asked._

_Felicity took a moment to search before she found him. "Got it. I got him, I got him. Gray sedan driving north. At the light ahead of you." Oliver bobbed and weaved, cutting off several cars. "Ok, hard right." He did so, and found himself directly behind Dodger's car. He tried to get in front of him, but Dodger blocked him each time. Finally he managed to slip of the passenger side, but Dodger bumped him off the road and back onto the sidewalk. He quickly regained control and slipped back onto the road, sliding to a stop against a car that had spun out avoiding the thief. Heedless, he revved the engine and resumed his pursuit. Dodger tried to make him crashed by running into barrels and wooden barricades, sending debris flying out behind him, but Oliver managed to avoid it. Oliver maneuvered into position, then withdrew one of his flechettes and threw it. It hit the rear tire, causing an immediate blow-out, and the Dodger lost control. The car swerved, slammed into a parked car on the side of the road and flipped, sliding several feet on its side before settling on its roof._

“Nice.” Roy smirked in satisfaction.

 

_Oliver skidded to a stop and climbed off the bike. He approached the wreck cautiously as the Dodger crawled out._

_"Hey! Don't do anything stupid." The Dodger warned, pulling out the remote control for the bomb. "I had the foresight to collar up a particularly inquisitive blonde. I assume she's a friend of yours." He smiled cruelly at Oliver, who stared back through the heavily tinted visor on the helmet. "Touch one hair on my head and she loses hers. You've got quite the choice to make, don't you?"_

_Oliver shook his head. "Not this time." Quickly, he withdrew another flechette and flicked it hard. It buried into the thief's arm just below the elbow._

_The Dodger stared down in shock, and not a little bit of pain. "Your median artery's been severed." Oliver said as he calmly walked up and pulled the remote from his frozen hand. "You couldn't push that button if you tried."_

_Back in the room, Dig and Felicity waited in silence as the conversation over the phone died off. A moment later, however, the collar beeped, then the lights turned green as it deactivated and unlocked._

_Felicity gasped. "Oh, thank God." She said as she quickly pulled it off of her neck._

“She got super lucky.” Laurel said as she eyed the blonde critically.

 

“Most of the time she went into the field, she either got lucky, someone bailed her out, or she played a part Oliver needed her to play.” Dinah noted scornfully.

 

_Back on the street, the Dodger stared at the vigilante in disbelief. "Why are you doing this?" he asked. Subtly, he slid his stun wand down from his sleeve into his other hand. "I'm exactly like you. I only steal from the rich."_

“You are nothing like Ollie.” Laurel sneered.

 

_The Dodger brought the wand up, but Oliver grabbed the wand out of his hand and turned it around, jamming it into the Dodger's chest. The thief dropped the ground, unconscious. Oliver flipped up the visor of the helmet and looked down._

_"I'm not Robin Hood." He said, then flipped the visor back down and moved off._

“For most of that first year, he kind of was.” Arsenal noted and Dinah smiled, amused.

 

_The scene flashed back to the cave. Oliver was still staring at the bound man uncertainly._

_"I don't know when these men are coming back!" Adam sobbed. "You have to believe me. Untie me, please!" Oliver said nothing and did nothing, just stood there staring stoically. "What, do you think these men; they planted me here, some kind of trap or something?"_

_"I…" Oliver started hesitantly. "Well, why'd they tie you up like that and then just leave you? Huh? Why not just kill you?"_

_"They were going to!" Adam cried. "They got called away at some-some altercation somewhere else on the island. If they come back, they will kill both of us. Please! You have to believe me. Please." Adam pleaded tearfully._

_Oliver was torn. He wanted to believe… "All right, turn- all right, turn around." He said finally, gesturing with his knife._

_"Thank you." Adam sobbed as he turned around slowly. "Thank you."_

_Slowly, Oliver approached. He bent over and placed the edge of the blade on the leather wrappings that bound Adam's hands…_

_And then pulled away._

_"I'm sorry, but I can't." Oliver said, shining his light in Adam's unbelieving face._

_"What? Why?! Why not?"_

_"Because I don't know you." Olive said, switching off his light and walking out of the cave._

_"Are you out of your mind?! Please! You can't do this! You can't just leave me here!" Adam cried out at Oliver's retreating back._

“He made the right choice,” Diggle said as the others from the past  stared at the screen in stunned shock, “he didn’t know this guy. This guy could very well have been working for Fryers. It was a difficult choice he had to make but he made the best option before him.”

 

“You have no idea. That guy was working for Fryers.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene flashed forward to see Diggle and Carly walking down in The Glades._

_"You know, last night all I could think about was how pissed off Andy will be; how hurt he'll be if he saw us together." Diggle was telling her. He stopped walking and turned to face her, exhaling. "But that's nothing compared to how he'd be if I did something to hurt you, Carly. Believe me when I tell you that war is easier than dating. In a war, you act or you die. No time to think, no time to second guess yourself."_

“So you feel guilty about your brother?” Tommy asked and Diggle sighed.

 

“Didn’t you feel guilty when you realized you had feelings for Laurel?” Diggle asked and Tommy winced.

 

“Point.” Tommy conceded.

 

_"Maybe that's your problem." Carly said. "With me, you're thinking. Not feeling."_

_Dig looked at her sadly. "You're right." Making a decision, he stepped forward and kissed her._

“Alright man.” Tommy said and Diggle smiled slightly.

 

_The scene changed to later that night. Thea walked up to an old, run down house deep in The Glades. She knocked on the door, glancing around nervously as a dog barked in the background. After a moment, Roy Harper opened the door, saw who it was, and immediately closed the door. Thea rolled her eyes._

_"How did you know where I live?" Roy asked through the door._

_"A little thing called the Internet." Thea replied dryly. "Look, could we not do this with a door between us?"_

_Reluctantly, Roy opened the door. He stared at her, and then he leaned out the door, looking for cops- or anyone else with her. "So I guess you're not pressing charges 'cause you feel like… you feel like you can change my life?" he asked sarcastically. "And so you can run and tell your rich prep school friends what a Saint you are and how you're helping the disadvantaged?_

_Thea scoffed. "You don't know a thing about me."_

_Roy stared at her confidently. "Thea Queen." He began. "Trust fund brat. Totaled her car, which she got as a birthday present. Loves designer labels and is usually in the tabloids for partying too much." He smirked. "Did I…did I leave anything out?"_

_Thea crossed her arms. "Yeah. Dead father, missing step dad, damaged brother, and almost served jail time for that car accident. Plus, she really wants her purse back." She finished, silently daring him to say something else._

“You wouldn’t last one day in my life. One day.” Roy sneered as he glared at Thea.

 

“Maybe not,” Arsenal interrupted the inevitable fight, “but her life wasn’t that easy either, as you’ve seen. Did I really have that big a stick up my ass when we first met?”

 

“Yes.” Dinah said and Thea snickered as Roy glared at them.

 

“Huh, surprising.” Arsenal said idly.

 

_"You know, you showed some real sack coming down here, the Glades in the middle of the night." Roy noted._

_"You must not know the value of a vintage purse." Thea said with a smirk._

_This time Roy scoffed. He closed the door and moved back inside the house, then returned a moment later with the purse, which he handed over to her. Thea gratefully grabbed it and rooted through it, checking its contents._

_"Don't worry, it's all there." Roy told her, and then pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pants pocket. "Except for these."_

_"Ahh." Thea nodded._

_"You know, it's a really filthy habit you got there." Roy noted._

_"Yeah, tell me about it." She replied dryly._

_"Hey, can I give you some advice?" he asked. Thea nodded. "First, stay out of the Glades."_

_"And second?"_

_"Don't fall for every sob story a guy like me tells the police." Thea's eyes widened fractionally as she realized that she had been played. Roy smirked. "You have a great evening now." He told her, stepping back inside and closing the door. Thea just shook her head, swung the purse onto her shoulder and left._

“I hate you.” Thea said as she glared at Roy.

 

“Right back at you.” Roy said as he glared back.

 

“Most would say that’s the beginning of a love story, not the end.” Dinah noted and the ttwo teenagers looked away, disgusted.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD. McKenna was filing away her report on the Dodger case when Oliver walked in. He knocked on a file cabinet to get her attention, but she just ignored him._

_"Do you ever take time off?" he asked._

_"I do." McKenna said, closing the cabinet and walking back to her desk. "In fact, last night I went on a date. The guy was kind of a jerk."_

“Pot, meet kettle.” Thea said as she glared at the screen.

 

_"Really?" Oliver said, leaning up against one of the cubicle's walls. "He might have had a reason. McKenna, I didn't just lose five years on the island." He started to explain, finally gaining her attention. "I lost the part of me that enjoyed being alive. Listening to music and, uh eating a soufflé with a beautiful girl." He walked over to her. "It's the easy things. But when you asked me about the island, it reminded me of all the hard things and the choices that I had to make that still stay with me. Made me question how I can trust, and even if I'm worthy of being with anyone."_

“Did he ever grow out of the ‘I can’t be with anyone’ mindset?” Thea asked sadly.

 

“Yes, but it took him quite a while.” Laurel admitted.

 

_McKenna finally started to realize the mistake she made that night. She moved forward and kissed him lightly on the lips, then pulled back and smiled warmly at the damaged man._

_"You are." She assured him._

_"Can I take you to a dinner?" he said suddenly, and then laughed quietly. "That I promise not to cut short." He added._

_"Um…" McKenna teased. "Throw in a soufflé and you're on." She kissed him lightly again, then pulled back to grab her coat- just as Detective Lance walked in._

_"McKenna!" he said, stopping short. "Glad you're still here." Quentin walked over to his desk, passing between Hall and Oliver. "Queen." He greeted the man shortly._

_"Mr. Lance." Oliver replied with forced politeness._

“His unprofessionalism is getting old very fast.” Thea said irritably and Laurel sighed, not saying a thing.

 

_"Actually, I was just leaving." McKenna started. "Is everything ok, sir?"_

_"Yeah." Lance said, turning to her. "I'd like you to, uh, work with me on the Vigilante investigation." He told her._

“Don’t tell me he kept dating her,” Thea said and Arsenal and Dinah remained silent, “are you serious? He dated the cop who was assigned to the task force that was supposed to take him down?”

 

“He’s human, he makes mistakes.” Arsenal said patiently.

 

“There’s a line between making a mistake and playing with fire. Oliver is playing with fire.” Diggle pointed out.

 

_McKenna beamed with pride. "Thank you, sir." She said excitedly as Oliver looked on with forced happiness. "Well, don't worry, we'll bring him in."_

_"Oh, yeah." Lance replied. He grinned at Oliver, who returned it in kind._

“Sure. And I’m an assassin.” Thea deadpanned and Arsenal and Dinah snickered.

 

“In this timeline…you almost were.” Dinah said and everyone turned to stare at her.

 

“What?” Thea asked shocked.

 

“You’ll understand by the end of this.” Arsenal assured her.

 

_Hall grabbed her jacket. "Ready to go?" she asked Oliver._

_"Yep." He replied, never happier to be leaving a police station._

_The scene flashed back to the island. Slade was drinking a tea with the herbs Oliver had gotten._

_"Ahh. It tastes like an ashtray." He complained, though his voice was stronger. He put the cup down. "But it does the job. I owe you one." He told Oliver. He noticed how distracted the younger man was. "You didn't get into any trouble out there, did you?" he asked worriedly._

_"Hmm?" Oliver brought his attention back to his friend. "No." he lied. "Not a bit."_

Scoffs could be heard around the room.

 

_The scene flashed back to Starling City. A deserted road under the train tracks was where the meeting Frank Chen had set up as taking place. Moira Queen stood confidently, taking in the sight of the person in front of her._

_"Frank Chan recommended you." She began. "He said you could help us with our problem. He appreciates you agreeing to meet with me."_

_Chien Na Wei, aka China White smiled. "Anything for a friend. So how can we be of assistance?"_

_"Malcolm Merlyn." Moira began. "I want you to kill him for me."_

“Holy crap, China White is who she hires to do the job?” Tommy asked stunned.

 

“Yep. Ironic.” Arsenal noted.

 

“How’s it ironic?” Laurel asked confused.

 

“Because two years ago, Oliver helped lock White up.” Dinah explained.

 

“What?” Tommy asked as he whirled to face her.

 

“When Oliver was in Hong Kong, China White was leader of the Triad over there. Argus charged Oliver and his handler with taking down White. Moira is super lucky that she never figured out who Oliver was, otherwise she could have killed Moira to get revenge on Oliver.” Arsenal said and Thea and Tommy paled.

 

“So, last one before dinner then.” Dinah said as she started the next recording.


	20. Dead to rights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy gets advice from Arsenal and Dinah about his father and Oliver. And a blackmailed member of the kitchen staff leads to an unexpected betrayal.

_The memory set opened on a helicopter landing on a pad at the Starling City Heliport._

_Less than five minutes away, a phalanx of police cruisers sped towards the heliport, while McKenna Hall talked angrily into her phone in one of the speeding cars._

_"What do you mean the chopper's about to touch down? The flight log doesn't have them due for another 20 minutes!" she said furiously. She listened to the reply and growled. "Then lock down the heliport!"_

_At the pad, a well-dressed man climbed out of the chopper. He took his phone out and quickly dialed his contact. "I've just landed in Starling City." He said in heavily accented English. "We agreed- half on arrival, the other half when the job is done." He looked down at his phone, and his banking app showed a wire transfer in progress. As it finished, he lifted the phone back up to his ear. "Gracias." He said with a smile. "Don't worry. The man's as good as—"_

_His conversation was cut short as the phone was knocked out of his hand by an arrow. He looked over in disbelief at the Hood, who stood just a few feet away._

“Dead? I agree, you are.” Roy said smugly.

 

_"Guillermo Barrera. You have failed this city." The Hood growled._

_"You've built quite a reputation." Barrera said._

_"And you should have stayed overseas." The vigilante said._

_"I thought about it," Barrera replied, "but then I remembered- I've got a reputation, too."_

_Two throwing knives slipped into his hands from his sleeves. The Hood shot another arrow which Barrera blocked with the knives, which he then threw at the Hood, who dodged. The Hood moved in and the two engaged in furious hand to hand, with the vigilante blocking the knives with his bow. They ducked under the tail of the helicopter and continued to fight, until The Hood jammed a flechette into Barrera's heart. The hit man looked at the arrow, then up at the vigilante in surprise, before crumpling to the deck, dead._

“So much for your reputation.” Diggle said idly.

 

_The Hood grabbed the dead man's phone as he walked off, heedless of the cops who pulled up, surrounding the pad. And by the time McKenna had gotten out and found the remains of an arrow near Barrera's body, he was gone._

_The scene changed to the Foundry, where Felicity was being thrown down onto a mat._

_"Ahh! Ow!" she groaned, rolling over and sitting up. She held out her arm and Diggle took the proffered hand, pulling her back up._

_"Now the trick is to keep your weight evenly distributed." He advised._

_"I thought the trick was to avoid getting into fights." Felicity replied._

“Not always possible.” Arsenal noted.

 

_Diggle chuckled. He walked over to a table and grabbed one towel, which he threw to her. "Yeah, well, Starling City's not the kind of place where you can talk your way out of trouble." He said darkly, grabbing a towel for himself and a water bottle. He walked back over to the hacker. “Besides, if you're going to be working with us, I'll sleep a lot easier knowing that you can handle yourself." He said, handing her the bottle. "At least a little bit." She gratefully took a long pull of water. Both looked up to see Oliver walk in, spinning his bow. "How'd it go?" Dig asked._

_"Badly for him." Oliver replied, setting his bow on another table._

_"Who's him?" Felicity asked._

_"An assassin for hire with an affinity for knives. His name was Guillermo Barrera." He said._

_"Was?" Felicity asked sadly as she noted him crossing the man's name off of the list._

“Yes, so sad that the world has one less assassin in it.” Dinah sneered.

 

“You really hate her.” Laurel noticed.

 

“If you know what I know, if you’d seen what I’ve seen, you’d hate her to.” Dinah promised darkly and everyone decided to take her word for it as Arsenal placed a calming hand on her shoulder.

 

_"So we can't ask him about his intended target?" Diggle noted._

_Oliver took a breath. "No." he said, turning to face the two. He pulled Barrera's phone from his pocket and handed it to Felicity. "Which is why I need you to hack his phone." He told her. "Barrera's world class. He kills high profile targets. And whatever job he was hired for isn't finished. We need to figure out who he was here to kill, and fast. They are probably still in danger. Ok?"_

_Felicity took the phone. "Yeah." She agreed._

_"I have to meet McKenna." Oliver said, moving off to get changed._

_"Good thing she didn't meet you at the heliport." Dig joked. "May not be a good idea to fall for the cop that's hunting you down." He advised._

“I’d wish he’d listen to you.” Thea sighed.

 

“It would’ve saved a lot of trouble.” Dinah agreed.

 

_"Well, it's slim pickings for us vigilantes.” Oliver noted sarcastically._

“You know, he makes a good point.” Tommy pointed out.

 

“And of all the options he has, he picks a cop on the task force that is hunting him down?” Thea pointed out.

 

“Also a good point.” Tommy conceded.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver was in the fuselage trying to do a pull-up- and failing, only making it halfway before he dropped to the ground._

_Slade looked at him from across the downed plane, unimpressed. "Four." He tallied disgustedly._

“That’s an achievement for him.” Laurel said, remembering how out of shape Oliver had been prior to the island.

 

_"Well, I'm more of a runner." Oliver complained._

_Slade just gave him a look, then walked over to the bar, jumped up, and started doing pull-ups with his legs extended out straight in front of him. Oliver sighed. "Why the sudden desire to work out?" he asked._

_"What else is there to do?" Slade countered, still doing pull-ups._

_"Well, we can try to think of another way off the island." Oliver offered._

_"There is no other way." Slade said, still doing pull-ups. "If there was, I would have found it."_

_"We can't just sit here and wait for Fyers to come and kill us." Oliver complained hotly._

_Slade finally dropped down from the bar. "I did have one idea." He said. "If you go into the forest and gather as much bamboo as you can find…"_

_"Yeah?" Oliver asked hopefully._

_"We could build ourselves a boat, like they did on 'Gilligan's Island'." Slade finished sarcastically._

Everyone laughed; even Dinah and Arsenal couldn’t help but let out amused chuckles at Slade’s response.

 

_Oliver shook his head in disgust. Then out the corner of his eye, he noticed something- a radio. Interested, he moved over to examine it. "That's broken." Slade advised. "It got busted during the crash."_

_"Did you try to get it to work?" Oliver asked._

_"I'm better at pulling things apart." The soldier replied._

_Oliver moved to the back of the radio and began examining the wires. "My father was a pilot and he used to do his own maintenance." He said._

_"So you're hoping aircraft maintenance is genetic?" Slade said incredulously._

_"No," Oliver replied, annoyed. "I used to help him and I liked it. Then I got pretty good at it. So maybe I can make the radio work."_

_"You should be training for the inevitable fight that's looming." Slade argued, going back to the pull-up bar and resuming his workout._

_"I think I have a better chance of making the radio work." He replied, getting to work._

“He really was pretty good at it.” Tommy remembered.

 

“And he has a better chance of getting it to work then becoming a martial artist…back then anyway.” Laurel noted.

 

_The scene flashed back to the hallway just outside Laurel's apartment. McKenna was leaning against the wall putting on her shoe when Oliver walked up._

_"Hey." He said with a smile. "Sorry I'm late."_

_"No, I am." McKenna replied. "I just got caught up at the office."_

_"Me, too." Oliver quipped, looking her over. "Wow. You look nice." He kissed her._

_"Ooh." She said as they broke apart. "We should go inside."_

_"We should." He agreed, kissing her again._

_"We don't seem to be going inside." McKenna quipped as they kissed again. Finally they broke apart and headed to Laurel's apartment. Oliver knocked, and Tommy opened the door._

_"Welcome." Tommy said happily._

_"Happy Birthday, buddy." Oliver replied, giving his best friend a hug._

_"Thank you." He replied, taking the gift bag Oliver handed him. "Oh, this feels like a Chateauneuf de Pape."_

_"It tastes like one, too." Oliver replied, closing the door as Tommy led McKenna into the apartment._

“He is a true friend.” Tommy said jovially.

 

_"You are a true friend. Thank you."_

_"Tommy, you remember McKenna Hall." He introduced._

_Tommy smiled. "From back in the day." He noted._

_"And back again." She joked. They chuckled as they moved into the dining room, where Laurel was lighting the candles at the table._

_"Ollie." She said happily.” HI."_

_"Hi." He replied. The two ex-lovers hugged each other awkwardly. "Laurel, this is McKenna Hall."_

_"We know each other from the court house." She said, moving back to Tommy's side._

_"How are you, counselor?" McKenna joked, easing the tension._

_"I'm well, Detective." She replied glibly._

_"I'm going to go crack this open." Tommy said, hefting the wind bottle._

_"Come in." Laurel invited. McKenna moved deeper into the apartment, taking it in._

_"Such a nice apartment." She complimented. "So much space." She noticed a picture and picked it up to examine it. The picture showed a young, brown-haired girl with a younger-looking Quentin as they happily observed a black canary in a cage. "Oh, this is adorable. How old are you here?" she asked._

_Laurel looked at the picture with a tinge of sadness. "That's actually my sister Sara." She said._

Laurel looked down sadly before she remembered her sister was still alive in her time. Still, she couldn’t help wondering where she was.

 

_McKenna was slightly embarrassed. "Oh, I am so sorry." She apologized._

_"No, no, it's ok." Laurel assured the woman, and then looked back at the picture. "I don't know why my father bought her that canary. That thing chirped night and day." She laughed lightly. "Drove us all nuts."_

“I remember that. Didn’t just drive you guys nuts.” Tommy grumbled.

 

_"A toast." Tommy said as he came back into the room, loaded down with wine glasses. He passed them out, and then held up his own. "To the first birthday that I have enjoyed in a long time." He looked at Oliver. "I got my best friend back." He turned to Laurel. "And I have finally figured out why poets have been in business for the last few thousand years."_

_"Happy Birthday, baby." Laurel said, giving him a kiss._

_"Thank you." He replied with a smile_

_"Cheers." Oliver said. They all replied the same and clinked glasses. As they were sipping their wine, there was a knock on the door._

_"I think that's the food." Laurel said, handing Tommy her glass and going to the door._

_After she left the room, Oliver sighed in relief. "Oh, thank God, she didn't cook."_

_"Amen." Tommy agreed._

“Gee thanks.” Laurel grumbled.

 

“Laurel, I love you, but you set fire to the kitchen that one time you tried to make Ollie and I breakfast pancakes.” Tommy reminded her and she winced.

 

“Okay, you have a point.” Laurel admitted.

 

_Laurel opened the door to find not the food delivery, but Malcolm Merlyn. "Mr. Merlyn." She said in surprise after a moment._

“Oh great.” Tommy grumbled as the mood instantly plummeted.

 

_"Laurel." He greeted with a smile. "Can I come in?" Laurel moved aside, allowing the elder Merlyn in. Malcolm walked towards the small group with a smile that no one else returned. "Oliver." He greeted._

_"Mr. Merlyn." Oliver replied politely._

_Malcolm turned to Tommy. "I've been trying to get in touch with you."_

“Clearly you didn’t get the hint.” Tommy sneered.

 

_"What are you doing here, Dad?" he asked without preamble._

_Malcolm produced a small box. "Happy Birthday, Tommy."_

_Tommy just stared at him for a moment, and then turned to Laurel. "Just give us a second."_

_"Of course." Laurel replied. Tommy motioned for his father to follow him out into the hall. Malcolm tossed the present to Oliver and obligingly followed._

_"We're about to eat." Tommy said as soon as they were in the hall._

_"I can't stay."_

“As if you were invited.” Laurel said darkly.

 

_"Well, that works out because you weren't invited."_

_Malcolm smiled tightly, then withdrew and invitation from his jacket. "I'm being honored by the Starling City Municipal Group. They're bestowing me with their annual Humanitarian Award."_

“Him, a humanitarian?” Roy stared at the screen in stunned disbelief.

 

“He was pretty good at putting up a front. But, knowing what we know now, I can’t see how anyone was ever fooled enough to give him that award.” Dinah explained.

 

_"What, they ran out of actual humans to give it to?" Tommy asked sarcastically._

“Nice.” Roy whistled as he gave Tommy a thumbs up.

 

_"I would like you to be there, if you could." He asked hopefully._

“Does he honestly expect me to go there?” Tommy stared at the screen incredulously.

 

“Malcolm is a monster, don’t get me wrong, but I think, in his own twisted way, he does love you.” Arsenal said carefully.

 

“Right.” Tommy scoffed.

 

_"I am 100% certain that I'll be busy." Tommy tried to walk back into the apartment, but Malcolm grasped his arm tightly, stopping him cold. Tommy looked down at his father's hand, than back up._

_"You might not believe this, but all I ever wanted for you was happiness." Malcolm told his son. "If it will allay this tension between us, I'll turn the switch back on." He tried._

_"Save your money, Dad." Tommy replied. "I don't need it anymore."_

_"I'd still like you to come to the event." He pressed the invitation into Tommy's hand. "It would mean a lot to me." He started to walk off, but his son's voice stopped him cold._

_"You know what, Dad?" Malcolm smirked and turned around, and Tommy walked up to him. "Sometimes the people that you want there the most- Aren't" he pressed the invitation to his father's jacket over his heart. "You taught me that. Multiple times." Tommy turned and walked back into the apartment. Malcolm stood there for a moment, watching as the invitation fluttered to the floor, then turned and walked off._

“Nice.” Roy nodded to Tommy.

 

_The scene changed to the Bludhaven Apartments. A tall, lanky man lumbered up to the door of his apartment and walked in. He got a glass down, through a carton of cigarettes down on his table, then pulled out a bottle of bourbon and poured himself a drink._

_"Hello, Lawton." A voice said from down the hall. "I see your edge has dulled."_

_"Oh, I knew you were there." Deadshot said._

“What the hell?! How is he still alive!?” Diggle demanded as he jumped to his feet, shock and anger written on his face.

 

“When Ollie shot him, his eyepiece acted as a shield of sorts. The arrow took out his eye, but it didn’t get to his brain.” Dinah explained patiently.

 

Diggle all but collapsed back into his seat, disbelief, shock, and rage clear on his face.

 

_"I just didn't care if you killed me. What do you want?"_

_"My organization has been contracted to eliminate a certain high profile individual." China White said, coming into the light. "A very well-guarded target."_

_"Well, forget it." Lawton said. "Look, I'm retired."_

_"To drink and smoke your life away?"_

_Lawton shrugged. "We all got to die some time."_

_"I need someone to die at the right time." China White said. "And no one does it better than you."_

_Lawton moved himself into the light, highlighting his milky, dead left eye. "My vision ain't exactly what it used to be."_

_"No." China white lifted a small case and opened it, showing its contents to Lawton. "It's going to be better."_

_Floyd lifted the small, red device and looked it over with his one good eye. He smiled at the Triad leader. "So who needs two bullets in the chest?"_

“Great, and now he’ll be able to kill more people.” Diggle growled.

 

_The scene changed to Merlyn Global. Moira was hurriedly walking towards the conference room for a meeting with Tempest._

_"Moira." Frank Chen called out, joining her. "Is it happening?"_

_"Yes." Moira confirmed. "The Humanitarian Award ceremony."_

_"Isn't that a little public?" Frank asked, concerned._

_"No one will expect it." Moira said, then schooled her features and opened the doors to the conference room. She and Frank took their seats, joining the other two members at the table. Malcolm stood at the windows, looking out over his city._

_"I have very welcome news to share with all of you." Malcolm said as he came to the head of the table. "Thanks to Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences Division and their recent acquisition of Unidac Industries, the Undertaking which we set for ourselves is only months from fruition." He smiled. "There's hope on the horizon for everyone in starling. We won't fail this city."_

_"And I think I speak for everyone here when I say we're all with you, Malcolm." Moira said pleasantly._

“She lies the way most of us breathe.” Thea noted a little bitterly.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Felicity was hard at work on Barrera's phone, with Dig and Oliver hovering anxiously._

_"Jeez, this is one paranoid assassin." Felicity complained. "Barrera's got cobalt-level encryption on his phone. It's not going to be easy to break. But code breaker is my middle name." she paused for a moment. "Actually, it's Megan—"_

_"Felicity," Oliver interrupted. "Can you get anything off of it?"_

_"Just the last number he dialed." She said, pulling up the info._

_"Which was?"_

_"A restaurant in China town. A Jade Dragon." She harrumphed. "I guess even hired killers enjoy the city's best chow mien."_

_"Yeah, Jade Dragon is a front for the Chinese mafia." Dig told her._

_"Call the restaurant; make a reservation for two for tonight." Oliver ordered. He looked intently at Felicity. "You need to decrypt that phone." He hurried off, leaving Felicity and Dig to work._

_"I'm kind of in the mood for Chinese now." Felicity noted._

_"Hmm." Dig agreed._

“Great, it’s contagious.” Tommy whined.

 

“Does this place have Chinese?” Laurel asked.

 

“No. most of our chiefs don’t specialize in Chinese food.” Dinah explained and those from the past groaned.

 

_The scene changed to the Jade Dragon. Oliver and Tommy were seated at a table, joking quietly when the waiter came by and dropped off their meal- a whole fried fish on one large plate. The waiter smiled and left, leaving Tommy and Oliver to stare at the plate._

 

“Let’s all agree never to go there.” Tommy said and everyone muttered their agreement.

_"That is…that is one big fried fish." Tommy said, and the two laughed quietly._

_"I was told this was the most authentic Szechwan in town." Oliver told his friend. He shook his head. "Whatever. I wanted to make sure that your birthday celebration got its due celebration. It was a little bit, um, tense last night."_

_"Well, trust my dad to run all the smiles out of the room." Tommy sighed, his mood darkening._

“You have absolutely no idea.” Arsenal said grimly.

 

“I’m beginning to get a sense.” Tommy smiled thinly.

 

_"I know the two of you have never been close, but it couldn't have been easy for him after your mom was killed."_

_"Yeah, I guess he forgot that there were two of us in that club." Tommy pointed out._

_"I'm not defending him, Tommy." Oliver said. "It's… with everything I've been through, people that I've lost I know how hard it can be."_

_Tommy nodded pensively. "You probably don't remember this." He started. "Ahh… we were eight. But after her funeral, he left for like two years. And when he did come back, he was… he was so frickin' cold. We barely spoke. And that's why I spent so much time at your house." Oliver nodded in understanding. "From the outside, it always looked like I had a father. He paid my bills, he lived in the house, and he bailed me out. But your dad took me to my first hockey game." Tommy smiled. "Your dad taught me how to fly fish. Your dad took us to our first R-rated movie."_

Tommy smiled as he nodded. Despite learning of Robert’s faults, Robert Queen was still more his father than Malcolm.

 

_"But he wasn't perfect." Oliver said. "My dad made mistakes. And…" he took a breath. "We haven't talked about this. But I have a lot of anger towards him. But still, I would give anything to have him back, because… at the end of the day, your dad is… your dad."_

_Tommy sniffed, trying to keep his emotions in check. "I meant what I said last night." He told him. "I'm really glad that you're back."_

_Oliver smiled, and Tommy picked up his chopsticks to dig into the fish. Oliver was about to, but then he saw a large, burly Asian man with a tattoo on his neck walk past. "I got to hit the restroom." He told his friend._

_The big man moved through kitchen to a back room where a smaller Asian man was counting the Triad's money. The big man pulled stacks of cash out of an envelope and handed it to the accountant, who was about to put it into an electronic cash counter when the light suddenly went out. They looked around, and the big man reached for a gun when suddenly Oliver leapt on top of him, slamming the man's head to the ground. Having taken the threat out of the equation, Oliver grasped a squeeze bottle of hot sauce and sprayed it into the accountant's eyes, effectively blinding him. The small man leapt up and tried to run out of the room, but Oliver was on top of him. He slammed him into the wall and held him there._

_"The triad put a hit out on someone.” Oliver growled in Mandarin. "I want to know who.”_

_"I don’t work for the triad!” The accountant protested in Mandarin._

_"You’re not making Dim sum back here." Oliver quipped in Mandarin, then tightened his grip on the man._

_"I…I don’t know who it is.”_

_"But you know something.” Oliver surmised. "Tell me."_

_"Tomorrow. Whatever it is, it’s supposed to happen tomorrow.” The man finally said._

_Satisfied, Oliver let go and quickly slipped out of the room, just as the big man got back up._

_"Who was it?” The Big man asked_

_“I don’t know. But whoever he was, he spoke with a perfect accent. Definitely Chinese." The accountant said._

“That’s impressive. Not everyone can do that will a language they picked up a few years ago. Trust me, I know.” Diggle said surprised.

 

_The big man ran out of the room and headed back into the dining room, looking for the guilty party. All the while Oliver sat at his table, and as the big man walked past, he gestured to the waiter._

_"Check, please."_

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Oliver was diligently working on the radio when Slade came back into the plane, carrying al large boar on a pole over his back._

_"I hope you like barbecue." He said. Oliver said nothing, no noticing Slade at all as he spliced wires together. "Well, don't fall over yourself thanking me for spending six hours up a tree so you can eat."_

_"What?" Oliver asked distractedly, finally looking over at the other man. "Great." He said, turning back to the radio. "I'll eat later."_

_"You've been on that for days. Give it a rest." Slade argued._

_"It's because I can do this." Oliver shot back._

_Slade scoffed. "Sure, kid. When pigs fly." Suddenly the lights on the radio lit up, and talking could begin to be heard. "You're kidding me." Slade tossed off the boar and ran over to Oliver. "Can you clean this up?" he asked excitedly._

_"I don't know. I don't know how I got this far!" Oliver said happily._

“He actually did it.” Thea said surprised.

 

“I told you he was good! Wait a go Ollie!” Tommy cheered.

 

_'Continue approach. Big jet 365.' The radio squawked._

_Slade picked up the mica and hit the button. "Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is wedgetail 325. Pilot and passenger down."_

_'Big jet 365, cleared to land. Runway 2-7 right, wind,' the radio continued. Slade frowned in confusion, so he hit the button again._

_"I repeat-pilot and passenger down on the island of Lian Yu. Request immediate rescue."_

_'Cleared to land, runway 2-7 right. Big jet 365.' The radio continued, heedless of his calls._

“They aren’t picking up the signal. They can’t Slade and Oliver.” Diggle realized.

 

_Slade slammed the mic down in anger. "Damn! They can't hear us, and we can't call out." He sighed. "We're still trapped." Oliver stared at the radio, dejected and deep in thought._

_The scene flashed back to the SCPD, where Quentin was getting a call on a familiar phone. "Lance." He said as he picked up the call._

_"The Triad have hired a contract killer." Oliver said, his voice distorted over the phone._

_"Yeah? You mean the one you put in the morgue? Congratulations, you're the talk of the station again." Lance said, annoyed._

_"They hired one, they're going to hire another, Detective." Oliver argued reasonably._

_Lance sighed. "Who's your target?"_

_"I'm trying to find out but I'm hitting dead ends. I need you to put your people on it." He replied._

_"My people don't work for you." Lance snapped. "And come to think of it, neither do I."_

_"It's not about you and me, Detective." Oliver said reasonably. "It's about saving a life."_

_Lance sighed. "Call me back when you got a name." he said, ending the call. "Hall." He said suddenly, catching the attention of the passing detective._

_"Yes, sir?" she said uncertainly._

_"You and me. We're going to catch that Vigilante." Lance said._

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Roy scoffed.

 

“Did he ever catch him?” Laurel asked as she looked over at Dinah and Arsenal.

 

“Towards the end of the third year after Ollie came back. Although someone told him instead of him catching Ollie. Although he suspected about halfway into the second year.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene changed to the docks. China White was giving her men a briefing on the assassination. "There are five exit routes from the main floor that need to be cut off." She began, circling around her men. "Once the fire alarm goes off, we'll have less than 30 seconds to disable Merlyn's private security and force him outside with the others. Once he's outside the rest will be up to Mr. Lawton." She looked over to the sharpshooter, dressed in his traditional gear with the new artificial eye over his dead one._

_"Roger that." Lawton smirked._

Diggle seethed, grumbling things that even Tommy couldn’t make out.

 

_The next twenty-four hours passed in a montage of images. Oliver brooding alone in his room. Felicity trying desperately to crack the phone's encryption, but failing as Diggle looked on. Tommy sitting on the edge of his bed, starting at a picture of him as a child with his parents in happier times. Moira preparing for the Humanitarian of the Year event; outwardly she looked calm, but her shaking hands belied her tension._

Thea, realizing how trying this whole ordeal was on her mother. Still, that did not earn her Thea’s forgiveness.

 

_As evening started to fall, Tommy was finishing putting on his tuxedo when Laurel walked into their room._

_"You look handsome!" she said._

_"I try not to. It just keeps happening." Tommy replied glibly._

_"What's the occasion?" she asked._

_"I decided to go to my dad's thing."_

“Was I on any special medication when this recording took place?” Tommy asked as he looked over at Dinah.

 

“If only.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Laurel was surprised. "Really? Are you sure?"_

_"Oh, mostly." Tommy replied, putting on his jacket._

_"Did you want me to go with you?" Laurel asked. Tommy shook his head._

_"No, no, no, I know you have work to do. I promise I will be fine." He gave her a quick kiss. Laurel watched him as he walked out. She was distracted by her phone ringing. Picking it up, she saw the incoming call was her mother._

“Why is she calling me? She hasn’t so much as sent a text to me or dad since she moved away?” Laurel asked puzzled.

 

“You’ll find out why that no good, lying-”

 

“Roy, that is my mom.” Dinah cut off Arsenal.

 

“So that gives her a pass on what she did to you, on what she let Sara do to you?” Arsenal demanded.

 

“What is he talking about?” Laurel demanded and Dinah sighed.

 

“Next recording.” Dinah promised as she glared at Arsenal who met her gaze unflinchingly.

 

_She looked at the phone worriedly, then quickly ignored the call and slammed her phone down on the table._

_The scene changed to the Humanitarian Benefit, which was being held at Merlyn Global. Moira was mingling with the crowd when a familiar voice stopped her cold._

_"You look beautiful."_

_Composing herself, Moira turned to see Malcolm standing there, resplendent in his tuxedo. "Thank you." She said politely._

_"If you're free, maybe after the ceremony, we could have dinner and talk like we used to." He offered with a friendly smile._

_Moira smiled in return. "I'd like that." She lied. There was a bit of feedback through the speakers, and Malcolm chuckled._

_"That's my cue." He said, then walked towards the stage._

_"I've been trying to avoid him all evening." Frank Chen said, coming up to Moira._

_"If we didn't show, it'd look suspicious." Moira said reasonably. She picked up two flutes of champagne and passed one to Frank._

_"How can you talk to him that way?" he asked. "As if nothing's about to happen?"_

_"I've been living this life for five years. Five more minutes won't matter." She clinked their glasses and took a sip._

“If only.” Dinah sighed.

 

“He survives?” Tommy asked, surprised by how happy he was about that.

 

“You’ll see.” She said vaguely.

 

_Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." The speaker began, and the crowd quieted. "Now tonight's honoree needs very little introduction. It's neither his wealth nor his name that we celebrate here tonight. But it is his efforts in making Starling City a better and safer place to live. So please help me welcome Starling City's humanitarian of the year, Mr. Malcolm Merlyn." Applause broke out as a smiling Malcolm took the stage. He gratefully accepted the award and waved to the applauding crowd._

_Through the crowd, China White strode confidently in her brunette wig, pausing to take a flute of champagne from a waiter- one of her assassins. She looked back to see another waiter—another of her assassins- moving about as well, while the real waiters' bodies cooled in a storage room in the back._

_The scene changed to the Foundry. Oliver and McKenna were having a picnic in the unfinished club._

_"And so that's a stage, right." He pointed off to one of the corners. "Most nights we'll have a band. Somebody cool. Is Fallout Boy still cool?" he asked._

_"They broke up." McKenna said. "And never." Both chuckled._

“Tell me about it.” Tommy grumbled.

 

“I like them actually.” Laurel admitted.

 

_"So somebody else will pick the bands." Oliver said._

_McKenna looked at him in concern. "Something bothering you?" she asked. "Don't say no, 'cause you're a terrible liar."_

_"Really? I thought I was getting better at it." He quipped._

_"Mm-mmm." McKenna looked at him seriously. "What's wrong?'_

_Oliver sighed. " There's a lot of stuff going on in my life." He began. "Work. Friends." He pointed at her, and she smiled. "And I'm having a difficult time figuring out how to fit it all in."_

_"I've been struggling with some of those thoughts, as well." She confided._

_"Do you have any good ideas?" he asked._

_"I think we just have to be really honest about what's going on in our lives. Think you can do that?" she asked._

“When hell freezes over.” Tommy deadpanned.

 

“Back then, he couldn’t do that. Especially not with McKenna. It would never have worked out between them.” Arsenal noted.

 

“What did happen between them anyway?” Thea asked curiously.

 

“If my math is right, you’ll see in the next recording.” Dinah told her and Thea nodded.

 

_Meanwhile, Felicity and Diggle were still hard at work downstairs. Felicity groaned in aggravation. "Come on… Come on…" the computer beeped. "I'm in! Yes!" she exclaimed._

_Dig came over and set down a mug of coffee for her. "Yes! Yes, way to go, Felicity Smoak."_

_She groaned. "You don't happen to speak Spanish, do you?"_

_"Arabic." He said._

_"Oh, le sigh."_

_She ran a translation program, and both blanched at what they saw._

_"Oh, my God." Dig said._

“Something tells me they just found out about my dad being the target.” Tommy noted.

 

“You’d be right.” Dinah told him.

 

_Upstairs, McKenna and Oliver were having a tender moment._

_"You know I'm there for you." She was telling him as Diggle walked in, buttoning his suite jacket._

_"Excuse me, Mr. Queen. The I.T. department has that item that you requested." He said._

_Olive smiled tightly at McKenna. "One sec." he said, then climbed to his feet._

_"Ok." She said._

_Oliver walked over to Diggle. "You find the target?" he asked._

_"Oliver, the target is Tommy's father." Dig said._

_"At the awards ceremony?" he said, then a thought occurred to him. "Tommy's there." He spun around and headed quickly back to his date. "Um, McKenna, Mr. Diggle is going to take you home. I have some unexpected business."_

_She kissed him, "It's ok." Oliver smiled and hurried off._

_At the SCPD, Quentin's special phone rang. "Lance." He said._

_"The target is Malcolm Merlyn." Oliver's disguised voice told him. "Establish a perimeter but keep your distance. I don't want the police caught in the crossfire."_

“Yes, because he’ll listen to him.” Roy drawled.

 

_At the benefit, Malcolm began his speech. "The true humanitarian in the Merlyn family was my wife Rebecca." He said. "Many of you here knew her. She tirelessly devoted herself to helping those less fortunate in the Glades. I like to think that if the men who murdered her knew her; knew the work that she did, knew the person that she was. He would have helped her to her car, made sure she was safe, instead of stealing her purse and shooting her." He paused in his speech when he saw Tommy out in the audience. He gave him a small smile, then continued. "The truth is, I haven't done enough for this city. My city. I failed it. But I promise you- I am not finished yet."_

“Good god, he really sees himself as a hero.” Tommy said disgusted.

 

“Almost every enemy we’ve come across is the hero of their own story.” Arsenal explained.

 

_Out in the crowd, Moira was listening to the speech when she spotted Tommy out of the corner of her eye. She looked at the young man, and her careful mask slipped as she realized that she was going to have his father murdered in front of his son._

_"I promise you that this city will be better for all of us." Malcolm continued. "And on that day, I will look at this beautiful award and feel that I have earned it. I thank you."_

“I knew he was evil but I didn’t know he was crazy to.” Roy said disgusted.

 

_The crowd began to applaud, and Malcolm made his way down to the crowd to begin shaking hands. He had just begun when the fire alarm suddenly went off. The speaker got back on the microphone and advised the crowed to head out in an orderly fashion. Malcolm looked around for his son- and saw his security being killed all around him. His blood froze when he realized…_

_"Tommy!" he gasped, then frantically began looking around for his son._

Tommy blinked, surprised that his dad cared. He was also surprised that, despite everything he’d learned since coming here, his heart could still be warmed by that.

 

_Meanwhile, outside on the roof of the opposite skyscraper, Deadshot waited patiently for his target. Looking around, he began to realize that the plan wasn't working._

_"Merlyn's not taking the bait." He said over the radio. "Change of plans."_

_In the lobby of Merlyn Global, China White frowned. "I don't like improvisation."_

_"Drive him upstairs to his penthouse office." Lawton ordered. "I need to switch vantage points."_

_In the lobby, Malcolm finally found his son. "Tommy! Tommy!" he grasped his arm, getting his attention. "Come with me." He ordered. He led Tommy to the escalators. "There's an exit on the second floor. I wasn't leaving until I knew you were safe." He told Tommy as they ran up the stairs. They made it to the second floor hallway- but at the end of the hall were two men with SMP's who opened fire. Malcolm threw himself and Tommy to the wall behind a protruding column just as bullets walked their way down the wall towards them._

_A moment later The Hood crashed through a window, rolling to his feet and killing one of the assassins. He ducked behind an opposite column as the other gunman continued to fire._

_"Go somewhere safe." He ordered the Merlyn's. "I'll hold them off. Go now!"_

_The Hood leaned out and fired another arrow, forcing the gunman to back off. Malcolm took an instant to appreciate the irony of the vigilante saving his life, then grabbed his son and made for the stairs._

“Can you say irony or what?” Roy drawled.

 

“I know. It’s not something that escaped him when he learned the truth about Malcolm.” Dinah assured them.

 

_"Come on!" Malcolm urged._

_"Where are we going?" Tommy asked._

_"Up." Malcolm replied._

_"Who are those guys?"_

_"I don't know."_

_"They're trying to kill you!"_

_"Yeah, it seems that way." Malcolm stopped at the executive elevator and pulled out his access card. He quickly swiped it and the light turned green._

_"And we're going up, without any of your bodyguards? Dad!" Tommy exclaimed. "We need to get out of here."_

_Malcolm turned and put a hand on Tommy's shoulder as the elevator door opened. "Tommy, take a deep breath and trust me. Upstairs in my office is a panic room." He led his son into the elevator. "We get there, we seal it off."_

_China White was calmly heading up the stairs to the second floor. "Merlyn's headed to the penthouse." She radioed to Lawton, who was getting into position._

“What was that you were saying about being safe?” Roy drawled.

 

“All you’re doing is putting Tommy in danger.” Thea sneered.

 

_"Come on!" Malcolm urged._

_"Where are we going?" Tommy asked._

_"Up." Malcolm replied._

_"Who are those guys?"_

_"I don't know."_

_"They're trying to kill you!"_

_"Yeah, it seems that way." Malcolm stopped at the executive elevator and pulled out his access card. He quickly swiped it and the light turned green._

_"And we're going up, without any of your bodyguards? Dad!" Tommy exclaimed. "We need to get out of here."_

_Malcolm turned and put a hand on Tommy's shoulder as the elevator door opened. "Tommy, take a deep breath and trust me. Upstairs in my office is a panic room." He led his son into the elevator. "We get there, we seal it off."_

_China White was calmly heading up the stairs to the second floor. "Merlyn's headed to the penthouse." She radioed to Lawton, who was getting into position._

“And the feud three years in the making continues.” Arsenal quipped and Dinah rolled her eyes.

 

_The two ran at each other. China White swung first, and The Hood blocked with his bow. The two traded furious shots, with The Hood landing a hard shot to her gut with his bow. She returned the favor by sweeping out his legs and sending him to the floor._

_Meanwhile, Malcolm and Tommy were almost to his penthouse when they were stopped on the stairs by two gunmen. Both men held their guns on Malcolm, but as soon as one shifted his gun to Tommy Malcolm acted, forcing the gun up and away, then following that up with a hard shot to the throat, collapsing his trachea and causing the man to collapse as he suffocated. He quickly disarmed the other man, then bent his arm out, forcing the man's head down. He took the gun and pointed it at his head._

_"Wait!" Tommy shouted, but Malcolm shot the assassin in the head, then let the body drop._

_"Go!" Malcolm urged, forcing his son down the hall._

_Tommy was in shock. "You killed him!"_

_"Surely as he would have killed you." Malcolm replied coolly._

“As much as I hate to agree with Malcolm-and I _really_ hate it-he’s right,” Arsenal said and Tommy looked over at him, “It was self-defense-justifiable homicide at worst. Malcolm was protecting you Tommy.”

 

Tommy didn’t respond, simply turned his attention back to the recording.

 

_He punched in the code to the doors and they opened for him. "Move, move, move!" he dragged his son into the penthouse and slammed the doors shut. "Electromagnetic locks." He told Tommy._

_"What if they cut the power?" his son asked._

_"This floor is on an entire separate grid." Malcolm replied._

_"The glass?" he asked, still worried._

_"Lexan." He said confidently. "Bulletproof. It's over." He assured Tommy._

_Tommy looked at his father like it was the first time. "How did you know how to do that?"_

_"What?" Malcolm asked, confused._

_"Fight. Kill." Tommy clarified. Malcolm considered his son for several moments, then made a decision. He walked over to the wall and slid a painting to the side, revealing a thumb print scanner. "Dad?" Tommy asked. Malcolm placed his thumb on the scanner, and a moment later the wall slide aside. Malcolm looked into his secret workshop, with his League uniform hanging neatly from a mannequin, and prepared to tell his son everything-_

“Holy crap.” Tommy breathed.

 

“Is he really about to tell Tommy about The Undertaking, about everything?” Laurel asked shocked.

 

“He would have. If it weren’t for this.” Dinah said as the recording continued.

 

_And suddenly the glass behind him exploded._

_The shock sent him face first into the wall. He bounded off of it, and the impact caused the wall to slide shut again, hiding the truth from Tommy once more._

_Down on the second floor, The Hood and China White were still fighting. China got him down on the ground in an arm bar, which the Hood easily slipped out of. He punched her, and she kicked him back. The Hood used his foot to pop his bow up into his hands, and a moment later he was pointing an arrow at China White's Heart._

_"Freeze! SCPD." The Hood recognized the voice as McKenna Hall, who was approaching the two cautiously with her gun drawn. "Put the bow down." She ordered._

“Great, more police stopping him from taking care of future problems.” Arsenal said sarcastically.

 

“Roy.” Dinah sighed.

 

“Hey, some of my friends might still be alive if Oliver had been able to kill her.” Arsenal snapped and FDinah sighed, not able to disagree.

 

“What are you talking about?” Roy demanded.

 

“Year two.” Arsenal promised.

 

_In the penthouse, Tommy and Malcolm were both coughing and groaning. Malcolm was the first to push himself up._

_"Tommy, you ok?" he asked. Tommy nodded. Malcolm got to his feet and turned towards the window-_

_And was hit a moment later with three bullets to the chest. Malcolm staggered back a step, then collapsed to the ground._

Tommy straightened up as he stared at the screen intently. Malcolm may be a psychotic killer who had ruined a lot of lives, his own included, but he was also Tommy’s father. And, as Oliver had said earlier, your dad was your dad at the end of the day.

 

_"Dad!" Tommy shouted. He scrambled over to his father, looking at his unmoving face. "Dad?!"_

_Down on the second floor, McKenna kept her gun trained on the vigilante. "Turn around slowly." She ordered._

_Oliver glanced to the side, then spun around, losing his arrow into a fire extinguisher. The escaping cloud gave him cover to make his escape. China White also took advantage of the smoke screen, and by the time the smoke cleared, both were gone. "Damn it." She cursed._

_In the penthouse, Tommy was dragging his father away from the windows, trying to get some cover. Satisfied, the knelt down and quickly undid his father's shirt. "Dad." He cried. "I'm sorry."_

_Malcolm's hand shot out and grasped Tommy's; he groaned. "I'm ok." He assured him. "I'm ok."_

_Tommy looked down- his father was wearing a Kevlar vest. But one bullet seemed to have found a weak spot and penetrated the vest. "You're bleeding. You're bleeding." He repeated._

_"I'll be fine, Tom…" Malcolm suddenly pitched back, unconscious._

_"No, no, no, Dad! Dad!" Tommy cried panicking. The sounds of crunching glass got his attention, and he looked up to see The Hood standing there. In a blind panic, Tommy grasped the gun from his father's waistband and pulled it out, pointing it directly at the vigilante. "No! Stay back." He demanded._

_"I'm not here to hurt you or your father." The Hood said through his voice changer._

_"I said stay back." Tommy repeated when the Hood moved forward. The Vigilante knelt down and picked up a bullet. Curiously he sniffed it, then drew back with a start. "Curare." He whispered tom himself._

_"Don't come any closer." Tommy repeated when The Hood stood back up._

_"Your father's been poisoned." He started to explain quickly. "An assassin named Floyd Lawton laces his bullets with curare. I've dealt with this before. We need to dilute the poison in his bloodstream."_

_"I said stay the hell back!" Tommy screamed, his gun never wavering._

_"In three minutes he's paralyzed. In four minutes, he suffocates. If you don't let me help you now, he's dead before anybody gets here!" The Hood said, exasperated._

_"Help. How?" Tommy asked._

_"Fresh blood buys him time to get to the hospital."_

_"A blood transfusion?" Tommy said incredulously. "That's insane!"_

_"It's the only way." He replied. "He needs your blood. You're out of time. You need to make a decision right now!"_

_"Why should I trust you?!" Tommy screamed._

_Making a decision, The Hood did something he swore he would never do. He turned off his voice changer, the slowly turned to face Tommy, drawing back his hood as he did so._

_"Because you always have." Oliver told his best friend._

“Shit.” Roy breathed as those from the past stared at the screen in shock.

 

“I so did not see that coming.” Diggle said.

 

_Tommy stared up in complete shock. "Oliver." He gasped._

_As Tommy sat back in stunned disbelief, Oliver grabbed some supplies from a nearby cabinet, including a well-stocked first aid kit. Moving quickly, he used a flechette to cut several lengths of tubing, then attached needles to the end of them._

_"Ok." Oliver said as Tommy rolled up his sleeve. "Ready?"_

_"Do it." Tommy said flatly. He winced in pain as the needle slid into his arm. Oliver clamped one end and wrapped Tommy's arm in gauze to keep the line in._

_"Hold his arm." Oliver ordered. Tommy did so, and Oliver slid the other end into Malcolm's arm. As the blood started to flow, all they could do was wait._

_"Come on, come on, come on." Oliver muttered._

_Tommy's eyes moved from his father to his friend. "You're the Vigilante." He said needlessly. "Why?" Oliver sighed. "Later." He told his friend. "He's still going to need medical attention to fully clean out his system, you understand?"_

_"Ok." Tommy looked his friend in the eye. "Thank you." He said sincerely. Oliver nodded, then noted Malcolm stirring. He quickly rose, pulled the hood back up, and left._

 

“How different things would be if Malcolm had just died that day.” Dinah sighed.

 

“I know. Everything would be different.” Arsenal agreed.

 

_"Tommy." Malcolm rasped, looking around._

_"I'm right here, Dad." He told his father, holding his hand._

_Several minutes later, Tommy was walking with his father as he was wheeled to an ambulance as McKenna and Lance questioned him._

_"What did the Hood say to you?" Hall asked._

_"He didn't say anything." Tommy said distractedly._

_"You let a homicidal maniac talk you into a homemade blood transfusion instead of calling the paramedics?" she asked incredulously._

_"My father's life was at stake." Tommy snapped._

_"So first the Hood rescues you and Queen from those kidnappers," Lance added, "now he saves your old man. But he's taking down every other one per center out there." Lance looked at Tommy. "Is this guy a friend of yours, Merlyn?"_

_Tommy turned and faced the detective. "I don't know who the hell he is." He replied honestly._

“And I’m not taking this well.” Tommy winced.

 

“Well, you were probably in shock.” Thea tried to defend him.

 

“Doesn’t excuse it.” Arsenal said and Tommy looked over at him.

 

“Roy-” Dinah began.

 

“No, he needs to hear this,” Arsenal said before focusing his attention on Tommy, “Look Tommy, I get you being in shock. I even get you being angry at Oliver, especially as the media spun it to make it sound like Oliver killed everyone he went up against. But more than once, Oliver tried to explain to you why he was doing what he was doing. And every time, you refused to hear him out. It was childish Tommy.”

 

“Okay,” Tommy said after a moment, “So, after ifound out, Ollie and me…”

 

“Your relationship became…strained, to say the least.” Dinah admitted and Tommy nodded, sad.

 

“But, you didn’t have all the facts then. We are giving you all the facts so you can judge Him properly.” Arsenal said and Tommy nodded as the recording continued.

 

_The paramedics loaded Malcolm into the ambulance as Moira watched worriedly. From the rooftop across form Merlyn Global, Oliver watched as well._

_The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver was sitting, dejected as Slade fiddled with the half-working radio._

_"If they can't hear us, then what's the point?" he asked angrily._

_Slade held up his hand, indicating he should be quiet. "Wait! You still might have done us some good." He told the boy as he scanned the frequencies. Finally he found what he was looking for._

_'Final deployment is five by five.'_

_"That's Fyers!" Oliver exclaimed, jumping to his feet and running over._

_"I'm tuned into the soldier's frequency." Slade told Oliver as they continued to listen._

“That’s great; it gives them a bit of an advantage.” Laurel said as they all smiled.

 

_'Scylla is in route. ETA 0600 hours. At the southwest bay. I'll call you when Scylla is in my possession. Fyers out.'_

_"Who was Fyers talking to?" Oliver wondered._

_"I don't know." Slade admitted. "Sounds like someone off this island, maybe his benefactor. More importantly, who or what is Scylla?"_

“It’s from the Odyssey,” Laurel noted, “the hero, Odysseus, has to make a choice between  passing his ship through a whirlpool or sailing through the waters where Scylla, a sea monster with six heads, lives and it takes six of his crew.”

 

_"The Scylla and Charibdis." Oliver explained. "It's 'The Odyssey', from one of the four nightmare chapters. Scylla was a monster."_

_Slade slid his swords into their scabbards on his back. "I want to meet this monster." He said. He walked to the door and stopped, looking back at Oliver. "Am I going alone?" he asked._

_Oliver considered for a moment, then grabbed his knife and followed._

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver walked down the stairs, not looking forward to the news he was about to deliver._

_"So how's it feel to save a one percenter?" Felicity asked as he came into view._

_"Looks like Malcolm Merlyn's going to be ok." Diggle informed him. "They took him to Starling General. Good thing he was wearing a bulletproof vest."_

_Oliver looked at his friend. "He's not in the hospital because he was shot." He said. "He was poisoned by curare."_

_Diggle was floored by the news that his brother's killer was still out there, still killing. He walked off, then stopped and took a breath. "Lawton's alive." He said, getting it out into the open._

_"I'm sorry, John." Oliver told him sincerely. Dig turned and walked off._

Diggle clenched his pants legs tightly, sneering as he glared at the screen. Everyone looked away from him.

 

_"This Lawton kick his dog or something?" Felicity asked quietly._

_"No. He killed his brother." Oliver explained, watching his friend as he walked away._

_The scene changed to the island. Slade and Oliver stealthily approached Fyers camp. They took position behind some fallen trees, and Slade looked at the camp through his binoculars. What he saw caused him to take a sharp breath._

_"What?" Oliver asked, noting the other man's tension. "What is it?"_

_"You were right." Slade breathed. "Scylla is a monster. A Russian-made S300 anti-aircraft missile launcher." He handed the binoculars to Oliver, who looked at the device. "It can simultaneously track up to a hundred targets while engaging with at least a dozen. I mean, from here, they could shoot down a commercial airliner, or start a war."_

“Good god.” Laurel breathed as those from the past stared at the screen in shock.

 

“What is Fryers planning to do with that?” Tommy demanded as he turned to Dinah and Arsenal.

 

“There was a plane that was passing near Lain Yu. He had one of his men communicate with the pilot, direct the plane towards Lain Yu, and his plan was to shoot it down, under the impression it was to cripple China’s economy.” Dinah explained as they all stared, horrified.

 

“You said this was a plan by Argus to assassinate a high profile target? Who was on that plane that was worth killing all those people? “Diggle demanded.

 

“China White.” Arsenal said bluntly.

 

“Seriously?” Roy asked as they stared in disbelief.

 

“Yeah. Ironic, isn’t it?” Arsenal said dryly.

 

_The scene flashed to the present at Starling General. Oliver was entering to visit with Malcolm and Tommy when he spied McKenna._

_"Hey, you're here." He noted._

_"Yeah." She replied._

_Oliver took her arm gently. "Walk with me." He asked. She agreed and they walked off to a more secluded corner. "I heard you were there, are you ok?"_

_"I'm fine." She assured him._

_"Fine." Oliver said. "Listen, McKenna, I'm- I'm really sorry that I had to run out on you like that." He began, but she cut him off._

_"Don't worry. Five more minutes, and I would have had to run out on you." She sighed. "Our lives are complicated." She looked at him. "But I'm willing to figure us out. If you are."_

_Oliver smiled. "Willing and able."_

_Up in Malcolm Merlyn' room, Tommy sat slumped in a chair at his father's bedside. The elder Merlyn stirred, groaning as he tried to sit up._

_"Hey." Tommy saw his father start to look around in confusion. "Hey, Dad. Dad, Dad. Take it easy." He moved over to the side of the bed and put a hand gently on the man's shoulder, pushing him back down into the bed. "You were shot. The bullet was laced with poison." He explained._

_Malcolm looked up in confusion. "I should be dead." He noted._

_"I gave you a blood transfusion." Tommy said to his surprise. "Actually it was the Vigilante's idea. He saved you."_

_Malcom considered that in shock. "He did?"_

_"I was worried I was going to lose you." Tommy began, but his father smiled at him._

_"I'm not going anywhere." He promised his son._

_"You said that after mom died." Tommy accused gently. "But you left."_

_"I wasn't a very good father to you after your mother passed away." Malcolm admitted. "I was so lost."_

_"You never told me where you went." Tommy said._

_Malcolm considered his son. "I found myself in a place called Nanda Parbat." He began. "I met a man there. He helped me make sense of things. He helped me to find a purpose for my life; to make this city a better place for everyone. Especially for you."_

“He could’ve done some real good, why did it turn out like this?” Tommy wondered sadly.

 

“The path to darkness is a journey, not a light switch. He probably didn’t realize what he was becoming until it was too late. Tommy…the father you used to have, who used to tuck you in and play magic tricks with you…he died with your mother. He never came back all those years ago; it just looked like he did. Who really came back was someone else entirely. A complete stranger.” Dinah said gently and Tommy put his head in his hands.

 

“Continue.” Tommy said as he regained control of himself, sitting up.

 

Dinah nodded and unpaused the recording.

 

_Tommy looked at him in confusion. "How are you going to do that?"_

_"Malcolm?" they looked up to see Moira standing in the doorway._

_Malcolm smiled at her, then looked back to Tommy. It could wait, he decided. "Tommy. Could I talk to Moira for a minute?" he asked. Tommy nodded and walked out of the room, stopping to let Moira give him a kiss on the cheek._

_After he left, Moira approached the bed. "Thank God you're all right." She lied, fearful of what the man in the bed would do._

“Oh damn is more like it.” Roy drawled.

 

_Malcolm didn't disappoint. "We have a traitor in our midst." He seethed. "I want you to find out who. He just made his last mistake." Moira nodded, all the while thinking 'What am I going to do now?'_

“This isn’t good, this isn’t good at all.” Thea said worriedly.

 

“No kidding.” Tommy said grimly.

 

_Out in the hall, Oliver slowly approached. Tommy didn't look at him, but he could sense as his friend approached. "My dad's going to be ok, thanks to you." He said. "It's thanks to you." Tommy sighed. "No one's asked you what happened to you out on that island. You said 'a lot.' That doesn't quite cover it."_

_"Tommy-"_

_"I saw you kill those guys who kidnapped us when you first got back, didn't I?" Tommy asked._

_Oliver stared at his friend for several moments. "I… I know you have a lot of questions."_

_"Yeah." Tommy agreed. "Yeah, but for now, just the one." Tommy finally looked at Oliver, tears in his eyes. "Were you ever going to tell me?"_

_Oliver stared sadly at his friend, his own eyes watering. "No." he said finally. Tommy walked off without another word._

“I know, I know. I need to hear him out.” Tommy sighed.

 

“Just so long as you understand.” Arsenal said as he leaned back in his seat.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. The lawyer was talking on her phone, leaving Tommy a voicemail._

_"Tommy, I just saw it all on the news." She was saying as she pulled on her coat. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Bye." She hung up the phone and opened the door-_

_To see her mother walking up to the door._

“Mom.” Laurel breathed.

 

“Oh joy.” Arsenal drawled.

 

“Roy.” Dinah said annoyed.

 

“Look Dinah, I get her being in pain over Sara, god knows what I would do if anything ever happened to Lain. I even get her leaving your dad, as he wasn’t the easiest person to get along with after he picked up the bottle. What I do not get is her leaving you behind and then having almost nothing to do with you. I could never do that to Lian. So I don’t understand how she could do that to you and I never will.” Arsenal said firmly.

 

Dinah shook her head, though she was touched that he cared so much about her that he was angry on her behalf at her mother.

 

_"Hello, Laurel." Dinah said._

_"Mom?" Laurel said, stunned. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I need to talk to you." Dinah said._

_"About what?"_

_"I know I've made mistakes." She started._

_Laurel scoffed. "Yeah. Yes, you have." She sighed. "Look, I have to go. Why don't you send me an email or a postcard some time?"_

_"I have something important I need to discuss with you." Dinah pleaded._

_"What could be so important after all this time?"_

_"It's about Sara."_

_"What about her?" Laurel asked cautiously._

_Dinah smiled hopefully. "I think she may be alive."_

“Wait, I thought you said no one found out about what happened to Sara until Ollie’s second year!” Laurel shouted as she whirled on Dinah.

 

“We didn’t. Mom was fishing for hope. You’ll find out why next recording.” Dinah explained patiently.

 

“so, who’s up for dinner?” Arsenal asked as he got up.

 

Tired from the day’s revelations, the group of seven got up and made their way to the dining hall. As they did, a woman around Laurel’s age met them in the hall. She had black hair, blue eyes, Caucasian skin and was dressed in a light blue skirt and black shoes.

 

“Mr. Harper, may I speak to you please?” She asked sounding nervous.

 

“Sure. I’ll talk to you guys later.” Arsenal promised as he allowed her to lead him away.

 

“Who was that?” Roy asked Dinah as they walked over to the food station.

 

“Lucy, she’s one of the cooks here. She’s got the biggest crush on you.” Dinah teased.

 

“Tommy, can I talk to you for a minute?” Laurel asked as she held Tommy back.

 

“Sure. What is it?” Tommy asked as he allowed the others to go ahead while he turned his attention to her.

 

“It’s…well, it’s about us.” Laurel began and Tommy’s face fell.

 

“Look, Laurel, we don’t have to do this.” Tommy began.

 

“I think we need to,” Laurel said firmly and Tommy sighed before nodding, “look, if we began a relationship, it would be…good. Fine and safe. You would be the safe option Tommy. And we both know that as much as I care about you, there would always be three people in this relationship.”

 

“Oliver.” Tommy sighed.

 

“I’m sorry Tommy. I wish I could just turn off my feelings for him…but I can’t. Being in a relationship with you while I still have feelings for him wouldn’t be fair to either of us. And it wouldn’t be fair to Ollie either.” Laurel said and Tommy reluctantly nodded.

 

“So…can we at least still be friends?” Tommy asked and she smiled.

 

“Of course. No matter what, we’ll always be friends Tommy.” Laurel promised him as she hugged im.

 

“What are they hugging about over there?” Thea asked as she, Dinah, Diggle, and Roy set their trays of food down on a table.

 

“Hopefully, she’s taking some advice I gave her,” Dinah smiled as she saw Lucy coming towards them, looking distressed, “Lucy, what is it?”

 

“I’m sorry Mrs. Queen, I had to.” Lucy said and they all saw the fear in her eyes.

 

“What?” Dinah asked not understanding.

 

“I had to, she has my sister.” Lucy said her voice visibly shaking.

 

“Lucy, what are you talking about?” Dinah demanded, beginning to get worried.

 

Lucy opened her mouth but she didn’t get to say anything. Suddenly, an arrow went through her, the head sticking out of her chest, blood splatters falling onto the table. Thea screamed as the four jumped up, Thea’s scream causing Laurel and Tommy to whirl around. Lucy fell dead and the six of them looked at her assailant.  

 

Arsenal stood in the entrance to the dining hall, a bow in his hand and a quiver strapped to his back. However, if they didn’t know him, most of them wouldn’t believe this was the same man they had spent the day with. He posture and stance were threatening and dangerous, his mouth set in a thin line. But it was his eyes that held the most difference. Before they had shown warmth and familiarity, now they were cold and held no recognition. As though they were strangers to him.

 

“Roy, what the hell are you doing?” Dinah demanded.

 

“My name…is Prometheus.” Arsenal said before he fired his next arrow.


	21. The origin of Prometheus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of Prometheus' attack, Dinah explains to the viewers how Arsenal became Prometheus and the events leading up to it.

A hand reached out and caught the arrow stopping it seconds from Diggle’s face. Everyone looked over to see Kal standing there, holding the arrow as he took in the scene with a frown.

“What the hell is going on here?” Kal demanded.

“Clark, he’s been activated.” Dinah told him urgently.

While this made no sense to the time travelers, it seemed to mean something to Kal. Kal’s eyes widened in horror before they narrowed as his face hardened in determination. He tossed the arrow to the ground as he stepped in front Dinah and the viewers protectively.

“Roy, remember, we’re your friends.” Kal tried to reach Arsenal.

“I’m not Roy.” Arsenal said robotically as he reached back into his quiver.

However, Arsenal suddenly jumped back, narrowing avoiding an arrow that was aimed for his shoulder. Nyssa walked in and Arsenal stared right at her. Whereas he had had a blank look in his eyes before, he stared at Nyssa with pure hatred.

“Nyssa al Ghul, you are a traitor to your father and the League.” Arsenal said coldly.

“My father was a monster and the League has been disbanded. Roy, this is not you. Do not let her control you.” Nyssa said as Batman and Kara entered behind her.

“I will serve my mistress.” Arsenal sneered at her.

Arsenal notched an arrow and fired. However, the arrow went wide and hit to the wall. At first it only looked like a regular injection arrow but it was as the center of it slid open and bathed the room in green light that Dinah understood was it was. Kal and Kara dropped on their knees, groaning in pain as Batman stepped in front of Kal and Nyssa in front of Clark, the three remaining members of the Justice League drawing their weapons.

“You guys get them out of here, we’ll deal with him.” Dinah ordered to those from the past.

Batman threw his Batarangs at Arsenal, who jumped. Arsenal avoided the Batarangs by spinning in the air, moving towards Nyssa with his bow in one hand. Nyssa drew her sword and rushed at him but Arsenal was too fast. He used his bow to block her sword and then sent a powerful kick to her waist. The kick sent Nyssa flying, her sword clattering to the floor as she landed on her back. Before Nyssa knew what was happening, she gasped as she felt her throat grasped tightly in an iron grip as she stared into Arsenal’s cold eyes.

“You are a traitor to the League…and you the price of treason.” Arsenal said coldly.

Nyssa tried to speak but found she couldn’t make a sound under the strength of Arsenal’s robotic arm. Thankfully, Arsenal let go as he jumped back, just narrowly avoiding two Batarangs. Arsenal turned and Batman’s punch with his own, red robotic arm meeting black armor. As the two exchanged blows, Dinah rushed over to Nyssa and knelt down next to her friend.

“Are you okay?” Dinah demanded.

“I shall live,” Nyssa said, her voice a little raspy from Arsenal choking her, “but we need to handle Roy.”

Dinah nodded as she looked up at Batman and Arsenal fighting. An idea forming she stood up and caught Batman’s eye. Gesturing to the side, Batman caught on he jumped to the side. Before Arsenal could pursue, Dinah screamed and the sonic waves of her Canary cry erupted from her mouth. Arsenal, hearing something behind him, whirling around just before he was hit with the Canary Cry. The archer was slammed into a wall, grunting in pain as he got the full blast of the Canary Cry. Dinah stopped and he fell to the floor, unconscious.

Later, Dinah stood in the medical wing, looking down at Arsenal. He was still unconscious and both of his arms were handcuffed to the bed, as a precaution. Kal and Kara walked up to her and she sighed, knowing what this was about.

“Dinah, what was that arrow Roy shot? The one that weakened us, like Kryptonite?” Kal demanded and Dinah was silent. 

“Before he died,” Dinah began slowly, “Oliver, Bruce, and I were working on a project. It was designed to subdue Kryptonian.”

“You mean kill.” Kal accused but she shook her head.

“No. The arrow was equipped with a device that spreads twenty-five percent Kryptonite radiation through a half-mile radius. Enough to weaken you but not enough to kill.” Dinah explained.

“Why would you guys do this?” Kara asked and Dinah looked at her as though she had said something extremely stupid.

“After what happened today, can you really ask me that? What if someone does to one or both of you what Talia did to Roy? Or if you get infected by Red Kryptonite or run across one of our enemies that can control minds? And you two aren’t the only Kryptonians in the galaxy, remember Zod? Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go talk to five very confused time travelers, one of which is a teenage Roy Harper who just saw his older self kill someone and attack us all. Let me know the second he wakes up.” Dinah snapped before walking past the silent Kryptonians and out of the medical wing.

She made her way into the Justice League’s conference room, where she had left the five time travelers. All of them looked up as she entered confusion in their eyes, although Roy’s held as much shock as it did confusion.

“I know you must have a lot of questions.” Dinah told them as she closed the door behind them.

“What the hell was that? Why’d I just try to kill all of you? I just…I don’t understand.” Roy said as he put his head in his hands and Dinah sighed. 

“I guess it all starts back in the first year Oliver came back,” Dinah began and Roy looked up as the time travelers stared at her intently, “coming up, you’ll see this, but Oliver saved your life. And you became, I guess obsessed is the best word, with finding him. You wanted him to teach you everything he had learned. About halfway into his second year back, you succeeded and Oliver took you under his wing. You became his…well, not sidekick, but his partner. You two became pretty close, like brothers actually. But then things went to crap when the League of Assassins came into the picture.”

“League of Assassins? I thought they were just a myth.” Diggle said stunned.

“No, they are as real as you and me John. Or rather were.” Dinah explained.

“What the hell is the League of Assassins?” Tommy demanded wearily.

“A group of assassins who stand apart from society, assassinating those they deem unworthy to live.” Thea recited as the others looked at her startled.

“How do you know this?” Laurel demanded.

“Nyssa told her when I introduced her this afternoon. Now, we’re getting of topic,” Dinah said and everyone nodded as they gave her their attention, “to make a complicated story short, Oliver was blackmailed into fighting Ra’s al Ghul, Nyssa’s father and the League’s leader. Ra’s almost killed him and would have if not for the intervention of Oliver’s friends, Maseo Yamashiro and his wife Tatsu. They saved Oliver and he returned to Starling City, none of them realizing the events that had been set in motion by Oliver’s loss to Ra’s.”

“What are you talking about?” Diggle asked as they all stared at Dinah curiously.

“There is a prophecy within the League of Assassins: The man who survives the sword of Ra’s al Ghul shall become Ra’s al Ghul. Ra’s approached Oliver later on, gave him an offer: to one day take his place as the next Ra’s al Ghul,” Dinah said as they all gaped at her, “naturally, Oliver refused. But Ra’s didn’t take no for an answer. He set about turning the city against Ollie, framing Oliver for a bunch of murder’s he didn’t commit, including the mayor, then telling my dad, who was a SCPD Captain at the time, Oliver’s secret. Oliver turned himself in, cut a deal with my dad to get the rest of us off scot-free as long as he went to jail. But then Arsenal, Felicity, and you John had a plan of your own. Arsenal turned up at the scene of Oliver’s prison transfer, dressed as The Hood, telling them you were The Hood, not Ollie. Then, with some help from some powerful friends, Arsenal faked his death and left Starling City to get Oliver off. A month later, Ollie killed Ra’s. We thought it was over but little did we know, it was just getting started.”

“What was getting started? Roy asked a shiver of fear running down his spine.

“The fifth year after Ollie came back, a new player, Prometheus, came to town. We didn’t know much about him at first, other than he hated Ollie for something he had done. It wasn’t for months until we found out it was Arsenal. We didn’t understand the full story until we captured Evelyn Sharp, a member of the team that had turned traitor.

“There was a point in the fourth year after Ollie came back that Arsenal came back to Starling City. After he left, he was captured by Talia al Ghul, Nyssa’s sister who was much more loyal to Ra’s and wanted revenge on Ollie. She spent months brainwashing Roy into her perfect soldier that was loyal to her, convinced him that Oliver was the devil incarnate. Then she spent even longer training him, teaching him the ways of the League. Once she thought he was ready, she sent him after Oliver.”

“Why me?” Roy suddenly interrupted Dinah, “what made me so special?”

“You’d been trained by Ollie,” Dinah told him, “you knew the way he fought, and you knew him. You knew Ollie personally, you knew how to get inside his head, his strengths and weaknesses, you knew almost everything about him. And she also knew that Ollie would be able to bring himself to kill you.”

“I-I killed Diggle, didn’t I?” Roy said and everyone looked at him startled, “that’s why Arsenal won’t look at him, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Dinah sighed, hoping to have avoided this, “a few days before the final confrontation between the team and Talia and Prometheus, Prometheus led us into a trap. A fight broke out and John died. Arsenal has been plagued with guilt ever since.”

“It wasn’t his fault. He had no control, it wasn’t him that made the decision to do those things.” Diggle said as he watched Roy, who had his head in his hands.

“He knows that…but he still did them.” Dinah said as she also watched Roy.

“Dinah?” Everyone turned to see Kara in the doorway. “He’s awake.”


	22. Arsenal's sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knowing that he is a threat to the mission, Arsenal makes a heartbreaking decision.

“Hey Roy, how are you feeling?” Dinah asked as she walked over to Arsenal’s hospital bed.

“I’ve been better,” He smiled slightly before his expression turned serious, “tell me, what did I do Laurel?”

“You killed Lucy, tried to kill Nyssa, and attacked us all in full view of our…guests.” Dinah said after a moment.

“Oh god,” Arsenal instinctively tried to put a hand over his face but the handcuffs prevented this, “can someone please uncuff me?”

“Clark,” Dinah ordered and Kal went over to Arsenal, the keys to the handcuffs in his hands, “Roy, what happened?”

“Lucy, she asked to speak with me. She was so nervous, I thought she was gonna have a nervous breakdown. Then she stated apologizing, said that if she didn’t do this, her sister was dead. I didn’t understand what she was talking about until she started speaking in Arabic. Then Prometheus took over,” Arsenal sighed as he sat up once he was uncuffed, “everything Talia did to me…it’s all still here, in my head.”

“It’s okay Roy.” Dinah said but Arsenal shook his head.

“No, it’s not. Talia activated me Laurel. She did it once; she’ll do it again, either through someone else or by doing it herself, maybe during a fight. I’m compromised Laurel, I have been for twelve years. After Oliver saved me, you two let me back in, let me earn my redemption for what I did as Prometheus. But as long as this operation is happening, I am a threat to it. You know what we have to do.” Arsenal said firmly.

“No,” Dinah said immediately, “there has to be another way.”

“There isn’t. We all got lucky this time; you stopped me before I could do too much damage. Next time, I could do a lot worse. I am a threat to our plan to change the past. You know what you have to do Dinah. Do it or I will have Clark send me to the Phantom Zone.” Arsenal said firmly.

“Okay…okay.” Dinah sighed.

The next day, Arsenal and Dinah were dropping off Lian and Olivia at day care. Olivia was in the corner, already playing, while Dinah stood in the doorway, watching as Arsenal and Lian say goodbye.

“Daddy has to go away for a while.” Arsenal said carefully as Lian stared up at him with confusion.

“How long will you be gone daddy?” She asked the five year old frowning.

“I don’t know baby.” Arsenal said barely holding back tears.

“I’ll miss you daddy.” Lian said as she hugged her father.

“I’ll miss you to baby.” Arsenal said in a cracked voice as he hugged her back, wondering if this would be the last time he’d ever see his daughter.

After several moments, Lian stepped back and ran over to play with Olivia. Arsenal watched her for a minute before he stood up and walked over to Dinah. He gave a tight smile to a tearful Kara on the way out before they walked out.

“Roy, I…I don’t know if I can do this without you.” Dinah said as the door closed behind them.

“You can,” He said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, “you are one of the strongest, most badass women I have ever met. You survived Tommy’s death, your dad’s death, and Oliver’s death. After the battle four years ago where we lost Oliver and Barry, the League almost fell apart at the seams and you held us all together. You can do this Laurel.”

Smiling tightly, Dinah reached out and hugged him. Arsenal returned her embrace, realizing this might be the last time he saw her. Once they stepped back, they walked over to a nearby elevator. They take a ride down to one of the lower levels of the Watchtower. Once it stopped, the doors opened to reveal a chamber like room that heavily resembled the Pipeline that Team Flash had once used as a prison for Metahumans. The rest of the League and the time travelers were there as Dinah and Arsenal stepped off the elevator.

“You sure about this Roy?” Kal asked as the two reached them.

“As long as Talia al Ghul is still alive…then I am a threat, to everyone and everything that takes place here. For all our sakes…I have to do this.”

“Okay.” Kal sighed, sounding as happy as Dinah.

“Before we do this, Roy,” Roy looked up sharply as his older self called out to me, “we need to talk. Privately.” 

Nodding wearily, Roy followed Arsenal to the farthest corner of the room, where no one but Kal, who was tuning them out, could hear them.

“Now, I expect you’re probably a little freaked out by what happened last night.” Arsenal began.

“A little? I just saw my future self attack everyone here after murdering a woman and found out I get brainwashed.” Roy said sarcastically.

“You don’t get it. This doesn’t have to be your future,” Arsenal said and Roy raised an eyebrow, “what happened to me was set in motion by events that took place in those first two years after Oliver came back. We’re showing you this so that you can change it…so you can change our fate.”

“Then why are you putting yourself on ice?” Roy asked softly.

“Because my very presence is a threat to this operation. And, quite frankly, none of us have any idea what will happen to this time once we send you back. It could blink right out of existence or it could remain the way it is, nothing like this has ever been attempted before. It’s best to treat it that this timeline won’t change. The price of redemption is high Roy; make it so that you never have to pay that price. Make sure you never become me.” Arsenal said passionately as he placed a hand on Roy’s shoulder.

After a moment, Roy nodded and the two walked back towards the others. As Roy went back over to the other time travelers, Arsenal walked over to Nyssa and Batman.

“Hey, how’s your throat?” He asked Nyssa.

“I shall survive,” Nyssa said and saw Arsenal grimace, “it was not your fault Roy. Nothing that has happened to you has been your fault. The blame lies at the feet of Malcolm Merlyn, my father, and my sister. You had no choice in what you did.”

“I know…but I still did it,” Arsenal said and it was quiet before Arsenal turned to Batman, “if, after you send them back, and our time is still here…I want you to do something for me Bruce.”

“What?” Batman asked.

“Unless you find a way to undo what Talia did to me…make sure I never get out.” Arsenal told him.

“…you have my word.” Batman said as he held his out for Arsenal to shake.

“Goodbye old friend.” Arsenal said as he shook Batman’s hand.

Arsenal then dropped Batman’s hand and faced his prison. Before him stood a machine, large enough to house Diggle’s body. It was white and had its front raised into the air. With everyone watching, Arsenal walked forward and entered the machine. He turned around, resting his back against it. Arsenal saw Dinah at the control consul and smiled encouragingly at her. Dinah closed her eyes and pressed a button. 

Feeling a sense of peace wash over him, Arsenal closed his eyes as they lid of the machine closed. Once it did, he felt the cold rush over him and he knew no more.

Outside the machine, the Justice League and time travelers looked at Arsenal’s frozen form. Dinah leaned down, taking a deep breath as she tried to get a handle on her emotions. Once she was sure she wouldn’t break down. She straightened up. She would not let her friend’s sacrifice be in vain.

“Clark, escort our guests to the dining hall for breakfast. Once they’re finished, you will escort them to the viewing room.” Dinah ordered.


	23. The Huntress returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy, dealing with the truth about Arsenal, takes it out on The other viewers and lashes out. Tommy witness his future selves reaction to Oliver's secret as Helena returns to town.

“He doesn’t look so good.” Tommy mentioned as they watched Roy pick at his food at a separate table from them.

 

“Would you if you were him?” Diggle asked and Tommy nodded, seeing his point.

 

“Man, what happened to Arsenal…that’s messed up.” Tommy mentioned.

 

“I can’t imagine what he must be going through.” Laurel said as she looked over at the sullen Roy.

 

“Must be hell.” Thea said, having sudden empathy for Roy.

 

“Excuse me,” everyone looked up to see Kal standing in the doorway, “if you’re all finished, I’ll escort you to the viewing. Dinah will join you shortly.”

 

“Is she…okay?” Laurel asked carefully.

 

“She just had to put one of her best friends on ice because of the whims of a psychotic killer with an axe to grind. I don’t think the word ‘okay’ will be in her vocabulary right now.” Kal said bluntly.

 

“Let’s get this show on the road.” Roy said gruffly as he stood up.

 

“Roy-” Diggle began as he stood up.

 

“Don’t. You don’t know me, none of you do. And the princess has made it very clear she doesn’t want to,” Thea flinched at Roy’s words, “I just want to know how to stop my future self from turning into a brainwashed killer. So let’s do this.”

 

Non one said anything as Kal led them back to the viewing room. Everyone retook their seats, except for Roy. Rather than sitting with Thea and Laurel again, he instead took his future self’s seat on the furniture Arsenal had shared with Dinah. Raising an eyebrow, no one made a comment as Diggle picked up the remote and started the next recording.

 

_The memory set opened on a strip club…_

“Oh great, a strip club.” Laurel deadpanned.

 

_Gus Sabatoni sat down in front of the stage, a wad of ones in his hand. He was enjoying the show when a hand on his shoulder drew his attention. He turned in his seat to find one of the scantily clad women behind him, barely dressed in a skimpy purple outfit with a cross on the front. The spotlight behind her obscured her face, but he saw her...assets just fine._

_"Hey, mister. You feel like a dance?" she asked._

“Oh please tell me that’s not who I think it is.” Tommy groaned.

 

“When are you gonna learn Merlyn: the universe hates us.” Roy said bitterly and ignored the concerned looks everyone shot him.

 

_"Absolutely."_

_Minutes later the two were in a private room. Gus made himself comfortable as the woman locked the door._

_"Tonight your first night?" he asked._

_"First, and last." The woman spun around and planted a high heeled boot into Gus's chest, pressing him back into his chair. "Gus." She hissed._

_Gus grunted at the impact, and then looked up in fear as he finally saw her face. "Helena!"_

“And Ollie’s psycho ex is back.” Thea groaned.

 

_"I'm looking for my father." Helena Bertinelli snarled. "I figure if anybody knows where he is, it'd be his attorney."_

_"I don't." He denied. Helena scoffed, but removed her boot. Gus let out a sigh of relief- until the woman spun back around with her crossbow pistol in her hand. "Ohh! Helena, I swear I'd tell you where the FBI's keeping Frank, but after your father and I made his plea deal to testify, the Feds, they stopped telling me anything. Please!" he pleaded. "You have to believe me!"_

_Helena smiled. "I do." She said. Minutes later, Helena strode out the back exit of the club and jumped onto her Harley._

_In the club, one of the bouncers came and knocked on the door to the VIP room. "Hey Gus, song's over, man." He frowned. "You still in there?" hearing nothing, he opened the door- and saw Gus's body slumped back in his chair, two bolts in his chest. As he stared in shock, Helena started her bike and drove off._

“Good god, she’s as bad as her father.” Laurel said as they all stared at the screen, disgusted.

 

_The scene changed to the newly completed Verdant, where Oliver was giving McKenna a guided tour._

“Wow, the place looks great.” Thea noted excitedly.

 

“You’re not going where near there.” Tommy said firmly and Thea pouted.

 

_"Oh, my gosh! It looks amazing!" she said as they headed down the stairs from the second level._

_"Yeah." Oliver pointed to the deejay booth. "Steve Aoki's going to deejay. Right there."_

_“What? How did you get Steve Aoki?" she asked in disbelief._

_"I dated his sister." Olive said with a smile._

_"Oh." McKenna said, giving him a look._

_"A million years ago, a million years ago." He assured her, wrapping his arm around her._

_"Ok." She said with a smile._

_Oliver chuckled. "So, will you be my date tomorrow night?"_

_"Is a club opening a proper date?" she asked with an impish grin._

“For him it is.” Laurel noted amused and slightly jealous.

 

_"I certainly hope so." she chuckled. "Is that a 'yes'?" he asked._

_"No." she gave him a firm kiss on the lips. "That's a 'yes'."_

_The scene changed to Big Belly Burger. Laurel was seated at a table looking over the menu when Quentin walked in._

_"Laurel." He said, quickly moving to the table and taking off his coat. "I'm glad you called. Too much. It's too long for us to go without talking." He sat down._

_"Dad, I have to tell you—" Laurel started to say, but her father cut her off._

_"No, no, listen, before you say anything, I got to apologize. I should never have used you to catch the archer, and I'm sorry." He said sincerely. "Laurel, I'm just- I'm sorry."_

“Well, at least he apologized.” Laurel said happily.

 

_"Thank you." Laurel said uncomfortably. "I owe you an apology, too."_

_Quentin looked at her in confusion. "For what?" he asked._

_"Hello, Quentin."_

_Lance turned his head and saw his ex-wife standing there. He quickly stood, staring at her in shock._

“Oh boy, this won’t go over well.” Laurel winced.

 

_"How are you?" she asked. "You look well."_

“Seriously? Over three years after walking out on him and that is all she has to say?” Laurel demanded angrily.

 

_"What are you doing here? Why…why are you here?" he stammered out._

_"I'm here because I believe Sara's still alive." She said without preamble._

_"What?!"_

_"Dad." Laurel had risen and put a calming hand on his arm. "Sit…"_

_"What is going on?" he demanded, even as he allowed Laurel to guide him back into his seat._

_"Just hear mom out." She pleaded. "Sit."_

_"What's going on?" he demanded once more._

_"Start from the beginning." Laurel told her mother._

_Dinah sat as well and pulled out a map. "Oliver was found on an island called Lian Yu in the North China Sea." She said, pointing out the island, and then gesturing to the many islands that surrounded it. "There are hundreds; Thousands of deserted islands in this chain. What if Sara had survived, too? And nobody would know if she'd washed up in any one of those."_

_"So you don't actually have any proof that she's alive?" Quentin stated._

_"I have proof." She pulled out a photograph and showed it to Quentin. It showed a tall, brunet girl with a ball cap pulled down low, hiding her face. "A tourist took this."_

“Somehow, I don’t think that’s Sara.” Laurel said sarcastically.

 

“It could be anyone.” Diggle agreed.

 

_"Could be anybody." Quentin said defensively._

_"Doesn't it look just like Sara?" Dinah said with a pleading tone in her voice. "Our daughter's a survivor, Quentin."_

“She’s desperate to believe that that is Sara…to desperate.” Diggle noticed.

 

“What do you mean?” Laurel asked confused as she glanced over at him.

 

“There is a reason why she wants to believe that is Sara, something besides a mother losing her child. There’s something she isn’t telling you.” Diggle explained and Laurel turned back to the screen, suspicions forming in her mind.

 

_Quentin was silent for a few moments as he looked at the picture. "Ah, you have some nerve." He said finally. "Three years, no phone calls, no emails, nothing. You just show up with an old photo—"_

_"Dad, please." Laurel started, but Quentin cut her off._

_"No." he turned to Laurel. "Please, you listen to me, ok? Sara died on that boat." He looked between the two women, near in tears. "Why… why are you making me re-live this?" he stood and moved to leave. "I'm not doing this."_

_Laurel sighed. "Dad, no…" she tried, but he was already out the door._

“There was never any way that that conversation wasn’t gonna end with him storming out.” Laurel sighed.

 

“I don’t like you’re dad but I can’t say that I blame him.” Diggle noted.

 

_The scene shifted to the Glades, where Thea and her friend Morgan were walking and talking about Verdant's opening._

_"So I told Chris and Shane they could be our plus ones tonight to Oliver's club- if they're lucky." Morgan was saying. "We both have plus ones, right?"_

_Thea looked up, and was startled to see Roy Harper exiting a grocery store holding a cup of coffee. "Uh, I-I don't know." She stammered. "Hang on just a second."_

“Can’t you just leave me alone?” Roy asked irritably.

 

“Nope.” Thea said, popping the p.

 

_Roy was startled, and when he was who it was he rolled his eyes. "You know, for a stuck up, rich bitch, you seem to spend a lot of time here in the Glades."_

_"My job's around here." She said dryly._

_"You? Have a job?"_

_"Yeah. You know, you should try it some time." She advised. "Instead of hanging out on a street corner, waiting to boost somebody's handbag."_

_"Sounds good. Know anyone who's hiring high school dropouts with a couple of priors, no references and a history of violence?" he asked sarcastically._

_Thea chuckled. "Actually, I might." She said. "You know that new club opening in the Glades? Verdant? My brother owns it. I think he might be hiring valet attendants."_

“Working for rich people, yay.” Roy drawled.

 

“Well isn’t it better than stealing?” Thea asked annoyed.

 

“You don’t get it. When you live in The Glades, you either starve or you do things that mean you’re lucky to make it to twenty-one. There is no third option. Not all of us have rich parents to bail us out or a cop daddy to watch our backs.” Roy sneered.

 

Laurel, Thea, and Tommy winced, knowing that, as much as Roy was lashing out because of Arsenal, there was some truth to his words. Moira and Malcolm had repeatedly bailed out Tommy, Oliver, and Thea during their youth and Quentin and Dinah had also used their influence to protect Laurel and Sara the same way, despite Quentin’s denial of this.  Roy had never had any of this and had been orphaned at fourteen, likely had to take care of himself long before then. Roy had every right to feel resentful of them.

 

_Roy scoffed. "Do you think it's a good idea?" he asked. "Me, taking the keys to stranger's cars?"_

_"I think it's time you put up or shut up." She said._

_Roy considered her for a moment, and then sighed. "Talk to your brother." He said finally._

Roy blinked, surprised that he had given in while Thea smiled victoriously.

 

_Thea smiled, and then nodded to her friend. Morgan joined her and the two walked off, leaving a conflicted Roy Harper behind._

_The scene changed to the Lair. Diggle was looking at news clippings about Lawton when Oliver walked in._

_"Yo." He called out, and Dig closed the window on the computer before turning in the chair to face him._

_"Hey. Where you been?"_

_"Oh, I thought I'd give myself a rare morning in." Oliver said with a smile. Diggle raised an eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that. The club is opening, finally. McKenna and I are going on date number six tonight, which is…it's significant. And, uh, I don't know." He shrugged. "It seemed like a good day to give the bad guys a rest."_

_"Well, it's the bad girls that I'm worried about." Dig said, turning back to the computer and opening another window, this showing a surveillance video from a VIP room at the local strip club._

_Oliver sighed, recognizing the woman at once. "Helena."_

_"Yes, or as I like to call her, your psycho ex-girlfriend." Dig joked._

_Dig then got serious. "This was taken at Alley Cats, the strip joint. The police report lists the stiff's name as Gus Sabatoni."_

_"That's Bertinelli's lawyer." Oliver noted in confusion. "Why would she come back to Starling City just for him? It's not like he did a good job. Her father's serving consecutive life sentences without parole."_

“Exactly what he deserves.” Laurel muttered with everyone silently agreeing.

 

_"Come on, Oliver, we both knew this was just a matter of time." Dig said. "You tried to help her, you couldn't. Now the only question is, how long before she drops the dime on you, me, this whole operation."_

_Oliver considered this. "Look, I want you to get in touch with our contacts in the Bratva. Talk to anyone on the street, figure out where Helena is, why she's back."_

_"Ok." Dig said. "But Oliver-"_

_"Dig, if she's here, she's here for a reason." Oliver stated. "If that's not Frank Bertinelli, we need to know what she has planned."_

_Dig nodded. "Ok." He said, and Oliver walked off._

_The scene changed to the Queen Manor. Oliver walked in to the sounds of laughter. Confused, he headed deeper into the house._

_"Speedy?"_

_"Oh, we're in here." Thea called out. Oliver walked into the sitting room, and stopped could when he saw Thea sitting on the couch talking to Helena._

“Oh hell no!” Tommy snarled as he glared at the screen.

 

“She’s in my house. With me and my mom.” Thea said filled with dread.

 

_"Look whose back." Thea said, oblivious. Helena turned and smiled at him. "She was just telling me about your guys' first date-"_

_"At Russo's." Helena finished. "Hello, Oliver."_

_"Oh, Ollie, I kind of have this pseudo friend that's looking for a job." Thea added. "I was wondering if the club's still hiring?"_

_"Yes. Of course." Oliver said with a forced smile. "Talk to Tommy. As a matter of fact, you can go upstairs and call Tommy, right now." He advised, trying to get her out of the room._

_"Great. You rock." She said with a smile as she headed out of the room._

“For so many reasons.” Thea sighed in relief.

 

_After she was gone, Oliver dropped the smile. "Where've you been?" he asked, walking into the room._

_Helena rose to face him. "Um... Barcelona. Monaco, Budapest." She said. "I just needed to forget who I was. And how much I missed you."_

_"Do you mean like you missed Gus Sabatoni?" he countered, and this time her smile left her face. "I thought you were done with your father's organization, Helena." He continued. "Because he's serving consecutive life sentences in Iron Heights prison. You got your revenge."_

_"He just cut a deal with the Justice Department to testify against the East Coast family." Helena replied with quiet fury. "In 48 hours, Witness Protection will give him a new name, a new life, and he'll be off the grid forever- untraceable!"_

_"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Oliver began._

_"My father doesn't deserve a second chance- a second life." Helena spat. "And I can't. I can't take on a phalanx of U.S. Marshals. Not without help."_

_Oliver realized at once why she was there. "No." he said at once. "It's murder. It's not justice."_

“He’s right. There’s a difference between justice and revenge. Helena obviously can’t tell the difference between the two.” Diggle noted.

 

_Before she could reply, Moira walked into the room. "Oh, there you are." She said to Oliver. "I have a question about your opening tonight." Suddenly she notices he wasn't alone. "Hello."_

“They both had to be home when a psychopath paid a visit.” Tommy cursed.

 

“Knowing Helena, she planned it that way.” Diggle noted grimly.

 

“Wouldn’t surprise me if she did.” Laurel said darkly.

 

_Helena plastered a smile on her face again. "Hi." He replied._

_"Oliver, who's your friend?" Moira asked her son._

_"Oh! Mom, this is Helena. Helena, this is my mother." He introduced._

_"Hi." Moira said pleasantly._

_"Nice to meet you." Helena said, shaking her hand._

_"Helena was just leaving." Oliver said, placing a hand on the small of her back._

_"Yes. I have a family engagement." She added._

“Yes, leave. Leave and never come back!” Thea snarled.

 

“As if we’re that lucky.” Tommy said glumly.

 

_"Excuse us for a minute." Oliver said, leading Helena to the door._

_"Of course." Moira said, watching them leave._

_"I guess I will just have to be more persuasive." Helena whispered, stopping at the doorway. "Fortunately you have a family, too." She planted a kiss on his cheek, and then made her way out of the house as Oliver watched in stony silence._

“Oh she did not just threaten me and my mom!” Thea snarled.

 

“She’s a psychopath, what did you expect?” Roy drawled.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. It was shortly before opening, and Oliver and Diggle were standing at the bar as the employees set up for the night._

_"She was in my house." He raged quietly as Diggle texted on his phone. "She made a not so veiled threat. I want extra security around my mother and sister."_

_"Way ahead of you, man." Dig said, waving his phone to show him he'd been working on just that._

_"Thank you." Oliver said sincerely._

_"It's my job." Dig replied._

_"For not saying, 'I told you so'." Oliver clarified._

_Dig gave him a look. "Night's young." He noted, walking off._

_Oliver sighed and leaned back against the bar. He saw Tommy walking up behind the bar with a crate of wine. "Where you been?" he asked. "The club opens in four hours."_

_"I've been dealing with the vendors." Tommy lied, not looking at Oliver._

_"No, you haven't." Olive said. "Tommy… we need to talk." He began. "I'm sorry, all right. But I kept this a secret to protect the people that are closest to me."_

_Tommy finally looked up. "Do you think that's what I care about?" he asked. "What, that my feelings are hurt?" he leaned forward. "You're a murderer." He whispered. "A killer. You were my best friend in life, but now it's like I don't even know you."_

_Oliver stared sadly at his friend. "You're right. I've changed." He admitted. "Listen, buddy, now I can explain to you. I can explain to you how and why—"_

_"What'd be the point?" Tommy interrupted. "I wouldn't believe a word of it, anyway." He added, and then walked off, leaving a dejected Oliver behind at the bar._

“I see what Arsenal meant by me not listening to him.” Tommy winced as Laurel and Thea looked at him, disappointment and anger written on their face.

 

“Rich snob or not, you’re an ass no matter what.” Roy drawled and Tommy winced, knowing he deserved that.

 

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Oliver and Slade were still observing the missile launcher._

_"One of those missiles has an effective range of up to 2,400 kilometers." Slade was telling Oliver. "We're not going anywhere until we figure out what Fyers is planning."_

_"Wild guess? He's planning on blowing something up." Oliver replied sarcastically._

_"Well, one of those could do the job. But this?" he indicated the launcher and the camp of mercenaries, "This is about starting a war."_

_"With who?" Oliver asked._

_"What does it matter? We have to stop Fyers before he kills thousands of innocent people." Slade replied._

_"There are tons of soldiers down there." Oliver pointed out. "Even if we get through all of them, we can't just steal a whole missile launcher."_

_Slade observed the camp with his glasses- and spied soldiers carrying crates marked 'Explosives'. And idea formed in his head. "Well, who said anything about stealing it?" he asked._

_"So what's the plan? Ambush?"_

_Slade shook his head. "It's impossible. We can't take out all six without one radioing for back up."_

_"It'd be good if we could get all the soldiers in one place." Oliver noted._

_Slade paused, and then stared at Oliver in consideration. "You're right." He said._

_The scene changed to the SCPD, where Quentin Lance was in a pitched battle- with a stapler._

Snickers broke out across the room as the recording continued.

 

_Laurel walked in just as he was banging it against his desk._

_"What'd the stapler ever do to you?" she asked with a smile._

_Lance looked up and sighed. "What is it, Laurel? I'm busy. The Hood's girlfriend is back."_

_This time Laurel sighed, then took a seat next to her father. "Dad, I'm sorry about this morning." She started. "But if I told you the real reason to come see me, you wouldn't have shown up."_

_"You're damn right I wouldn't." he spat. "So you really believe this garbage your mother's selling about Sarah being alive on Fantasy Island?"_

_Laurel sighed again. "I mean, no. But what would it hurt to take a look at everything that mom found?" she asked, setting a folder down on his desk. "Even if it's just to set her straight."_

_Quentin looked up at his daughter, pain etched on his face. "Laurel, you know how long it's taken for me to get to a place where Sara isn't the first thing I think about every morning?"_

 

“He’s right you know,” Diggle noted and Laurel looked over at him, “even if she was right-and we know from Dinah that this lead is a dead end-she could have hired a private investigator to look into it. She didn’t have to drag your dad into this, put his emotions through the ringer again, knowing how hard he took you. At best, this was selfish, cruel at worst. It wasn’t fair to your dad or you for that matter, for her to do this.”

 

“I guess you have a point.” Laurel sighed.

 

_"Dad." Laurel said simply, giving him a hard stare._

_Quentin exhaled. "Tell your mom I'm not making any promises." He said finally, taking the folder. Laurel smiled, then got up and left._

_The scene changed to the newly opened Verdant. The music was pulsing and the patrons were dancing and drinking with abandon. On the second level, Oliver, McKenna, Moira and Thea stood, all with drinks of their own in hand._

_"To Verdant." Moira toasted, and the four raised their glasses. "I know I haven't always been supportive of this venture," Moira said after a sip of champagne, "but I have to admit this nightclub is quite an accomplishment. I'm proud of you." She smiled at Oliver. "Your father would be, too."_

_"Yeah, congratulations, Ollie. The club doesn't totally suck." Thea added with a smile._

“Coming from me, that’s high praise.” Thea shrugged as everyone else rolled their eyes.

 

_"Thanks, Speedy." He said. "Thank you very much, all of you, for coming."_

_Down below, Tommy was leaning against the bar, nursing a scotch when Laurel ran up to him._

_"Oh! There you are." She said, breathless. "This place is amazing. I'm so proud of you and Ollie." she complimented._

_Tommy smiled tightly. "Thanks." He said, taking another sip of his drink._

_Laurel looked at him in concern. "Is everything ok?" she asked._

_"I'm great." Tommy assured her with a fake smile._

“Now who’s lying?” Laurel asked and Tommy rolled his eyes.

 

“I know, I know.” Tommy said exasperated.

 

_"Well, breakfast was a disaster." At his confused look, she clarified. "Breakfast? With my parents?"_

_"Right. That was this morning. Uh… sorry." He apologized._

_Now Laurel was really worried. "Are you sure everything's ok? Because you seem completely off."_

_Tommy smiled and took her hands. "I'm fine. I promise." He told her._

_"Tommy! Tommy." Thea ran up to the pair. "Did you call Roy yet?"_

_"I left him a message." He told her. "He starts tomorrow. Which reminds me, I have to go check in with the office." He smiled at Laurel and squeezed her hands before letting go. "Excuse me."_

_Tommy headed towards the stairs when another voice stopped him._

_"Hey, Tommy." He turned and Saw Helena standing there with a smile on her face. "Remember me?" she asked._

“Oh my god, I’m a dead man.” Tommy paled.

 

“Don’t say that. I’m sure you live through this.” Laurel said but she sounded as though she was trying to convince herself.

 

“I don’t think she’s gonna kill you. I think she’ll use you as bait.” Diggle told him.

 

“Great, that’s worse.” Tommy sighed.

 

_In the club, Oliver was walking down the stairs and spotted McKenna dancing. She smiled at him, and he smiled back._

_"Sorry to bother you, Mr. Queen." Oliver looked over and saw one of the servers._

_"Your timing is perfect. I can't dance." He told the boy._

_The server handed him a folded note. "They said it was urgent."_

_He frowned and looked at the note. 'Meet me downstairs. –Dig'_

_McKenna walked over and he folded the note back up. "You ok?" she asked._

_"Yeah." He said. "We ran out of Cristal." He added, lying._

_"Oh."_

_"I'll be right back." He kissed her on the cheek._

_"Ok." She said as he moved off._

_Oliver made his way to the basement. He bounded down the stairs and called out for his partner, but stopped cold at what he saw- Helena holding Tommy down against a table, his arm bent backwards at a painful angle and his wrist grasped tightly in her hand._

“Bitch, you are so dead when we get home.” Thea sneered as Tommy paled.

 

_"Let him go." Oliver demanded. "He has nothing to do with this."_

_"I told you." She snarled. "Oliver, I warned you!"_

_"Helena!" he shouted, then moderated his tone. "This isn't you."_

_"My father is a mobster and a murderer. It is not like you haven't killed men like that before!" she stated._

“As much as I hate to admit it, she’s got a point.” Thea pointed out.

 

“Yeah but Bertinelli isn’t a threat anymore. And I doubt the feds will just let him go free without any supervision, knowing what he’s capable of. He’d be watched twenty-four seven. It would only look like he went free; he would not actually be a free man.” Diggle pointed out.

 

_"And I tried to teach you to obtain your objective without killing!" he shot back._

_"By applying leverage. By exploiting someone's weakness." She twisted Tommy's arm, causing him to gasp in pain._

Tommy winced as Thea and Laurel shot the screen death glares.

 

_"There is a whole club full of leverage above our heads right now. Please." She pleaded. "Oliver, don't make me do something that both of us will regret."_

“You make it sound like he is forcing you to do this. No one is forcing you to do anything; you are making a choice to do this.” Thea snarled.

 

_"Ok! Ok. You win! I'll help you. ." Oliver shouted. "Let him go." She stared coldly at him. "Let Him Go!" he shouted. Helena twisted the wrist enough to break it, and then let him go. Tommy screamed in pain as Oliver looked on helplessly._

Tommy winced as he grabbed his arm. Thea and Laurel glared at the screen and the phrase ‘if looks could kill’ came to mind.

 

_Later that night, Oliver and Dig were alone in the club's basement. Dig was hunched over the computers while Oliver paced. He paused in his pacing and pointed to Dig. "Don't say it."_

_"Ok." Dig replied, looking back at his friend. "Then let's talk about Helena." He started. "Oliver, if you didn't still have feelings for this girl, you would have thought of a different solution than letting her extort you into killing someone."_

_"So what do you want me to do?" Oliver demanded. "You want me to kill her?"_

_"I think you would have a long time ago if she looked like me instead of the T-Mobile girl." Dig replied to Oliver's amazement._

“You’re not wrong,” everyone looked up to see Dinah walk into the room, “Ollie was so desperate to connect with someone that he thought he and Helena were the same. It also didn’t help that he had a messiah complex due to…things that happened in year two.”

 

“How are you doing?” Diggle asked her.

 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Dinah said in a tone that left no room for argument, noting Roy’s change of seat as she sat next to him.

 

_"She's a stone cold killer, Oliver."_

_"She's not evil." Oliver denied. "She's been lost since her father killed her fiancé in cold blood. And are you going to sit there and tell me that you don't know what it's like to want revenge?" he continued. "What would you do? Hmm? If Floyd Lawton was standing right there?"_

_"Nothing that will involve blackmailing you into hunting him down." He said honestly._

_"You're right." Oliver admitted. "Ok? I can't kill her. "And I can't take her to the police and risk her exposing all of this. But at least, if I'm involved, I can contain her, all right? I can minimize the collateral damage."_

_"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" Helena asked, walking in._

_"We were just talking about you." Diggle said sarcastically._

_"And here I thought you didn't care much for me." She replied glibly._

_"Still don't." Dig said._

_"I haven't been able to locate the safe house where the FBI is keeping your father." Oliver began._

_"I can help with that." They turned to see Felicity walk into the foundry. A look of panic came across Oliver's face. "I've been dying to hack into the FBI security system."_

“And Felicity just gave Helena more leverage.” Laurel groaned.

 

“Yeah, that comes back to bit Ollie later.” Dinah sighed.

 

_"Get out." He told her harshly. "Get out. This is a private thing, Felicity. Please."_

_"Oh. Ok." She said uncertainly. "See ya, I guess…" she said, turning around and walking back out._

_Helena considered the girl, and then looked at Oliver. "How many girlfriends do you have, exactly?" she asked._

“Good question.” Laurel mused.

 

“Well, there was Sara, Helena, Felicity, McKenna, yours truly, Samantha-” Dinah mused.

 

“Samantha?” Laurel interrupted, shocked.

 

“Later.” Dinah promised.

 

“He dated that I.T. girl?” Thea said disapproving.

 

“We accept the love we think we deserve.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"Like I said- we don't know where the safe house is." Oliver continued. "What we do know is that the Marshall Service is taking your father to a hearing at the Justice Department tonight. There's a problem, Helena." He added. "There are two vans. And one of them's a decoy."_

_"Well, it's a good thing there's two of us, then." She said with a smile._

_"It's not too late to call this off." Oliver pleaded._

_She smirked at him. "I think you know me better than that. I don't take prisoners."_

“At least he tried reasoning with her.” Laurel sighed.

 

“But no one could reason with Helena.” Dinah said bluntly.

 

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Oliver, his ski masked pulled down to hide his face, was escorting a supposedly bound Slade Wilson towards the encampment with the missile launcher._

_"Hey!" he called out, gaining the mercenary's attention. "I found an intruder while I was circling the perimeter."_

_"It's Wilson." One of the merc's said. "You killed a few of my friends, you son of a bitch."_

_"And I'm going to kill a few more." Slade replied. He pulled his hands from behind his back, which both contained a Colt 1911. He opened fire with both guns simultaneously and managed to drop all six guards with single shots each. Slade looked back at a kneeling Oliver and grinned. Oliver watched in disbelief, then got up and followed him._

“Lethal and smart. This guy was a good friend for Oliver to have.” Diggle noted.

 

“What happened to him?” Thea asked as she looked over at Dinah.

 

“Year two.” Dinah said simply with a dark look on her face that made Thea uneasy.

 

_The scene changed to CNRI. Tommy walked in, his arm bandaged and smiled at Thea who was on the phone._

_"I'll talk to one of our lawyers and have them call you right back." Thea finished, and then hung up. She looked at Tommy's arm in concern. "Cut yourself shaving?"_

_He smiled weakly at her, then at Laurel who walked over to him. "Hi." She said._

_"Hey." Tommy replied weakly. "You got a minute?"_

_"Sure." She replied._

_As they headed to a quieter corner, Thea asked "How was Roy's first day?"_

_"Kid never showed." He replied. Her face fell at that._

“Are you kidding me?” Thea asked as she glared at Roy.

 

“I’m not looking for your charity. I don’t need your help just so you can feel good about yourself.” Roy sneered.

 

“Roy,” Dinah began and he looked over at her, “not all business men are like the one who ordered the hit on your dad.”

 

“I’ve yet to see one.” Roy sneered.

 

“You will.” She promised.

 

He scoffed and turned back to the screen.

 

_"Um I just, uh, I came by to apologize for last night." Tommy began._

_"Instead of an apology, why don't you try the truth?" she stated. "You can start with your wrist."_

_"I got into a fight with a blender at the club." He lied with a chuckle. "It was stupid."_

_"I thought I asked for the truth." She said seriously. "I know something's up. Why won't you tell me what's going on?"_

_"Because I can't." Tommy replied._

_"Why not?"_

_He sighed. "I can't tell you that, either. I wish that I could. Laurel, I'm sorry."_

_"So am I." she said sadly, her emotions finally boiling over. "I really need you right now, Tommy. My mother shows up saying my dead sister is still alive, and my father is furious with me that I'm even listening to her." She said, near tears. "And I don't know who to believe. I feel like I'm falling apart."_

_"I'm still here for you." Tommy tried, putting his hands on her arms._

_Laurel pulled back. "No, you're not. You're a million miles away, and the worst part is, I don't even know why." She held back a sob. "I'm sorry." She said, walking quickly away. Tommy just stood there and closed his eyes in frustration._

Tommy and Laurel avoided looking at each other as everyone else got uncomfortable.

 

_The scene changed to Roy's house. Thea stood on the front step and knocked on the door. After a moment, Roy answered, and when he saw who it was he rolled his eyes._

_"Wow. Stalker much?"_

_"You didn't show up for the job I got you." She accused._

_Roy shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I had second thoughts about parking your brother's Bentley."_

_"What, being a valet is beneath you?"_

_"No, but accepting charity from some rich girl is."_

_This time Thea rolled her eyes. "Why are you so obsessed with the fact that I have money?" she asked. "You know, money isn't everything."_

“Spoken like someone who’s never went without. You’ve never had to wonder when you’re next meal would be or if you’d have a roof over your head next winter or had to worry about if you’d be able to make the bills. You just don’t get it.” Roy sneered.

 

“It doesn’t have to be like that Roy. You’ll see.” Dinah promised and Roy scoffed once more.

 

_Roy scoffed. "Spoken like someone who's got it. Now, uh, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my life of crime." He smirked, looked her over once, and then closed the door._

_Thea rolled her eyes and sighed, then turned and walked away. She was less than a block away, walking under an overpass when she saw a teen wearing a grey hoodie step out from behind one of the support columns. Thea stopped dead, startled._

“And this is why you shouldn’t go to The Glades alone.” Roy said as Thea paled and Laurel clutched her hand.

 

_"Yo, can you help me out? Think I'm lost." The gangbanger said. Another stepped out form their hiding places, surrounding Thea. "Where's downtown at?"_

_"I-I-I don't know." She stammered out, suddenly very afraid._

_"Maybe you can give us some directions." The second one said, closing in on her. He pulled a knife and her eyes widened. "Or better yet, some money—"_

_He made to grab her and Thea yelled. Suddenly a red blur came out of nowhere and knocked the first gangbanger to the ground. The second swung at him clumsily with the knife, opening a gash on his side. Roy ignored it, flipped off the concrete column, and then took the kid down. He pummeled him for several seconds until he was unconscious, and then staggered back to his feet, clutching his side._

“Thank you Roy.” Tommy said as Laurel sighed in relief.

 

“I don’t like rich people but I hate killers more.” Roy said darkly.

 

_Roy groaned, but looked at Thea. "You ok?" he asked, gasping in pain._

_"You're bleeding!" Thea exclaimed._

“That’s what happens when you get stabbed.” Roy said slowly and Thea glared at him.

 

_"Yeah, that's what happens when you get stabbed." Roy gasped as Thea looked on helplessly._

_The scene changed to later that night. Oliver and Helena, both sitting astride their motorcycles, watched as the two FBI vans pulled out of the facility._

_"Just your father." Oliver ordered. "Anyone else gets hurt and I'll put an arrow in you."_

_"That's sweet." Helena smirked. "Now I know how you charmed your cop girlfriend."_

_Oliver gritted his teeth, and then put on his helmet. They followed the two vans side by side until the vans took off in different directions. Helena and Oliver split up, each tailing one of the vans. Oliver followed his van into a tunnel and rapidly closed. When he was close enough, he pulled a flachette with an explosive tip off of his wrist gauntlet and threw it. The flachette hit the rear door and blew them open. The van skidded to a stop, as did Oliver, and when the smoke cleared he could see his van was empty. His eyes widening, he spun his bike around and quickly headed back out of the tunnel and towards Helena._

_The Huntress had followed her van for several miles, waiting for it to enter another tunnel. Seeing her chance, she sped forward; pulling alongside of the van, then withdrew her crossbow pistol and firing an explosive bolt into the engine, disabling it. The van skidded to a stop, and Helena dismounted her bike and pointed the crossbow at the van's rear doors. "Give me Frank Bertinelli!" she shouted._

_To her surprise, the van's doors burst open to reveal two SWAT officers in tactical gear and SMP's pointed right at her head. Behind her, two squad cars pulled up with lights flashing. Several more cops climbed out of the cars, among them Detective's Lance and Hall._

“This is bad.” Laurel groaned.

 

“Why, she goes to jail? I don’t see the problem.” Thea said oblivious.

 

“Detective Lance knows she was with The Hood a few months back. You really think he won’t use this opportunity to get intel that from her?” Diggle asked and Thea paled as she understood.

 

_"Your father's not in the van." Lance told her. "But he sends his regards. Where's the Hood?" he demanded. She was too stunned to say anything._

_"Helena Bertinelli, you have the right to remain silent." Hall started, putting her in cuffs. "Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney."_

_Oliver arrived in time to see Helena cuffed. "Damn it." He growled. The two looked at one another until Hall put her in the back of the squad car, and then Oliver spun his bike around and sped off._

_The scene changed to the SCPD interrogation room. Helena sat at the table, her hands cuffed to a bar as Lance and Hall walked in._

_"Paul Copani, Nick Salvati, Gus Sabatoni." Lance began, reading names off of a file. He tossed the file down onto the table, and then sat across from her. "You are quite the hunter, Ms. Bertinelli. Well," He smirked, "I guess I should make that 'Huntress'."_

“I still can’t believe my dad is the one who gave her her codename.” Dinah mused.

 

_." He looked back at the file. "You've been systemically taking down everyone in your father's criminal organization. When Gus Sabatoni turned up dead, we knew it was just a matter of time before you tried to murder your old man." He chuckled, and then looked up at her. "Do you want to tell us why?"_

_"Not particularly." She replied._

_"You should reconsider." Hall said. "We got you, but the vigilante got away before E.S.U. could move on him. You know who he is." She said with a knowing smile. "Who he really is. Don't you?"_

_Lance laughed. "Ms. Bertinelli, you're going away for all day, we can't change that. But things can be better. Or they could be worse. You tell me his name, I will do everything I can to make it better." He offered._

“This is so not good.” Thea said as she began to panic, not wanting to lose her brother again.

 

_Helena considered the two for a moment, and then leaned forward. "Oliver Queen." She said._

“Relax and watch.” Dinah said as everyone tensed.

 

_The two officers had surprised looks on their faces, and then Helena smiled back at Hall. "You're dating him now, right?" she continued, throwing the two cops for a loop. "I saw you at the opening of his club last night. Did he mention that we used to be lovers?"_

“Lovers is such a loose term. You were more like a one night stand that stuck around for a few nights.” Dinah said calmly as everyone snickered.

 

_"We want to know about the Hood, not Oliver Queen." Hall said sharply._

_Helena's smile widened. "Let me let you in on a little secret- it's not going to work out between you two." She said. "You see, Oliver has a particular talent. He uses people. He used me, he used the detective here's daughter- excuse me, daughters." She continued, looking at Lance, who looked startled at that. "I would get out of it before you get yourself hurt."_

“Funny, coming from you and what you did.” Dinah sneered.

 

“What she’d do?” Tommy asked uneasily.

 

“You’ll see.” She said sadly.

 

_Lance slapped the table hard. "Last chance." Lance growled. "His name."_

_"The Hood." She said after a moment. Seconds later, the lights flickered and died. Alarms bells started ringing and the red warning lights came on. Hall and Lance looked at each other, while Helena sat back, a small smile on her face._

_"What's going on?" Lance wondered._

_"I don't know." Hall replied. Both jumped up and headed out of the interrogation room. Out in the station, smoke was filling the place and cops and civilians alike were running for the exits._

_Seconds after the two detectives left, The Hood came in, wearing a gas mask. He uncuffed her and led her to the door. Waiting for a moment, he threw open the door and led Helena out, guiding her to the exit._

“I know he had no choice if he wanted his secret to remain a secret but did he really have to save her? Couldn’t he have just killed her?” Laurel sighed.

 

“Killing someone just because they’re a loose end would make him no better than Malcolm.” Dinah said firmly.

 

_"Freeze!" Lance shouted. Oliver threw a tranquilizer dart side handed, which hit Lance in the neck. The cop slumped down against the wall, out cold as The Hood led the Huntress out of the station to freedom._

“Which is worse, a punch hard enough to knock you out or a tranquilizer?” Tommy asked as he looked over at Dinah.

 

“A punch but this was a special kind of tranq. When my dead woke up, he experienced the worst hangover of his life. Ollie’s form of payback at my dad for putting me in danger.” Dinah explained.

 

“I can live with that.” Tommy said as he turned back to the screen.

 

_The scene changed to Starling General's ER, where Roy was being tended to by a doctor with Thea standing next to him._

_"Sounds like quite the daring rescue." The doctor noted as he cleaned the cut. "You're very lucky to have a friend like Roy, Thea."_

_"Oh, don't I know it." She replied dryly._

_"We're not friends." Roy said through gritted teeth._

_The doctor just smiled. "Well, let me get you stitched up, and then you two can decide what you are or aren't." He walked over to his tray and began prepping a shot to numb the area for stitches._

_"You are such a jerk." Thea said shaking her head. She paused when she saw Roy's panicked expression. "Roy." She looked at him in confusion. What's a matter?"_

_Roy's eyes hadn't left the needle in the doctor's hand. "Nothing." He gasped. "I just don't see why I need a shot."_

_Thea chuckled in amazement. "Oh, don't tell me a tough gang banger like yourself is afraid of a tiny little needle."_

“You would too if you walked into your mom’s room to find her dead with a needle in her arm.” Roy growled and Thea winced.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Thea said apologetically.

 

“That’s just it, you didn’t know. You and your family sit on your little thrown of money, looking down on those of us in The Glades, making judgements about us before you even know the whole story. You and your family make me sick.” Roy sneered.

 

“That’s enough Roy.” Dinah reprimanded him and Roy sat back, crossing his arms.

 

Thea and Tommy looked away without responding, knowing that Roy’s words carried more than a little truth to them. There was silence in the room for a minute before Diggle unpaused the recording.

 

_"It doesn't look so tiny." He noted._

_"Well, just think about something else." Thea advised. "Besides the needle."_

_"Like what?" he asked._

_"Ok, now this could sting a little." The doctor warned. Roy looked at the approaching needle in panic, so Thea grasped his chin, turned his face to hers, and kissed him._

“Didn’t see that coming.” Diggle said as Roy and Thea blinked.

 

“Like I said, only the beginning of a love story.” Dinah reminded them while Tommy grumbled; displeased Thea would date someone who, in his opinion, was not good enough for her.

 

_"Done." The doctor said. Thea pulled away, and for the first time gave him a genuine smile. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked. Roy just stared back, speechless._

_The scene changed to a deserted parking lot where Oliver and Helena had ended up after their escape._

_"Thanks for the save." Helena said._

_"I couldn't risk you telling the police about me." Oliver said bluntly._

_"Is that the only reason?" she asked. Helena closed the distance between them. "Why can't you just admit that you still have feelings for me, too?" Oliver stared at her impassively, then reached into his jacket and withdrew an envelope. He zipped his jacket back up and handed the envelope to her. "What is it?" she asked._

_"A plane ticket to Rome; and a passport so you can start a new life somewhere else." He told her. "The police know you're tracking your father, Helena. You'll never find him. So get out of my city."_

“Seriously? Why is so set on saving this girl?” Tommy demanded.

 

“During his second year away,” Dinah began carefully, “there was someone that…he couldn’t save. Someone he was very close to. Since then, he’s developed a messiah complex of sorts. He’s always trying to save people from themselves. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But he always tries; he wouldn’t be Ollie if he didn’t.”

 

_Reluctantly, Helena took the envelope, and Oliver walked back to his bike._

_The scene flashed back to the island. Slade was breaking open crates of explosives; he grabbed a handful of the long, thin bricks of C4 and gave them to Oliver. "Place these around the launcher." He ordered. "Do it quickly. Their backup will be arriving any second." The two started hastily setting the C4 sticks all around the launcher, and had only just started when the radio crackled to life._

_'We're 60 seconds out from the launcher.' A voice said. Slade's eyes widened in surprise._

_"Set your final charges and we'll blow it." He yelled._

_Oliver paused, and idea coming to him. He moved to the back of the launcher and found an access door. "I think I have a better idea." He told Slade as he opened the door and slid out the motherboard._

_"What are you doing?" Slade asked in exasperation._

_Oliver looked at the board, and found what he was looking for- a processor chip. He yanked it off the board and showed it to Slade. "I'm taking the circuit board. Computers won't work without them, and neither will this." He explained._

“That’s…genius.” Laurel said as she began to smile.

 

“And he’ll finally have leverage over Fryers.” Diggle noted.

 

_Slade looked at him in excitement. "Leverage." He realized. Slade clapped the younger man on the shoulder, and the two took off for the trees._

_The scene shifted back to Starling City. Oliver stood outside McKenna's door and knocked, and a moment later the cop opened the door in a robe, toweling off her still-wet hair._

_Oliver shook his head. "I'm sorry. I should have called." He apologized._

_"No, it's…it's ok." She assured him. "Come on in."_

_"Are you sure?" he asked, even as he allowed himself to be pulled gently through the door._

_"Yeah, yeah."_

_"Thank you." He said._

_"I'm surprised, but I'm happy." McKenna said._

_"Yeah?"_

_"Yeah." She looked at him in concern. "Everything ok?"_

_Oliver let out a long sigh. "I had a really rough night." He began. "I just wasn't anticipating, with my work and the club, I feel like I'm letting everybody down. My family and Tommy and you." He looked at her sadly. "I feel like I'm letting you down."_

_McKenna chuckled. "You're being too hard on yourself."_

“It’s his special talent.” Dinah sighed.

 

_She told him. "We both have demanding jobs."_

_"That's no excuse for hurting the people closest to you." Oliver countered._

_"No, but when you believe in what you do, you find a way to make it work." She said._

_"How?" Oliver asked._

_McKenna grinned. "Well The first thing you do is you find yourself someone you never have to apologize to." Oliver grinned back at her, then leaned in and kissed her gently. He pulled back, and then both seemed to make the same decision at once and the two crashed back into one another, kissing passionately. Oliver lifted her up and walked them back to her bed, laying her down gently before joining her._

“Ugg, I don’t want to see this!” Thea wailed as she put her hands over her eyes.

 

_Laurel looked down, the scene bringing up feelings she was not quite ready to deal with yet as Dinah grimaced. While Dinah knew this had happened long ago for her, that did not mean she wanted to see her husband sleep with another woman._

_As the two began to make love, Oliver's phone buzzed, unnoticed in his jacket on the floor._

_Back at Queen Consolidated, Felicity started talking as soon as Oliver's voicemail message ended._

_"Hey, it's me. I was multitasking, and intercepted a police report. A local sporting goods store just got robbed of one high powered cross bow." She said. She took a breath and continued. "Now… could be a crazy coincidence or your psycho ex-girlfriend- Dig's words, not mine- is still in town. I'll let you know if I learn anything more. In the meantime, just watch your back." She swung her chair around to hang up the phone- and froze in terror as she saw Helena Bertinelli standing there, said high-powered crossbow in hand._

_"Hi. I don't think we had a chance to be properly introduced this morning." She said with a cruel smile._

“And that’s another reason why it was a bad idea to bring Felicity into the fold: she was an easy target. This wasn’t the first time Felicity was used as a means to an end by the enemy. And she never tried to prepare in case this happened again.” Dinah explained.

 

“Oh great.” Thea groaned.

 

_Later that night, a panicked Oliver ran into the I.T. Department. "Felicity?" he called out._

_"Oliver." He looked around, and spied her feet poking out from behind her desk. "Oliver I'm here." He ran behind the desk, then pulled out a knife and cut away the bindings on her hands and ankles._

_"You ok?" he asked, helping her to sit up. She looked unhurt, though her mascara had run due to the tears. The sound of running feet made him jump up and ready the knife to be thrown. A moment later, Dig appeared at the door._

_"Hey, hey." He warned Oliver, and the vigilante lowered the knife. "You ok?" he asked Felicity, who nodded. Dig turned back to Oliver. "I got your call. What happened?"_

_"Helena." Oliver said._

_"She wanted the address to the safe house where her father's being kept." Felicity said as she rose to her feet. "She made me hack the FBI database. Sorry, Oliver." She apologized._

_He smiled comfortingly at her. "Hey. It's not your fault." He assured her. He turned away and headed towards the door, his anger palpable._

_"Oliver, what are you going to do?" Dig asked._

_"What I should have done in the first place." He snarled._

“Looks like he’s finally had enough of Helena. Good.” Laurel said firmly.

 

“Yeah, anger and guilt made Ollie very dangerous.” Dinah noted.

 

“Why would he feel guilty?” Thea asked confused.

 

“He blames himself for everything. In his mind, Felicity was only in that position because he brought her in.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene changed to an isolated house deep in the country. An FBI agent was walking the perimeter when he stopped cold. A few feet in front of him lay one of his fellow agents dead, a bolt sticking form his chest. A moment later, two bolts struck him from behind, killing him instantly. Helena paused to look at the two dead federal agents, and then continued her trek to the house._

“Such meaningless bloodshed.” Diggle said as they watched, disgusted by Helena’s brutality.

 

_She burst in a moment later, killing the three agents sitting at a table playing cards. A shot was fired at her from behind, and she spun, shooting a bolt into yet another agent's chest. She headed to the stairs, killing the two agents as they came down firing. She marched up the stairs, and barely ducked behind the railing for cover as another agent appeared on the ground floor. The agent fired several shots, but Helena's shot was better, felling the agent. She made her way to the second floor, and took aimed at another agent who had come out of a room. Her bolt was intercepted by The Hood's bow, however, and the vigilante pushed the Agent back into the room, then spun around, firing a shot that disarmed Helena._

“Good, now it’s time for all this to end.” Roy said eagerly while Dinah winced, knowing just how this fight did end.

 

_She dropped down to the floor and picked up a shotgun that a fed had dropped, and fired at The Hood's head. As he ducked into the room, Helena spun around and blew the doorknob off another door, then kicked it open. Cautiously she entered the room, looking around._

_Her father wasn't there, however. Hearing the multiple shots fired, Frank had climbed out the window and dropped down to the ground. He was making a run for it when Helena dropped down from the second floor. She took aim at his retreating back._

_"Helena!" the Hood shouted, and Helena spun, aiming the shotgun at Oliver as he held an arrow on her._

“Great, so now he’s on the loose again, because of her.” Laurel said angrily.

 

“That’s Helena for you, always doing more harm than good.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Coming up the drive to the house, McKenna Hall heard a disturbing report over her radio. 'Code three, shots fired at the Bertinelli safe house.'_

_Hall parked her car and got out. "This is Hall. I'm onsite." She said._

_'Wait for back-up, Detective.' Lance's voice said over the radio. "That's an order."_

_Hall stood frozen for few moments in indecision. But seeing the agent lying dead on the front door step made up her mind for her, and she pulled her gun and charged in._

“Oh boy, this won’t end well, will it?” Tommy asked worriedly, concerned for his old friend.

 

“No.” Dinah said sadly.

 

_Around back, the standoff continued. "You won't shoot me." Helena said confidently. "You're not a murderer. Remember?"_

_"But you are." Oliver replied. "And if I let you go, that blood will be on my hands." He looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry." He said, and then fired._

_In one move, Helena dropped the shotgun and caught the arrow, mere inches from her chest. She exhaled in excitement. "I practiced that move." She said, amazed that she had actually pulled it off. She absently twirled the arrow in her hand as she walked up to a stunned Oliver. "I had a feeling I might need it someday." She looked at him, near tears herself. "You would have killed me." She said in realization._

“And the psychopath in pain is even more dangerous.” Tommy groaned.

 

“You have no idea.” Dinah grimaced as she remembered what had happened next.

 

_Suddenly her leg lanced out, sweeping his bow from his hands. She followed that with a punch to the kidneys and a kick to the back of his knee, sending him to the ground. She wrapped her arm around his neck in a choke, but Oliver recovered, flipping her over himself. They both got back up at the same time and began trading punches and kicks- most which Oliver blocked, and Helena absorbed in her rage. Helena spun around him and reached back grabbing his neck again and leaning forward, trying to snap his neck, but Oliver used his superior upper body strength to pitch forward and threw her off of him again. He quickly spun around, grabbing his bow and drawing an arrow just as Helena got to her knees._

_"Enough!" he demanded._

_"Freeze!" McKenna advanced on the two, her gun drawn. The Hood had frozen at her command. "Put it down." She ordered. "Turn around. Slowly."_

Tommy and Laurel tensed, having a feeling that, whatever happened, it wouldn’t end well for McKenna.

 

_Oliver slowly put the bow down, and as soon as he had Helena lunged forward, grabbing the fallen shotgun._

_"No!" he shouted, reaching for his bow- but it was too late. Helena fired, and the cop went down hard. Oliver moved towards his fallen girlfriend as his ex got up and ran off into the night. He knelt beside her and saw that her vest had taken the majority of the pellets from the blast, though her lower half was bloody. "McKenna?" he said helplessly._

“Oh god, is she…” Laurel trailed off, not sure she wanted to know.

 

“She’s alive. But it came with a cost.” Dinah explained grimly.

 

_The scene shifted to the next day at Starling General. Oliver knocked on McKenna's door and opened it slowly, making sure she was awake. "Hey." He said._

_"Hey." She replied with a tired smile._

_"How you feeling?"_

_"Uh, numb." She shifted in the bed, and gasped in pain._

_"Hey, don't… don't move." Oliver advised, gently pushing her back into the bed. He took a seat next to her._

_"Ok." She agreed weakly._

_"I met your doctor." Oliver started. "He's a nice guy. He says you're lucky to be alive."_

_"Yeah." She sighed. "He also said I have a shattered femur, and it's going to take at least a year to rehab." She held back a sob. "I loved being a cop."_

“Did she ever recover?” Laurel asked as she looked over at Dinah.

 

“Yes but she was never the same, physically. She never made it back onto the force, instead she became a private investigator. She met a nice guy, they got married after a few years. McKenna couldn’t get pregnant after what Helena did to her, but they adopted a few kids. She got her own happy ending but she always missed being a cop.” Dinah explained sadly.

 

“That won’t happen this time.” Laurel said firmly with Tommy nodding in agreement.

 

_Oliver leaned forward and took her hand. "Oh, come on. McKenna. You're still a cop." He assured her. "You have one more surgery, go home—"_

_"I'm not going home."_

_Oliver blinked. "What?" he asked._

_"I'm moving to Coast City to live with my sister." McKenna told him. "They have the best physical therapy facility in the country there."_

_Oliver put aside his own feelings and plastered a smile on his face. "I'll visit." He told her. "Hey, I'm a billionaire, right? I'll move to Coast City."_

_McKenna chuckled. "That's very sweet, but your club just opened." She said sadly. "And your work is here."_

_"Don't worry about me." He told her. "It's my responsibility to worry about you."_

_"Just stop, ok?" she sobbed quietly, tears in her eyes. "Listen, you know how I feel about you. Please don't make this harder than it already is." She pleaded._

_"Ok." He said finally. "Ok. It's, uh, it's whatever you need." She smiled sadly, her heart breaking as their whirlwind relationship finally ended._

“Man, he couldn’t stop Helena and he gets dumped. All the while, I’m being an ass. This is just not his day.” Tommy  sighed.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD, where Lance was boxing up McKenna's desk. He sighed as he picked up her name plate, and then set it in the box._

_"Are you cleaning out your desk?" Lance looked up to see Dinah standing their uncertainly._

_"No." he said. "A friend's."_

_They were silent for a moment. "Um… you asked to see me." She started._

_Lance led her over to his desk. "Why don't you take a seat?" He began, gesturing to the seat next to the desk as he sat down._

_"Ok." She replied._

_Lance pulled out the folder Laurel had given him and started pulling things out- including the picture of the girl who could be his daughter. "I'm ready to listen now." He told her._

_Dinah sighed in relief. "Thank you." She said gratefully._

“And it’s only gonna make him hurt worse when he finds out it’s just another dead end.” Laurel sighed, wondering what this would do to her dad.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. Oliver sat alone in the empty club, dejected. "Hey." He looked up and saw Tommy approaching him. "I, uh, heard about McKenna. You ok?" he asked._

_Oliver looked up at him, the pain and loss he was feeling etched into his face. "Not really."_

_Tommy came to stand at the table. He took a few moments to compose himself. "Look, I know that I have been a jerk lately." He began. "I just couldn't understand how you could keep such a huge secret from me. But I… I never considered the toll it must take on you." He finally admitted._

_"Lying to the people that are closest to me...it's the hardest part." Oliver said softly._

_"I get that." Tommy assured him._

_Oliver exhaled deeply. "I was wrong to think that I could have it both ways; that I could do what I do and still have a normal life." He stated. "With anyone."_

_"Except if you're alone, you're never going to be happy." Tommy pointed out._

_"Maybe not." Oliver admitted. "But me being happy isn't what's important right now."_

“Well, at least you came around.” Thea said happily.

 

“Yeah,” Tommy smiled before he looked over at Laurel, “I did, didn’t I?”

 

“For a while but then you and Ollie had a bigger falling out.” Dinah said carefully.

 

“What about?” Tommy asked regretfully.

 

“Jealousy, misunderstandings, and a little hypocrisy. You just-you couldn’t reconcile Oliver with The Hood.” Dinah explained and Tommy nodded sadly.

 

_The scene flashed back to the Island. It was night, and Fyers and his men were swarming around the launcher, looking for clues as to where Slade and Oliver were._

_And they weren't far. The two men observed the action from their observation post on the ridgeline._

_"Your plan, your call." Slade told Oliver, handing him the radio._

_Oliver nodded, and then activated the radio. "Fyers."_

_Down next to the launcher, a furious Fyers grabbed at his own radio. "Mr. Queen." He hissed. "I thought I might be hearing from you."_

_"We have the circuit board." Oliver said bluntly._

_"You're making a grave mistake." Fyers warned. "My men are scouring the island for you as we speak. And when they find you, they will kill you. Very slowly, I'm afraid."_

_"If your men kill us, then you'll never find the circuit board. And after that, we both know that all you'll be left with is a really ugly piece of modern art." He looked at Slade and nodded in satisfaction at his insult; Slade was amused by his bravado._

_"What do you propose?" Fyers said after a moment._

_"A trade." Oliver said simply._

_"I see. And what do you want in exchange?" he asked, already knowing the answer._

_"I want a way off the island."_

“There was another way he could have come home?” Thea demanded.

 

“It was a set up.” Dinah said and Thea, Laurel, and Tommy sighed sadly.

 

“Well, we have a lot more recordings to watch.” Diggle said as he started the next one.


	24. Salvation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy sees the start of his journey to becoming arsenal as the viewers learn how filled with hopelessness Roy really is. Dinah learns of a secret her mother has kept from her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, before we get into the chapter, I want to talk to you guys about last night’s episode of Arrow, titled ‘Who are you?’ If you have not seen it, feel free to move on, I envy your ignorance.
> 
> Now, I stopped watching Arrow after this season’s premiere but I came back for the crossover this year and I watched the mid-season finale to see if the season had improved. When we saw Laurel was back, I was super excited. And when the promo revealed it was Black Siren, I was still excited we had seen her on Flash and she was awesome. But this episode felt like a giant middle finger to me and I know a lot of others who saw the episode feel that way as well. I came into this episode for Black Siren and I had hope for Arrow for the first time in a long time. But what I got, instead of Arrow, was the Felicity power hour. They are doing it again; they are turning Arrow back into Felicity and friends. And Black Siren was ruined, reduced to a one-dimensional villain to prop up Felicity.
> 
> Now, I’m gonna talk to you about something personal from my life. The reason I am doing this is because I am using it to make a point about Arrow, so just bear with me for a minute.
> 
> I had a relationship once, not a romantic relationship, but a relationship with someone I was once very close to. Over time, this person became someone I did not even recognize. Having them in my life proved to be toxic for me, so I cut off all contact with that person, ending the relationship. This person tried to force themselves back into my life and, against my better judgement, I would hear them out. And every time I would start to believe them, start to think that they had change, I would realize how stupid I was being when they did something that showed me exactly who they are.
> 
> The reason I am telling you this is that is the relationship Marc Guggenheim has established with the viewers of Arrow who do not support Olicity and don’t like Felicity. He manipulates us, manipulates our hopes and desires for Arrow, uses us to get viewers so he can go brag to his writer friends ‘hey, I still have viewers. I must be doing a good job!’ And then, once he gets what he wants from us, he stabs us in the back by giving the Olicity shippers what they want while ignoring us. He has done this over and over again and he will continue to do it, because he doesn’t care about Arrow, all he cares about is his precious Felicity and his dream ship, Olicity.
> 
> Arrow is beyond redemption. Arrow cannot be saved because the man running it, Marc Guggenheim, does not want it to be saved.

_The memory set opened in the lair, where Diggle and Felicity were watching a news broadcast concerning Oliver's latest target._

_'Lawyers for John Nickels spoke to the press today.' The reporter was saying. 'They say they're pleased the D.A. declined to indict their client on charges stemming from the recent fire in one of Nickel's buildings.'_

_Felicity looked straight up at Oliver, who was hanging from a pipe overhead._

_"John Nickel is one of the wealthiest real estate developers in Starling City." Oliver explained to her as he continued to hang. "He's also one of the dirtiest. That building that burnt down last night? Wiring was not up to code."_

_"Maybe he didn't know that." She offered._

“And I’m Bruce Wayne.” Roy drawled amidst scoffs in the room.

 

_"I guess he also didn't know about the seven people who have frozen to death in his other buildings over the past three years." Oliver shot back._

_"Yeah, he's a real man of the people." Diggle noted, still staring at the screen._

_"Not for long." Oliver grunted. He let go of the pipe and dropped to the floor right in front of an impressed Felicity. "The D.A. ignores this, and the police can't do anything because all these slums are in the Glades." He picked up the book and opened it to the proper page, then handed it to Felicity. "So tonight, Felicity, we cross Mr. Nickel's name off the list." He looked at her seriously. "You ok with that?" he asked gently._

_'The scene outside of the courtroom where Nickel was released this afternoon was not surprisingly tense.'_

_She stared at the screen as Nickels got into his chauffeur-driven BMW, then back down at the book. She looked at the inside cover of the book, and her finger's brushed over the strange symbol. "One hundred percent." She assured him._

_The scene changed to Nickel's penthouse apartment. Not one to live in the same crappy buildings he housed the low-income citizens of the Glades in, Nickels lived a two floor glass and steel luxury apartment in the best part of downtown. He was lying in his bed watching the news when he heard glass break downstairs._

“That’s strange; Oliver is usually stealthier than that.” Diggle noted.

 

_Concerned, he got up and slowly made his way down the stairs, pausing at the kitchen counter to take a knife from the block. He cautiously mad his way around the living room, searching for the intruder._

_"Hello?" he called out. He never saw the man slam into him from the back, knocking him down hard. The knife skidded from his hand, and as he recovered his sense he reached for it- only for a boot to stomp down on his wrist, breaking it. "Aahh!" he screamed in pain and fear as he was dragged across the floor, out of sight._

_A short time later, The Hood landed on the patio just outside the apartment. He quietly slid the unlocked door open and made his way inside. Seeing nothing on the top floor, he silently made his way down the stairs. About halfway down he reached for an arrow, but what he saw made him stop. Instead he swiftly moved down the remaining steps into the main living area, observing the damage thought the flickering light of a broken lamp. He spied the knife and bent down to pick it up, and noted there was no blood on it. Bewildered, he looked around, searching for answers. He couldn't find any._

 

“This is concerning.” Laurel said worriedly.

 

“Oliver going after people is one thing; he has restraint and his own moral code that he follows. We have no idea who this guys or what he’s after.” Diggle said alarmed.

 

_Meanwhile, down on the street a man threw open the rear doors of a panel van and tossed a bound and gagged John Nickels into the back. Nickels let out a muffled, barely audible scream before the man slammed the door shut._

_The scene shifted back to the Lair, where Oliver was explaining what had happened._

_"He was just gone?" Felicity asked in confusion._

_"No! Not gone. Taken." Oliver clarified._

_"Looks like Nickel was on somebody else's list, too." Diggle noted._

_"After the fire last night, it's not entirely surprising." Oliver replied. He turned to their resident genius. "Felicity, I need you to get me everything that you can on Nickel." He told her. "Focus on his tenants, and anyone who might have filed a formal complaint against him, or people that lost something in the fire."_

_"Well, it's going to be some list." She said. "I mean, slum lords aren't generally known for their popularity. Plus…" she trailed off as she sat down at the computer._

_"What?" Oliver demanded._

_"Nothing, it's just…" she spun in her chair to face him. "You went over there to be all, 'grrr, stop being bad or I'll arrow you,' and now you want to rescue him."_

“Would you stop treating my brother like he’s some psychopath?” Thea growled as she, Tommy and Laurel all glared at the screen.

 

_"I don't like the idea that somebody dangerous is out there." Oliver said. Felicity just gave him a look, and he exhaled loudly. "Somebody else." He amended. "Because typically they don't show my level of restraint."_

_He picked up the book and started flipping through it._

_"So you're going to cross Nickel off anyway?" Dig asked._

_"No. I'm finding somebody else who needs a talking to."_

_"You're going out there again, Oliver?" he asked incredulously. "Why don't you go home and be with your family, man?"_

_"That's when the work is done, Diggle." Oliver replied._

_"Ok, then I'll take you out to dinner."_

_"I'm not hungry." Oliver said. Dig snatched the book from his hands and flipped it closed._

_"I'm not asking." He replied, setting the book down on the table._

“John, thank you for keeping him from burning out.” Dinah said gratefully.

 

“We all need to take a break at some point. Sometimes we need someone to remind us of that.” Diggle said simply.

 

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Olive was still negotiating with Fyers over the radio._

_"Simple exchange." He said as Slade looked on. "You get us a way off the island, and we'll give you the circuit board so that your missile launcher isn't just furniture."_

_Fyers began to pace next to the launcher. "You've grown up quite a bit, Mr. Queen. I'll give you that." He thought for a moment. "I can get you a boat. But I need time."_

_"You got an hour, Fyers, and then you're never—" Slade snatched the mic from his hand._

_"What?!" Oliver demanded._

_Slade gave him a look, and then spoke into the mic. "We understand it might take you longer than an hour to get a boat. What we mean is you need to move with some dispatch."_

_"Ah, Wilson, still in command there, eh? I thought your little pet had staged a coup d'état." Fyers said in a patronizing tone._

_"Just get us the damn boat." Slade growled._

_The scene shifted to Roy's house, where Roy and Thea were heavily making out on his bed._

“Oh god.” Thea groaned, embarrassed as Tommy glared at Roy, who seemed amused by the whole thing.

 

“Well, maybe this won’t be all bad.” Roy smirked as Thea flushed.

 

“Roy, don’t tease her.” Dinah gently chided and Roy shrugged.

 

_Roy's hand was heading in a…interesting direction, one that Thea seemed to approve of, when there was a knock on the door._

_Roy backed off and looked back at his door, then got up to answer it._

_"Now you want to stop?" Thea teased._

_"Well, we don't all have butlers." Roy joked. "You know, some of us actually have to answer our own doors."_

_"Oh, the horror." She said dryly._

_Roy opened the door and a guy bundled in a coat with the hood pulled up over his ball cap came in. - or started to, as Roy stopped him at the door. He glanced quickly towards Thea, and the friend took a look- then looked again._

_"You look familiar." He said. "Did I see you on TV or something?"_

_"Probably." She smirked. "I'm Thea Queen."_

_The kid chuckled. "Yeah, right."_

_"Did you get it?" Roy interrupted, holding out his hand. The kid handed him a small brown paper bag with something in it. Thea looked at the bag in concern._

“And I’m probably not getting laid tonight.” Roy noted.

 

“What’s in the bag?” Thea asked wearily.

 

“You’ll probably find out in a moment.” Roy told her.

 

_"What's happening tomorrow at 11:00?" she asked._

_"You know, I'm actually kind of focused on what's happening right now." Roy dodged, kissing her again._

_"Oh, ok." She said. They made out for several seconds before Thea slipped free and grabbed the bag with a grin- a grin that died when she reached into the bag._

_"No, no, Thea, don't!" Roy tried, but it was too late. She withdrew her hand, pulling out a snub-nosed .38._

“Are you serious, you’re gonna rob some place?” Thea demanded as they all glared at Roy.

 

“Not rob, we’re gonna give him a warning. Me and a bunch of guys get together every few weeks and track down the worst of the worst of The Glades and tell them to clean up their act. No different than what your brother does, just on a smaller scale. And without all the killing.” Roy said, unaffected by the glares.

 

_"Why do you have a gun?" she demanded._

_"Because I'm no good with knives." Roy said. Thea stared at him in disbelief. "Look, it's just a liquor store." He tried. "The guy's a creep. Trust me, he deserves it." Her look made him feel worse. He bent over the table and released the cylinder, then dumped the bullets out. "Look, if it'll make you feel any better I won't be armed. But of course, the owner won't know that, but…"_

_"I got you a job at my brother's club." She said finally; angrily. "You have choices. You don't have to be a criminal!"_

_"I'm not talking about phone bills." Roy said. "I owe people. People with much bigger guns than this." He sighed and leaned back tiredly. "Look, here in the Glades, this is pretty much the only solution."_

“Hell of a way to live.” Tommy said scornfully.

 

“It’s the only way I know. It’s what kept me alive when my mom became a drug addict. Unlike you, I don’t have rich parents or connected friends to get me out of trouble. It’s follow the crowd or die.” Roy said darkly and Tommy had no comment.

 

_"No, lots of people in the Glades live honest lives." She scowled, grabbing her purse and sweater, which she threw on. "Obviously not you. You're just a waste." With that, she stormed out of the house._

“And you show your true colors.” Roy said scornfully and Thea winced.

 

“Look, I know about your…situation, but she doesn’t. All she sees is you ignoring her offers to help.” Thea explained.

 

“Whatever.” Roy muttered and Thea was surprised by the stab of hurt she felt.

 

_"No, Thea." Roy got up quickly and ran after her. "Thea! I'm going to make sure you get home ok." He called to her as she stormed across his lawn._

_"Don't bother." She shouted, walking rapidly away. Roy sighed and went back inside, dejected._

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Dinah was on the phone as Laurel came home from work._

_“Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah." Dinah smiled at her and held up her hand, silently telling her she'd be a minutes. "Yeah." She said into the phone._

_Laurel looked around at her dining room, at the maps and charts pinned to the walls in shock. An even bigger shock came when Quentin walked in form the kitchen, carrying two mugs of coffee._

_"Hey, honey." He said. He set one mug down in front of Dinah. "There you go." He told her, and then took a seat at the table, sipping his own._

_Laurel blinked, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. "Um, what's all this?" she asked._

_"Well, you asked me to look into your mother's leads on Sara, so I made some calls." Quentin said._

_"It looks like you did a lot more than that." She noted._

_"Well, yeah, but you're the one who said we should do this, Laurel, so, you know, if there's even a chance that your sister is—"_

_"Yeah, but—" she interrupted, but was then interrupted by Dinah._

_"Thank you." Her mother said, hanging up. She smiled at Laurel. "Hi, sweetheart, I'm sorry about the mess." She turned to her ex-husband. "Quentin, I just got off the phone with the consulate in Phuket. The secretary there's going to run Sara's photo against their database, see if there's a match." She squeezed his shoulder, and he grasped her hand for a few moments._

“This won’t end well for dad.” Laurel sighed.

 

“He’s been given hope, false hope at that. It’ll be even worse than the first time when he finds out it’s a dead-end.” Diggle noted, sympathetic to the detective’s pain.

 

“It’s a crappy thing of your mom to do. I may not like him but your dad doesn’t deserve to go through this again.” Tommy said softly.

 

_"That's good work." He told her. Dinah grabbed her coffee and took a sip, looking at a befuddled Laurel._

_"What?" Quentin asked._

_"Well, I guess I just thought deep down that you were going to help mom accept things." She said slowly. "Things you and I accepted."_

_Quentin blinked. "Um… Yeah," he started, and then grabbed the photographs. "But you got to admit. This girl, she looks a lot like Sara."_

_"Sara had that same cap." Dinah insisted. "The Starling City Rockets. Your dad bought it for her, remember?"_

“Why is she so fixated on that hat?” Laurel narrowed her eyes.

 

“You’ll see.” Dinah said, preparing for the explosion.

 

_"Yeah, I remember." Laurel said._

_"Stranger things have happened." Quentin said._

_"Yeah." She said; her anger barely contained. "I can see that." With that, she turned and stormed out of the room._

_The scene changed to Big Belly Burger, where Oliver was wolfing down his meal as an amused Diggle watched and ate at a more leisurely pace. "Hungrier than I thought." Oliver noted, taking another bite. He swallowed and then asked, "Are you waiting for me to finish before giving me the lecture?"_

_Dig smiled. "Oliver, you've been spending a lot of time under that hood the last couple weeks." He began._

_"Keeps my ears warm." Oliver joked._

_"And you made this decision to, um, avoid entanglements?"_

_Oliver nodded. "For their protection. The people who get close to me get hurt." He inhaled, and then exhaled sharply, bracing himself._

“It’s sad that he actually believes that.” Thea said sadly.

 

“It’s been that way since his second year. He believes he is the villain of his own story.” Dinah said sadly.

 

_"What's the problem? Do you think I'm losing my grip?"_

_"No, it's just the opposite, really." Dig said. "You seem calm. Scary calm." He looked at his friend in concern. "I get that things didn't end well with Helena, with McKenna… with Laurel."_

_"With Sara.” He added. "The list goes on."_

_"Yeah." Dig agreed. "But what do you do? You hood up, you go home, you repeat. It's not much of a life."_

_"Well, the life that I'm leading for myself right now doesn't leave much room for an actual life." Oliver said coldly. "And I don't need one."_

“Damn Ollie.” Tommy said softly.

 

“Sounds like a lonely way to live.” Thea sighed.

 

“Like it old you, he’s still on the island.” Diggle noted.

 

“It’s more than that,” Dinah said and they all looked over at her, “when he was in the Bratva, they taught him that the objective must always come first. There’s a saying in the Bratva: ‘ _I have no friends, no family, no home. I am Bratva.’_ The Bratva taught him how to let go of his past life, which is why he finds it so difficult to let people in. Well, that and a powerful case of PTSD.”

 

Everyone was silent, no one sure what to say. Then Diggle unpaused the recording.

 

_Wow. That's a pretty bleak future you plan on spending with no one." Dig said dryly. All around them, cell phones started going off as one person after another received a text message._

_"I'm used to isolation." Oliver said, oblivious._

_"And that is exactly what worries me." Dig replied. "You've been home for 8 months, Oliver, but I don't think you left that island yet." The number of text alerts kept growing, finally drawing Oliver and Dig's attention. They looked around in confusion. "What the hell is going on?" Dig wondered aloud._

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Tommy said uneasily.

 

_Oliver's phone rang. Looking down, he saw that it was Felicity. "Yeah?" he said, answering the call._

_"Found Nickel." She said without preamble. "Click the link I just sent you. This came up on every screen with an I.P. address originating from the Glades."_

_Oliver did so, as did Diggle and everyone else in the restaurant. What they saw was a bound and gagged John Nickel, looking terrified into a camera that was broadcasting live over the internet._

_"If you make the Glades your home, you know who this man is." An unknown voice was saying. "John Nickel. He owns your tenements. Manages your slums. Provides the leaking roofs over your heads. The  mold in your pipes and asbestos in your walls. Basically, he makes money off our suffering." Nickel's let out a muffled scream. "But the police aren't interested in helping us. they may have let us down, but I won’t. John, I want to give you the chance to state your case. Why shouldn't you be punished?" a hand reached out and tore the tape away from the slum lord's mouth._

_Nickel gasped in pain. "I knew there was bad stuff in my buildings." He said fearfully._

_Oliver grimaced in anger and switched back to the call. "Track him, Felicity." He ordered._

_"I'm looking." She told him._

_"Ok, yes, I made a little profit!" Nickel continued over the air.” At least they had a place to me, people like that would end up on the street."_

_The man slapped the tape back over Nickel's mouth. "People like that." He repeated angrily as Nickel's muffled cries echoed in the background. "That's all we are to guys like this." Diggle and Oliver watched on, helpless and frustrated._

_The camera shifted slightly, and suddenly a gun came into let out a muffled scream in panic, and began thrashing around uselessly. "I find you Guilty." The man said, and then fired twice._

No one in the viewing room said anything, all of them frozen inn shock and horror. Dinah stood up and walked over to Diggle, taking the remote and pressing pause. She walked back over to her seat and sat down, waiting for the shock to wear off her guests. After several minutes, Dinah looked around.

 

“Are you guys okay to continue?” Dinah asked.

 

“Yeah, I think.” Diggle said slowly.

 

When no one interrupted, Dinah raised the remote and pressed play.

 

_In Big Belly Burger, the crowd gasped in stunned disbelief. Dig and Oliver sat there, unable to do anything._

_"There are plenty more people who need to answer for their crimes against us." The voice said as the camera lingered on Nickel's corpse. "So…who's next?"_

“Great, a serial killer with an axe to grind. Where have we seen this before?” Roy drawled.

 

“He didn’t do nearly as much damage as Helena but he didn’t target the worst of the worst, his vendetta was personal.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver stormed in to see Felicity working frantically on her computer. "Anything new?" he asked._

_"This guy's definitely got more than a subscription to 'Wired'." She told him. "His website's protected by some very serious encryption."_

_Oliver grimaced. "Well, use that air magnet… thing, you said that it could trace—"_

_"Oliver!" she glared at him, stopping him mid-sentence. "No I tell you how to sharpen your arrows?" He backed off._

“Her disrespect for my brother is getting on my nerves.” Thea grumbled.

 

“Sing it sis.” Tommy agreed whole-heartedly.

 

_"Spoke to my friend at the NSA." Dig said, coming into the base. "The website code matches a cyber crusader who's been on their hacks into fringe sites under the user name 'The Savior'. NSA believes he's a former resident of the Glades."_

_"Former?" Oliver asked._

_"Yeah," Dig nodded. “Well, a year ago, he hacked himself right off the erased all traces of his existence."_

“So he’s practically untraceable. Great.” Roy drawled.

 

_Once more there was a man, his mouth taped and his wrists bound holding him standing up. “We’re back." The voice announced. "I have with me assistant district attorney Gavin Carnahan." Gavin let out a muffled groan. "Now, DAs are supposed to go after bad guys. But this one can't even be bothered to bring them to the ones who killed my wife in a bodega."_

_"Felicity…" Oliver started, but she was already typing._

_"I'm on it." She said._

_"They said there wasn't enough evidence." The voice continued. "You think the evidence would have turned up if she'd been killed in one of Starling City's nicer neighborhoods?"_

“So his wife dies and he thinks it’s his god given right to kill people he thinks deserves to die? The Savior, more like savior complex.” Diggle said grimly.

 

“Couldn’t agree with you more John. A vendetta and a savior complex was what made him so dangerous.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_Felicity found a news article about the bodega shooting. "Emma Falk." Diggle read. "Grieving husband is Joseph Falk."_

_"What do we have on him?" Oliver asked._

_"Not much." Felicity had already pulled up what records she could find on him. "City of Transportation, computer technician, left his job when she was killed." She looked back at Oliver. "One year ago today."_

_"No current phone, no current address." Dig noted._

_"Gavin, you're a lawyer." Faulk continued. "You're used to making a case. So go ahead. I’m going to give you ten minutes to deliver the closing argument of your life."_

_Oliver leaned down to Felicity. "Come on." He urged._

_Felicity was frantically working her keyboard. "I'm trying to get a lock on his wireless signal."_

_"Ten minutes to convince me not to blow you away." Faulk set the camera down on a table, and then set his watch down in front of it. As Felicity worked, she watched the seconds tick away._

“He may be a grieving husband, but he’s also out of control. Oliver was right, he’s dangerous and unhinged.” Diggle noted.

 

_The scene changed to somewhere on the outskirts of Starling City. Moira stood looking out over the city, her umbrella keeping her dry from the light shower that had started up. She turned when she heard someone approaching, and saw it was the man she was supposed to meet._

_"What did Malcolm want with you last night?" Frank Chen asked._

_"A target for reprisal." Moira responded. "He wants justice, and he's not going to stop until he gets it." She looked back at the city. "Besides, this is good."_

_"I think your definition of good requires an adjustment." Frank noted wryly._

_Moira turned back to Frank. "No, he came to me." She explained. "Which means he doesn't know that we're responsible for the attempt on his life."_

_"Yet." Frank said darkly._

_Moira gave him a calculating look. "What are the chances of Malcolm discovering who paid the triad to assassinate him?" she asked, seemingly offhand._

“Very good.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“He found out?” Thea asked fearfully.

 

“In a way. Just watch.” Dinah said softly.

 

_"I was very discreet." Frank assured her. "I wired the money through a shell corporation I own, from an offshore account."_

_"Offshore?" she nodded, more to herself than to Frank." Good. That’s good."_

“She’s up to something isn’t she?” Tommy asked.

 

“Have you not been paying attention? she’s always up to something.” Thea said bitterly.

 

_"I'm sending Amanda to London for a few weeks, just as a precaution." Frank continued, putting a hand softly on her elbow. "Perhaps you should do the same for your family."_

_Moira looked down at the hand, then back up at Frank. "There's nothing I wouldn't do to protect my children, Frank." She promised him. Then she turned and walked away._

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Thea said uneasily.

 

_The scene changed to CNRI. Laurel was working on her own time, trying to find out who the girl in the picture was. She didn't notice Thea walking behind her, filing away some documents, and barely noticed her when she came to stand next to her._

_"Hey, can I talk to you about something?" Thea asked hesitantly. “Almost woman to woman."_

_Laurel didn't even look up. "I'm really busy right now." She said._

“Gee, thanks.” Thea said dryly as Laurel looked away guiltily.

 

“Just watch.” Dinah rolled her eyes.

 

_As she walked away, Laurel's head finally came up and she realized that the younger girl had tried to ask her something. She rose from her chair and quickly walked towards Thea. "Thea!" she called out, stopping the girl in her tracks. She came up and gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry." She apologized. "What's up?"_

_Thea took a breath. "I could use some advice." She began. "I'm sort of dating this guy who would definitely be described as a bad I figured, as someone who's dated like a gajillion of them—"_

_"I haven't dated a gajillion."_

“Yes we have.” Dinah said and shrugged as Laurel glared at her while Tommy and Thea snickered.

 

_Thea gave her a look. She sighed. "All right, guilty as charged."_

_"You want my advice?" she put he hands on Thea's arms and gave them a gentle squeeze. "Run. As fast as you possibly can."_

“So glad you didn’t take that advice.” Dinah said.

 

“Really?” Thea asked surprised.

 

“You two were good together. For a while.” Dinah said.

 

“What happened?” Roy asked wearily.

 

“Later.” Dinah promised.

 

_"Yeah. See, that was my first instinct, too, but—" she started, but was cut off by another intern._

_"Laurel?" the intern held up a phone. “The Chinese embassy's on line two. I’m transferring him over."_

_"Chinese embassy?" Thea asked in confusion._

_Laurel gave her a brittle smile. "It's just this case that I'm working but we are definitely continuing this conversation later." She told her as she walked quickly back to her desk, leaving a dejected Thea behind._

_"Thank you so much for getting back to me." Laurel said, taking a seat at her desk. "I'm trying to track down a woman in the photo that I emailed you." She listened for a few moments. "You did. Really? And you're sure that she's in the states now?" she pulled out a pen and pad of paper. "Do you happen to have an address on her?" she asked, scribbling the address they gave her even as she stared at the picture of the mysterious girl._

 

“And there goes my dad’s hope.” Laurel sighed.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Felicity was rapidly typing on her keyboard, and finally she managed to track Faulk's signal. She pulled up a map that showed his current location. "I got him!" she called out._

_"Shut it down." Oliver ordered. Felicity typed some more, but then shook her head. "Can't. He has a firewall protecting his wireless signal. But he's working off an IPX located at 23rd and Mira."_

_Oliver ran and grabbed his helmet._

_"You want to hood up?" Dig asked as Oliver ran to the stairs._

_"It's the middle of the day!” Oliver jumped on his bike and took off for the address._

“Yeah, a guy dressed in green with a hood armed with a bow and arrow kind of stands out.” Roy drawled.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Felicity was rapidly typing on her keyboard, and finally she managed to track Faulk's signal. She pulled up a map that showed his current location. "I got him!" she called out._

_"Shut it down." Oliver ordered. Felicity typed some more, but then shook her head. "Can't. He has a firewall protecting his wireless signal. But he's working off an IPX located at 23rd and Mira."_

_Oliver ran and grabbed his helmet._

_"You want to hood up?" Dig asked as Oliver ran to the stairs._

_"It's the middle of the day!” Oliver jumped on his bike and took off for the address._

“He’s gotta point but I doubt that’s why he doesn’t take on all those cases.” Laurel pointed out.

 

_'How's Carnahan?" Oliver asked on his bike._

_"Not making a very persuasive argument." Felicity told him._

_"I'm almost there!" Oliver weaved in and out of traffic, finally arriving at the building. He ran in the front door, and when the security door stopped him, he busted the glass and unlocked it. He ran in, looking up and down the halls for any clues as to where Faulk was._

_"See anything?" Felicity asked._

_"I'm only on the first floor!' He called back._

_"Just six more to go." Felicity noted. Oliver began kicking open doors, one after the other, only to find empty offices._

_'There aren't resources. I tried.' Gavin was pleading. Faulk jammed his gun into the lawyer's ribs. 'Oh, my God! I'm sorry!' he pleaded._

_"Oliver, hurry." Felicity urged him._

_Door after door, floor after floor, Oliver busted them all open- only to find nothing. "I can't find him!" he shouted over the line in frustration. Finally, the last door he busted through was the roof. He looked around in anger. "He's not here, Felicity!" he shouted._

_"What?!" Felicity asked, dumbfounded._

_"I searched every office on every floor! He's not here." He took a breath. "Is this the right place?" he asked. "Are you sure?"_

_"Yeah, I—" she started to say defensively, double checking her signal. To her surprise, however, the signal location had moved. “Oh, crap." She muttered._

_"What?" Oliver demanded._

_"How is this possible?!" she asked, stupefied. “This can't happen! He's—"_

_"Talk to me!" Oliver said._

_"Wait, he’s moved." She checked the map. "Just north of and Grand."_

“What? How is that possible?” Laurel asked stunned.

“You’ll see.” Dinah promised vaguely.

 

_Olive took off at a dead run. "On my way!" he shouted. He began leaping from rooftop to rooftop, taking the fastest way to the new location- a straight line._

“Cool.” Roy muttered.

 

_'I took on cases that were-that I thought that I could Win.' Gavin was pleading. 'I'm sorry.'_

_Oliver shimmied down the side of a building, and then jumped onto the roof of a passing truck. He leapt off of that into the road, dodging between honking cars. He ran down Ocean, passing a boarded up subway station as he leapt a fence._

_'Gavin Carnahan, I find you guilty of crimes against the Glades.' Faulk said, raising his gun._

_'Don't do this! Don't do this!' Gavin pleaded futilely._

_'And I sentence you to death.'_

_"I'm at Ocean and Grand, Felicity." Oliver announced, looking around at a lot under construction. "That's just a vacant lot."_

_"How is this possible?" Felicity demanded, more to herself than to Oliver. She was banging away at her keyboard, trying to find Faulk. "This can't happen. He—" she never finished her thought. As Gavin screamed in vain, Faulk opened fire, pumping five rounds into the lawyer's chest. Felicity watched, stunned._

_'Find the right address, now!' Oliver was screaming over the earpiece._

_"He's…" Felicity started to say, but couldn't get the words out. She had failed, and a man had died. As the realization crashed down upon her, she tore out the earpiece and bolted from the room as tears streamed down her face._

“I may not like her but I actually feel bad for her. That can’t be easy.” Tommy muttered.

 

“It isn’t. Those you fail to save weigh on you; you see them in your sleep, in your nightmares. And every time you feel happy and content, you hate yourself a little as you remember those you couldn’t save.” Diggle explained grimly and no one said anything as the recording continued.

 

_Diggle let out a long sigh, and then wearily sat in her chair. He picked up the earpiece and put it to his ear._

_"Oliver, it's over, Carnahan is dead." He told him sadly._

_A short time later, Oliver came back to the Lair. He jogged down the stairs and found Felicity standing at his work table, absently fingering an arrow as she stared off into nothing. He looked at her in concern. "Where's Diggle?" he asked softly._

_"I asked him to leave me alone." She replied, equally quiet. "In my loud voice."_

_"This wasn't your fault." Oliver told her flatly._

_"I was the one who was supposed to find Carnahan, and I was the one who sent you that bogus location." She said in a brittle voice. She was desperately holding back tears, and wouldn't look at him, instead focusing on the arrow in her hands. "I've never seen anybody die."_

_"Hey." He said, and she finally looked over at him, though not directly. "This is the thing with what we do. Sometimes we lose." He told her._

_She was silent for several seconds. "Maybe it is better being alone." She said finally. "I'm not seeing anyone currently, but if I were, I don't know how I'd tell him about today."_

“But if you’re alone…you’ll always have a void in your life. If you don’t open your heart, then you just become cold.” Dinah said softly.

 

“Learn that from experience?” Laurel asked and Dinah flashed a tight smile.

 

“Second year.” Dinah said simply.

 

_Oliver looked at her sadly, then gently took the arrow from her hands, and walked off, leaving her with her thoughts._

_The scene changed to the Island. Fyers with a company of men and Yao Fei at his side approached a clearing. For the opposite direction Came Oliver and Slade, who had his 1911's drawn, but pointed down._

_"Gentlemen." Fyers said casually. He had his own pistol drawn, and crossed his arms in front of himself. "Welcome. So_

_happy we were able to reach an accord."_

_"Oh, talk." Slade said in annoyance. He turned to Fyers. "Are we going to get on with this?"_

_"As you to business." Fyers looked to Oliver. "The circuit board." He demanded. "Where is it?"_

_"Somewhere safe." Oliver said evasively. "So get us to the boat and then we'll tell you where it is."_

_"And of course you'll be honest about its location." Fyers said sarcastically._

_"Well, I wouldn't be." Slade told the man honestly. Then he nodded at Oliver. "But this one's got some strange hang up about principles and integrity."_

“Yeah and I loved that about him. but our enemies never missed an opportunity to take advange of that.” Dinah mused.

 

_"I always imagined as much." Fyers said. "Which is why I'd like to make a counter proposal. “Men!" he called out. Suddenly two guards came out form the back dragging a woman. She was an Asian woman, with long dark hair and her hands bound behind her. The guards dragged her roughly, and then dropped her to the ground as she screamed out in anger._

_"No!" Yao Fei screamed. He made to move towards the woman, but one of the guars next to him smacked him on the temple with the butt of his rifle, sending the man to his knees. As he struggled, several men restrained him as they put him in handcuffs._

_"You will deliver back to me the circuit board, or I will kill Yao Fei's daughter." Fyers said coldly, and it all fell into place for Oliver._

“Like that.” Dinah sighed as everyone stared at the screen, tension filling the room.

 

_"That's why he wouldn't leave." He said to himself._

_"I can't imagine you want the death of an innocent young woman on your hands." Fryers spat. "Not with your…principles."_

“That sick son of a bitch.” Diggle snarled as everyone glared at the screen.

 

_The scene flashed back to CNRI. Quentin and Dinah walked in, then spotted Laurel and walked over to her._

_"Hey." Her dad told her._

_Laurel gave a strained smile, but rose to greet her parents. "Hi." She said, and then pressed on. "I wanted to do some research on my own into the evidence that you gathered on Sara. So I called my friend from law school who works at the Chinese embassy, and…" she took a breath. "The photo of the girl. I found her."_

_Before they could say anything, a young woman came up between them. She had dark, chestnut colored hair, and was about the same build as Sara- but it wasn't her. "I'm sorry." She told Quentin and Dinah as she squeezed between them. The girl smiled at Laurel. "Can I… can I borrow your phone?" she asked. "I promised my fiancée that I'd call him before phone's dead."_

_Laurel nodded, and then indicated the other two. "Jen, these are my parents." She introduced._

_"Hi." Jen said, shaking each of their hands in turn. "Nice to meet you."_

_The little bit of hope that had built up in Quentin's chest died at that moment. "Yeah, you, too."_

“Dad.” Laurel said sadly, knowing what her father must be feeling.

 

“Despite all the crap he’s pulled with my brother, I feel sorry for him. he doesn’t deserve this.” Thea told Laurel, who nodded silently.

 

_Laurel picked up the photos. "I just told Jen about this photograph that popped up in this case that I'm working on." Her mother took the pictures and stared between them and Jen._

_"Is that you in the picture?" Quentin asked._

_"Yeah." She replied. "I spent six months on an island off the coast of China. That was taken in a small fishing village called Zhengjiu. It's Mandarin for—"_

_"Salvation." Dinah finished, crestfallen._

_Jen noted the somber mood in concern. "Are you all right, Mrs. Lance?"_

_"Yes, I… it's just, uh, you look like someone I used to know." Dinah said brokenly, before running off. Quentin closed his eyes tight, the grief returning to him anew as Laurel and Jen looked on, helpless._

_The scene changed to the Glades as Thea walked slowly up to Roy's house. Roy was just leaving as she neared the door, and he sighed in exasperation._

_"Wow. I was waiting for this." He said as he bounded down the front steps and breezed past her._

_"Waiting for what?" Thea asked, equally exasperated._

_"The whole 'You can change, I can see the real you' speech." He spun around gesturing wildly with his arms. "Look around, this is home sweet home for me. In The Glades, you either starve or you do things that mean you're lucky enough to make it to 21."_

“It doesn’t have to be that way.” Laurel said as she looked over at Roy.

 

“It’s the only way I know.” Roy repeated his earlier statement.

 

“Arsenal used to think the same way,” Dinah mentioned and he looked over at her, “but what’s about to happen changed his mind.”

 

_Thea shook her head. "I can't accept that."_

_"Can’t accept me."_

_Thea sighed, and was ready to continue the argument when another voice interrupted them._

_"Roy Harper?"_

_"Yeah?" Roy started to turn around when suddenly a needle was jammed into his neck._

_"Roy!" Thea screamed, lunging on the man as he injected something. The man grabbed her and roughly shoved her to the ground. As she fell, she hit head first, knocking her out._

“Oh great, I’m next. Right?” Roy asked as he looked over at Dinah, who nodded.

 

_The man toured to the fallen Roy. While the sedative was already working, Roy had the presence of mind to take out his gun. He pulled the trigger- but it was empty. He absently noted that the bullets were still on the table inside when the man roughly knocked the gun out of his hand, then hauled him up and tossed him into the back of a black panel van._

“And that is why it is a good idea to have a gun in The Glades.” Roy drawled.

 

_Thea started stirring just as the van peeled out of the drive and into the darkness of the night._

_The scene changed to Verdant. Tommy was looking over some paperwork as the girls set up for the night when a news bulletin came on the flat screen hung on the wall._

_'More on the story out of the kidnapper seems to have another victim and is broadcasting the feed to his website.' The news feed shifted to Faulk's video feed, which showed a roughed up Roy bound as the other victims had been. Tommy stared in shock- he'd recognized the name as Thea's friend. He put down his clipboard and moved closer to the TV. 'A warning to viewers, this is live footage, so we're not sure what we're about to see.'_

_Faulk ripped off the tape over Roy's mouth; the boy let out a gasp as Faulk started talking. "Meet Roy Harper. Arrests for larceny and robbery, aggravated assault." He listed. "And yet you're out on the street. Another gangbanger in the Glades running free, like the ones who killed my wife."_

“And that is what makes Joseph Faulk different than Ollie. Ollie targets the worst of the worst of Starling City while Faulk makes no distinction between low lives and those like Roy, who have simply made the best of what life has handed them.” Dinah explained.

 

_Roy struggled futility to free himself as Faulk kept the camera zoomed in on his face. "I grew up in the Glades; it didn't turn me into a criminal."_

“Really? Assault, kidnapping with intent, and two counts of first-degree murder would say otherwise.” Laurel scoffed.

 

_Oliver walked in and saw Tommy staring at the TV. Tommy noted his presence. "I know that kid." He told him._

_Oliver looked at him in surprise. "How?"_

_"Tommy!" Both men turned to see a very disheveled Thea running into the club. "Tommy?" she saw Roy on the screen and let out a sob. “Oh! Oh, God, no." she turned to the two friends. "I didn't know where else to go."_

_Oliver took her by the shoulders. "You know him?"_

_"Roy, he's my friend." She told him. "And we were in a fight and some guy came out of nowhere and just attacked us! He doesn't deserve to die!" she cried, tears streaming down her face._

_"I promise you, he's going to be ok." Oliver glanced up at Tommy briefly, then back at Thea. "You stay here with Tommy, all right?" Oliver handed her off to Tommy, and then hurried towards the basement entrance._

_The scene shifted to Queen Consolidated. Moira was heading towards her office when her phone rang. She picked up the call without looking at the screen. "Hello?"_

_"Moira, it's Malcolm." Malcolm stated. "I've learned a high ranking member of the Triad was just arrested." He informed her._

_Moira's breath hitched briefly, but she covered herself. "Well, I should have a word with him." She said, still walking to her desk._

_"I already have." Moira wobbled in her heels as the fear returned in full force. "He's agreed to find out who hired his organization to assassinate me in return for a reduced prison sentence. By tonight, we should know the name, or names, of the people who tried to kill me." Malcolm said confidently._

“Oh this is bad, this is very very bad.” Tommy said alarmed as Thea let out a strangled whimper.

 

“Just keep watching.” Dinah said solemnly.

 

_"Good." Moira said. Malcolm hung up, and she shakily dropped into her chair._

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Laurel and Quentin both walked into find Dinah sorting some papers, including 'Missing' posters of Sara._

_"What are you doing?" Lance asked._

_"So it's not Sara in the photo." Dinah said. "But she's still out there, I'm going to find her." Both Quentin and Laurel looked at her is disbelief, and she sighed. "Look, I understand now that neither of you have the stomach to continue looking for that's fine. I’m sorry I involved you both." She moved over to the walls and started pulling things down._

_"You know that I would cross to hell and back to bring her home, but I CAN’T! “Quentin shouted, his control leaving him. "'Cause she's gone, Di." He continued._

_"No." Dinah denied frantically pulling posters off the wall._

_"You got to let go of this now." He told her._

_"No! I can't! I won't!" Dinah shouted back._

_Laurel looked down at the pictures of the girl, Jen, and something that had been niggling at her conscience finally burst forth. "How did you know Sara had her hat with her when she went on the boat?" Laurel asked, causing Dinah to freeze. Laurel pressed on. “You were so sure that the girl in the photo was because she was American, but because of her Starling City Rockets hat that dad bought her." Dinah refused to look at her, but she was still frozen in place. "Mom, how did you know she took her hat with her on 'The Queen's Gambit' with Oliver?"_

_Dinah let out a groan. "I saw her."_

“What?” Laurel demanded in a cold voice, shock, anger, and betrayal flooding her.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Quentin looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked._

_"I came home early that day, and I saw her. Sara." She started crying. "I saw her put the hat in a bag. She was packing."_

_Quentin stared at her in disbelief. "You knew she was going with him?" he accused._

“She knew,” Laurel said in a voice that shook with anger and betrayal, “she knew that my boyfriend was cheating on me with my own sister. And she let me find out by learning that they were both dead.”

 

“You see why Arsenal doesn’t like her.” Dinah said softly.

 

“Yeah, I don’t blame him.” Laurel said angrily.

 

_Dinah finally turned around to facet hem both. “I told her not to… I told her not to do this, not to you, Laurel." she told her eldest, who was also crying. "But she said she was in love and she had to follow her heart, even if nobody else thought it was right. Just like… I told her Just like I told her I once did. So I let her go." She gasped. "I killed her. I—" she sobbed collapsing back against the wall. "I killed my daughter." She sobbed. Quentin rushed over to her, tears streaming down his own face and took her into his arm. "I killed her. I’m so sorry, Quentin." She continued to sob. "I'm so sorry, Quentin. I killed our baby." Laurel stood apart, her face full of anger and sorrow as she watched her mother collapse into her father's arms._

“I’d feel sorrier for her if she hadn’t walked out on you and had told you about Oliver.” Tommy told Laurel, who was still seething.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver paced behind Felicity as she worked._

_"Anything?" he asked as he and Diggle came to her side._

_"I've been going through all the video we got, trying to see if there's anything that'll tell us where this guy is." Felicity told him. "I got nothing, except a in the ambient rhythmic." She pulled it up and played it on speaker. "Here, I've isolated it." The three stopped and listened. Diggle frowned, a memory plying at the back of his mind. He picked up a headset and pressed one cup to his ear._

_"What is that?" Oliver asked. "Sounds like a car driving over lane markers."_

_Felicity shook her head. "It's bigger than a car."_

_"Bigger than a car." Oliver frowned as he thought furiously. "What, a bus? Uh—"_

_Dig leaned in close. "Felicity, show me a map." He asked, and she pulled up a map of Starling City. "Sights of the abductions so far." He added, and she placed them on the map. "Right there, right there." He said, pointing to one of the spots. "Locksley and Adams." His finger moved to the next spot. "Wells Street down by CNRI. Those are all subway stops!" he announced._

“Of course!” Diggle shouted as his eyes widened n realization.

 

“But we don’t have a subway.” Tommy said as the others looked confused.

 

“But we used to. My dad, he took me to the Rockets game when I was a kid. By Subway.” Diggle explained and everyone’s eyes widened.

 

_"Starling City doesn't have a subway." Oliver noted._

_Dig shook his head. "No, but they used to. When I was a kid, my dad used to take me down to the Rockets game. By 14 minutes, I'd lean against the window, feeling the rhythm of the train moving." He explained._

_"That's how he did it." Felicity realized. She looked back at Oliver. "He was at 23rd and Mira, but he was used to work for the Department of Transportation, so that's why he knows all the old subway 's why I couldn't trace the signal." She finished, feeling vindicated. "He was moving. He was in a subway car."_

_"Where is he now?" Oliver asked, pulling off his coat and grabbing his gear._

_"He's on the old cross town line." She yelled. "If he continues on this route, he'll be at the Spring Street stop in 15 minutes."_

_The scene flashed back to the island. Slade grinned and raised one of his guns, pointing it directly at Fyers' head. "Let the girl go." He said, even as the other soldiers raised their weapons at him._

_"No deal?" Fyers said casually. "Very well. Kill her."_

_Several things happened at once. Slade knocked the guns away from the nearby soldiers. At the same time, the girl reached back and slapped one gun away, then leapt up and disarmed the other guard. She punched one, then the other, then locked the first into an arm bar while warping her legs around the others, sending all three to the ground. Slade opened fire then, killing some of the soldiers outright, and Yao Fei tripped one of the soldiers, and then wrapped his leg around the man's neck. With a twist, it was broken._

“Fryers made a very big mistake,” Dinah noted as the other viewers turned to her, “he underestimated his enemy. He got so used to being in control that he started to believe that he was unstoppable. He paid dearly for it.”

 

_Oliver charged at one soldier and shoved him hard into a tree. He followed that up with two hard punches, but the soldier shrugged them off and punched back. They grappled, and the two went down to the ground hard._

_Fyers stalked up to the girl, who had just finished off her two. He lifted the gun to shoot her in the head, but she knocked it away. She quickly disarmed him and sent him to the ground, then climbed on his chest and unleashed a flurry of shots to his face, rendering the man unconscious. Oliver kicked the soldier off of him, and then grasped a rock that was lying nearby and walloped the man in the head. Two more shots with the rock put the solider down for the count._

“Not bad Ollie, not bad.” Tommy noted.

 

_The soldiers momentarily defeated. The group gathered together. Slade smirked at the girl as she walked over to her father. "That was unexpected." He remarked. She grinned back at him, and then helped her father up, who had already freed himself of the restraints._

_Fyers, seeing them loose and about to escape, called to his men that had been waiting in the forest. "Fire!" A line of fire from automatic rifles suddenly lanced out as more soldiers appeared. Slade picked up an assault rifle and returned fire, covering Oliver, Yao Fei, and the girl as they made their way for cover. A stray bullet lanced out and caught Yao Fei in the leg, sending him stumbling. Oliver picked him up and helped him hobble a few more yards until they were under some cover. The man collapsed to the ground._

_Oliver pulled on his arm, trying to get the man back up. "Come on! Come on!" he urged s the fire continued behind them._

_Yao Fei pushed him away. "Get her to safety!" he told him, nodding at his daughter. At Oliver's indecision, he yelled. "Now! I'll only slow you down!" he urged. Slade came to them then and grabbed the girl, even as she screamed for her father. "Just go! You've got to go!" he urged._

_"Go! Go! Go!" Slade urged as the three ran off into the forest._

_The scene changed to Starling City. Oliver pulled up next to the abandoned subway station at Ocean Avenue. He fired an explosive arrow at an access grate, blowing it off, and then dropped a line down into the hole. He slid down the line, ending up in an access tunnel for the subway itself. He ran through the tunnel, hearing a train, and stopped just shy of the tracks as a train sped past._

_Back in the Lair, Felicity and Diggle were watching the screen as Faulk started up again. "It's happening." She told Oliver._

_"I'll give you 10 minutes to state your case, Roy." Faulk was telling Roy in the train car. Roy stared back, defeat in his eyes. "So tell do you get to live?"_

_Roy closed his eyes, the weight of his life pressing down on him. "I shouldn't." he said finally._

“You really be;ieve that?” Thea asked as she turned to star at him.

 

“Like you said, I’m just a waste.” Roy deadpanned and everyone turned to look at him sadly.

 

“If we really believed you were a waste, we wouldn’t have brought you here Roy.” Dinah said and Roy tilted his head to the side thoughtfully.

 

_"Just do it, kill me." Faulk stared back, stunned. He wasn't expecting that. "Just go on!" Roy shouted. “Kill me!"_

_Faulk lowered the camera slightly so he could look Roy in the eyes. "You really don't care if you live or die?" he asked, dumbfounded._

_Roy just stared back at him with a defeated expression. "No one's going to miss me."_

“One person would have.” Dinah said as she looked over at Thea.

 

_Back at Verdant, Thea stood, waiting anxiously for a miracle. Her eyes filled with tears at his pronouncement. 'I'm just a waste.' Tommy moved next to her, giving her silent support._

_"Then we agree on something." Faulk said, staring hard at the boy. "This world would be better off without you in it."_

“If you had died that day, almost everyone in this room would be dead ten times over at this point in time.” Dinah told Roy, who looked at her surprised.

 

_Faulk raised the gun, and Roy closed his eyes, preparing. Suddenly there was a crash on the roof of the train. Faulk looked up, startled, and dropped the camera._

_Back at Verdant, all Thea saw was the camera falling to the ground, then static before the news anchor came back on. 'We seem to have lost the feed.' He was saying as Thea broke down in Tommy's arms. 'We will stay on this story and keep you up to date on any developments.'_

_Faulk moved cautiously down the train, searching of the source of the sound. Suddenly a window next to him exploded as The Hood crashed in. The two men fell to the floor of the train, but both quickly recovered. The Hood spun and threw a flechette towards Roy, hitting right next to the tape on his left wrist. In the same movement he rose to his feet, drew an arrow and held it on Faulk's heart as the older man tried to bring his gun up._

_"Let the kid go." The Hood growled. "You kill this kid, he'll never get an opportunity to change!" he said, trying to reason with the man. "You can give him a second chance."_

_"We're the only ones who can save this city!" Faulk protested; the gun trained on the Hood's chest. "We can't stop now."_

_"We're not the same!" The Hood screamed as Roy watched._

_"You've killed people for this city, so have I." Faulk said. Oliver shifted his eyes to Roy, and then nodded his head at the flechette. Roy got the message and strained his hand, reaching for the flechette. "What's the difference between you and me? Emma never got her second chance." Faulk continued. "You have no idea how lonely it is."_

“You have no idea how much he understands.” Dinah said so softly that Roy, who was right next to her, barely heard her.

 

_Faulk looked back at Roy, who was still trying to get the flechette. "Joseph." Oliver said, trying to draw his attention away from the kid and back on him. "Joseph! I understand being alone." Roy finally reached the flechette and pulled it from the side of the train, then started cutting away at the tape on his wrist. "But it doesn't give you the right to kill people in cold blood."_

_"He deserves it." Faulk said. Roy freed one of his hands, and rapidly went to cut loose the other. "Just like the gangbangers who gunned her down, he's no different than them. And now I get to gun him down." Faulk turned and raised the gun at Roy, whose other hand was freed._

“That the other difference between you and Oliver: you’re out for revenge, despite your claims for justice. He’s out to save this city, to make amends for his father’s sins.” Diggle noted.

 

_"Don't do it!" The Hood yelled. Roy ducked s Faulk fired. The deranged man only got off two shots before an arrow pierced his chest. He gasped in surprise and pain, looking down at the arrow. Roy watched, stunned as Faulk slowly sank onto the bench seat of the train, the gun dropping out of his hand to the floor as he died._

“He could’ve used his knowledge for good instead of murder…such a waste.” Laurel sighed.

 

_. Roy groaned as he pulled himself up, and then took a seat on the opposite bench, staring at the man who had unknowingly changed his life._

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Dinah, her bags packed and coat on, moved towards the door as Laurel, still stunned from her mother's revelations, sat on her couch._

_"Got to get going to the airport." Dinah said. "That red eye to Central City. I should be home in a flash." She finished lamely. Seeing Laurel just sitting there and not responding, she sighed and grabbed the handle on her bag._

_Dinah had opened the door just as Laurel made a decision. "Mom." She jumped up, running to the door to stop the woman. Laurel took her hand. "Call me some time." Dinah looked at her in surprise. "I'd really like that."_

_"You would?" she asked, surprised._

_"Of course I would. You're my mother." Laurel replied simply._

“That’s up for debate.” Laurel said bitterly and Dinah sighed.

 

“Despite what she did…she’s the only mother I’ve got. I saw what it did to Thea when she lost Robert and Tommy always talks about how much he misses his mom. She may not be perfect, but she’s still our mother.” Dinah said and Laurel didn’t say anything.

 

_. The two hugged, though Laurel had a resigned look on her face._

_"I love you so much." Dinah told her._

_"I love you, too." She assured her mother. Dinah walked out, and Laurel closed the door, slumping against it._

_The scene changed to Verdant. Thea was sitting at a table, staring into space when her phone found buzzed. She looked down and picked up her phone, and her eyes widened in surprise as she saw she had a text from Roy._

_:Turn to your left:_

_Thea spun to see a still shaken Roy walking towards her. She let out a happy sob as she grabbed him and hugged him tightly. “I thought you were going to die." She said, crying._

_"That makes two of us." Roy replied, hugging her back equally as tight. After a moment, Thea pulled back._

_"I probably look like a mess." She said, smiling now. "I'm going to go to the bathroom and freshen way, way up."_

_"Ok." Roy said, watching her walk away. Up in the balcony, Oliver looked down at the reunion. Deep in thought, he turned and moved to leave the club. He never saw Roy, still in shock from the night, pull out the small flechette that had saved his life. He stared at it, equally deep in thought._

“So that’s why I wanted to find him?” Roy asked and Dinah nodded.

 

“That’s what set you on the path to becoming Arsenal.” Dinah confirmed.

 

“Huh.” Roy said, looking intrigued. 

 

_Oliver walked out of the club, still thinking about what Faulk had said to him. He was walking aimlessly down the street when a familiar voice stopped him._

_Laurel had taken a cab to Verdant, looking to forget the day she had had. As she looked around, she spied Oliver walking away out of the corner of her eye. "Ollie?" she called out._

_Oliver plastered a smile on his face as he turned. "Hi!"_

_"Hey." Laurel walked up to him. "I heard Thea's friend was ok." She said._

_"Yeah. That worked out ok." He gave her a look. "This Roy is more than just a friend, isn't he?" he asked, already knowing (and not liking) the answer._

“He didn’t like me, huh?” Roy noted.

 

“Not at first. But he only knew you as Thea’s boyfriend at first. And to him, no one was ever good enough for his baby sister.” Dinah explained.

 

_"Bad boys. They hook you every time." She said. She started to head for the club._

_"Oh, I think, uh, Tommy actually went home for the night." Oliver said._

_Laurel paused. "Oh." She said, not knowing what to do._

_Oliver looked at her with narrowed eyes. "You all right? You seem like you're something other than all right."_

“Surprised he could tell.” Laurel admitted.

 

“When we were together, he was thoughtless not oblivious.” Dinah said and Laurel nodded.

 

_"My mom, she showed up in town this week and she's been…" she trailed off._

_"What?"_

_"She had this crazy idea that Sara was still alive." She said to his shock. "She was so sure of it that she kind of had me believing it, also." Laurel took a breath. "But Sara's gone." She said finally._

_"Yeah." Olive said. That was one thing he didn't want to relive._

_"I can't believe she sucked me in like that." Laurel said._

_"You miss her." Oliver said._

_"I miss them both." She countered. She sighed." Thanks for listening."_

_"Of course." He said. As she walked off, he called out to her again. "Laurel." She turned to look at him. "Want to have dinner, or coffee, I don't know." He asked uncertainly._

_Laurel looked at him in confusion. "Why?"_

_"I don't want to be on an island anymore." He said after a moment's reflection._

Tommy, Thea, and Laurel all smiled, happy that Oliver was beginning to finally break way from those five years. Still, Tommy and Laurel both had mixed feelings about this. Tommy because, despite agreeing that he and Laurel were better off as friends, he still felt jealous of the obvious connection between Oliver and Laurel. And Laurel because learning that her mother had known about Sara and Oliver was stirring up the feelings of betrayal and anger at Oliver once more.

 

_Laurel smiled softly at him. "Sure." She said. It wouldn't happen tonight, but it would happen sometime. Two old friends reconnecting. "Good night." She said._

_"Good night." This time, he let her walk into the club, then turned and walked off into the night._

_The scene changed to the Island. Oliver was searching an old rotted out stump, and when he came up empty, he turned back to the other two with a sinking feeling. "Slade? Circuit board's gone."_

_Slade looked at him in surprise, and then pushed past to search himself. "Damn." He said after a moment. "Fyers played us. While he was screwing us around, his men were combing the woods for it." He stood and got into Oliver's face. "Now his missile launcher is fully operational."_

_"And he was never going to let us off the island," Oliver said in disgust, pushing the older man away. "I get it!"_

_"Of course he wasn't going to help you!" The girl said- in English. "He couldn't chance you warning the mainland what he has planned!"_

_Oliver sighed in annoyance. "She speaks English."_

_"Yeah, well, guess what." Slade growled at her. "Neither one of us have any idea what his plans are."_

_She turned away for a few seconds, trying to think. Soon, she turned back to face the two men. "I do." She said._

“Well, at least that’s something.” Laurel sighed.

 

_The scene changed to the Glades. Moira stood on the side of a deserted street, waiting for Frank Chen to show up. Frank pulled up and got out of his car._

_"Thank you for coming, Frank." Moira called out._

_"Meeting like this is dangerous, Moira." He said, buttoning his coat as he walked to her. "Particularly now."_

_"Yes, I know." She looked at him, a determined look in her eyes. "Malcolm knows." She announced._

_"What?!" Frank exclaimed._

_"I had no choice but to turn over what I've discovered." She continued. "The evidence of the wire transfer; the money that you paid the Triad to assassinate him."_

_"The money I—" he started to protest, but he was cut off by an arrow to the heart. Moira gasped in shock and He looked down in confusion, even as another arrow pierced his chest. Frank reached out to her. "Moira!" he gasped, falling into her arms, they both fell over to the ground, but only Moira got back up._

_Moira rose unsteadily to her feat, and then gasped in shock as the Dark Archer walked towards her._

_"Mr. Merlyn thanks you for your loyalty." The archer told her._

“Unbelievable,” Thea said disgusted by her mother’s actions, “she let him take the fall for their plan. A plan that was her idea in the first place!”

 

“I knew your mom was cold but…man.” Roy said as they all stared at the screen, stunned.          

 

_The archer told her. "You've done well. Now Chen's family will share his fate."_

_"Chen betrayed us, but his daughter didn't." Moira protested, finding the strength to put some steel into her voice. "Tell Mr. Merlyn that I want her to live. Amanda nearly lost her life in The Glades, now she's lost her father. I think she's suffered enough." She told the assassin._

_"We must send a message." He said._

_"We have." She looked down at Frank- her friend of many years. "We…"_

_"Very well." The archer said quietly._

_"Thank you—" Moira said, looking up- but the archer was gone._

“Good god, both our parents are monsters.” Tommy told Thea disgusted and she nodded a matching expression on her face.

 

_She climbed clumsily back into her car and went to start it when she saw the blood on her hands- Franks blood. She reached into her coat and withdrew a Kleenex and began frantically wiping at the blood. She spat on her hands, trying to wash it off- but it wouldn't come off. She began sobbing- for herself, for Frank's daughter, and for the thousands of lives that would be lost because of her actions._

“I’d feel sorry for her if I hadn’t just watched her lead her friend to his execution to save her own skin.” Laurel said coldly with the others muttering their agreement.

 

_The scene changed back to the Lair as Oliver walked in._

_"Thea's friend is upstairs." Dig said._

_"I saw."_

_"You probably saw that they were very happy to see each other, if you know what I mean." Felicity said. Noting the looks on the men's faces- bemused on Dig, annoyed on Oliver, she grimaced slightly. "Which you probably don't want to talk about, because she's your baby sister." She slowly spun back around to face the computers._

_"You ok?" Dig asked._

_"I'm getting there." He replied. "Thank you." He walked over to Felicity and stood next to her. "Psst." She looked up at him. "By the way, if you ever need to tell someone about your day, you can tell me." He told her. Felicity smiled. He put a hand on her shoulder, then glanced over at the computer screen and froze. He pulled away and walked around her to get a better view. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to the screen._

_"Felicity pulled it up." Dig said. "It's an old map of a decommissioned subway underneath the low rent district of the city."_

_Oliver picked up his father's notebook and opened it. He looked at the symbol on the inside cover. "I've seen that map before." He said, setting the book down on the table. Felicity picked it up and stared at it, and realization sunk in to her as well. "It was right in front of our faces the entire time." Oliver continued. "My father, the other archer, the undertaking, whatever the plan is, it’s all connected to the Glades."_

He’s finally starting to put the pieces together.” Thea said relieved.

 

“But is it too late to stop Malcolm’s plan?” Diggle asked and no one had an answer.

 

“Only one way for you to find out.” Dinah said as she started the next recording.


	25. Unfinished business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy learns what ultimately drove him and Oliver apart as Vertigo returns. Tommy, Laurel, Thea, and Diggle learn information about the fate of a loved one.

_The memory set opened in Verdant. The hour was late, but the music was blaring, the lights were flashing, and the bodies were writing on the dance floor. One girl in particular was finding herself fascinated with the lights and sound, staring all around with a vacant look while she swayed to a beat only she could hear. She swayed to that beat out of the club and into the middle of a busy street, where after too many close calls she was finally hit head on._

“Damn!” Tommy said as they started in shock.

 

“And that is why drugs are dangerous Speedy.” Dinah said and Thea gulped, realizing how lucky she had gotten.

 

_Later that night (or early in the morning) after the club had closed, Oliver walked through the club as the staff cleaned up. "How we doing?" he asked Tommy, who grinned in return._

_"We're in the black, and the green." Tommy handed him a tablet with their latest financials on it._

_"I like how we've gone from throwing money at clubs to catching it." Oliver noted. He set the tablet down on the bar as something else caught his eye. "Oh, look at these." He picked up a black lace bra- one of many in the tote behind the bar. "What sort of business has a lost and found that's just filled with women's underwear?"_

_"The best business ever?" Tommy noted with a smile._

“You’re still a pig.” Laurel told Tommy, who flushed.

 

_"Ohh, having this much fun should be against the law."_

_"Oh, if wishing made it so." The two looked up in surprise to see Quentin Lance stalking across the floor towards them. "Sorry, am I interrupting anything?"_

“What does he want to harass my brothers about now?” Thea sighed.

 

_"Is Laurel ok?" Tommy asked at once._

_"She's fine. This visit is about something else. A girl just got mowed down a couple blocks from here." He pulled out his phone and flipped through his photos, bringing up a picture of the dead girl in the road. He showed it to the two men. "On Starling Bridge. Ring any bells with you two?"_

_"No." Tommy said, turning away from the picture._

_"Should she?" Oliver asked._

_"She was in your club tonight." He said, pulling out an evidence bag containing a neon green wristband that all customers got upon entering the club._

_"A lot of people were." Tommy said defensively._

_"You think someone killed her?" Oliver asked._

_"Not someone." He pulled out another bag and set it on top of the first. The bag contained a smaller bag containing a disturbingly familiar green and black pill. "Something."_

_"Vertigo." Oliver realized._

“You have got to be kidding me.” Thea stared at the screen stunned.

 

“He’s back? How?” Laurel demanded, stunned that The Count could recover, let alone anytime soon.

 

“Wait for it.” Dinah said softly.

 

_"Yeah." Lance agreed. He looked to Tommy. "You got a problem with that in this club?"_

_"Not that I'm aware of." He replied sharply._

_"We don't allow drugs in here, Detective." Oliver said with finality._

_Lance looked at the two. "Control your clientele." He ordered. "Before anyone else wanders into traffic."_

_They watched him leave the club, and the Oliver turned to Tommy. "Is there any chance she could have scored the drugs in here?" he asked._

_"I doubt it. I try not to hire too many drug dealers." Tommy replied._

_"Get me a list of employees, anyway. I'll have Felicity cross reference it for drug arrests."_

_"That includes the two of us, you know." Tommy pointed out as they came to the door to the basement. Oliver punched in the code to unlock the door. "I thought the Vigilante finished off the Count." He said._

_Oliver turned back and looked at his friend. "I did." He said._

_The scene changed to the Starling County Institute for Mental Health, which had been home to the Count since his run in with The Hood. Lance was being led through the halls by Dr. Webb as they headed towards the Count's room._

_"I just need to ask him a few questions, Doc." Lance was saying._

_"Well, you're welcome to try, Detective, but I'm not sure you'll get very far with him." Dr. Webb replied._

_Lance stopped and turned to the man. "What does that mean? Is this a load about doctor-patient privilege?" he asked hotly._

_Dr. Webb shook his head. "No, far from it." They began walking again up the stairs. "The unrefined Vertigo overdose he suffered caused damage to the caudal portion of his anterior cingulate." He started to explain._

“Huh?” Tommy asked not understanding one word.

 

“He’s brain damaged.” Dinah explained.

 

“Exactly what he deserves.” Roy muttered.

 

_"Well, you'll probably be shocked to hear that I didn't go to medical school." Lance said sarcastically._

_"I've been working with him for months now. And all I've gotten out of him is word salad and the occasional spit in the face." Webb said, clarifying his diagnosis. "Best of luck to you." He added dryly._

_"Thanks." Lance replied._

_In a locked room down the hall sat The Count. He muttered to himself in the moonlight. "Here I was born, and there I died. It was only a moment for you. You took no notice."_

_Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed him by his shirt and yanked him off of his bed. He was swung hard into the wall, and suddenly he was looking at his tormentor._

_"A woman died tonight from your poison." The Hood growled._

_"Lots of women die, lots of nights, for lots of reasons." The Count said listlessly._

_"Someone is selling Vertigo again. Where is it coming from?" he demanded._

_The Count's eyes seemed to clear for a moment. "I remember you." He said. "Man in hood." He shoved the drawings he had clutched in his hands into The Hoods face. "You are never far from my thoughts."_

“Man, Oliver really did a number on him.” Diggle noted.

 

“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.” Tommy said sarcastically.

 

_." The sounds of jingling keys caused the vigilante to growl in frustration. He threw the man back down to the floor and disappeared into the shadows just as the door opened._

_"You have failed this city! You have failed this city! You have failed this city!" The Count yelled into the darkness. Lance took two steps into the room and stared at the former drug dealer, then turned back to Dr. Webb._

_"You could have just said he was nuts." Lance said as he walked back out of the room, giving The Count up for a lost cause._

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Slade and Shado were sparring vigorously as Oliver watched, playing with Shado's bow in his hands absently._

_The match ended when Shado got Slade down onto his back. She was crouched over him, her hand raised to deliver a blow; but Slade had pulled a small blade from somewhere and tapped it against her lower back._

_"You're teaching me that one." Slade said with a smile._

_"Only if you show me where the knife was." She chuckled. She rose to her feet and held out a hand, helping him up._

_"Who taught you how to fight?" Slade asked._

_"My father wanted a son." Shado said, taking a drink of water._

_"He got one." Slade replied._

“From anyone else, that would be an insult.” Dinah mused.

 

“And from Slade?” Laurel asked.

 

“It’s the ultimate compliment.” Dinah explained.

 

_Shado looked over to see Oliver fiddling with her bow. "The tension of that bow's 150 pounds." She told him. "Snap it; you'll both be covered by carbon fiber shrapnel in your eyes."_

_"She's right." Slade said. "You're not strong enough, kid." He looked to Shado. "Go again?"_

_"It's pretty exciting that both of you are such bad asses, but do you think that maybe we should be making a plan to stop Fyers?" And, I don't know… save your dad?" Oliver asked sarcastically._

_"Does he always whine this much?" Shado asked Slade with a smile._

_"Today's one of his good days." Slade noted._

_"Can he fight?"_

_"I've tried. Limited success."_

_Oliver pursed his lips. "I'm sitting right here."_

_"Well, I haven't tried yet." Shado said. Slade laughed as Oliver looked between the two of them._

“And now, you’ll see how Ollie learned to shoot.” Dinah explained as everyone watched eagerly.

 

_The scene flashed forward to Carly's apartment. Diggle was staring at the paper, whose headline announced the death of a Senator by a sniper. Dig's mind went immediately to Lawton._

“Deadshot.” Diggle sneered angrily.

 

_"Uncle John."_

_Dig looked up at his nephew. He forced a smile. "Hey, buddy."_

_"Will you read 'Logan Bogan' to me?" Andy Jr. asked._

_"Sweetheart, get into bed and mommy will read to you in a minute." Carly said, coming into the room._

_"But I want Uncle John to read to me!"_

“He’s a cute kid.” Laurel told Diggle.

 

“He takes after his mother.” Diggle said as he smiled slightly.

 

_Carly laughed lightly. "Uncle John's had a long day." She told her son. "He'll read to you next time." Andy Jr. ran off into his room, and Carly took a seat on the couch. She rubbed John's shoulders. "Hey."_

_Dig smiled tiredly at her. "Hey, I'm sorry." He apologized. "I've been someplace else today."_

_"What's going on with you?" she asked._

_"I'm just trying to figure some stuff out." Dig hedged._

_"If you need to talk about anything, you know I'm here for you." She told him. He smiled and squeezed her hand, but his phone ringing interrupted the moment. He got up and went over to his phone, ignoring the crestfallen look on her face. Dig looked at the phone and sighed._

_"It is Oliver Queen, with an emergency." He said, showing her the text. "Got to go."_

_The scene changed to the Lair as Diggle hurried in. "Got here as quickly as I could." He told Oliver. "This about the glyph in your father's notebook?"_

_"Felicity is still working on that. We have another problem." Oliver announced. He brought up a news clip on the computer and played it for Dig._

_'Starling City is once again at war with the drug known on the streets as Vertigo. It used to be the city's most lethal vice, but the purple and green pill was nowhere to be found for the last 3 months.'_

_"Over the past few days, the city has been flooded with a new version of Vertigo." Oliver explained. "More addictive, more unstable." He sighed. "It killed a girl in the club. Just like it almost killed Thea."_

_"Ok, what are you think? We should pay the Count a visit?" Dig wondered._

_"He was my first visit. Waste of time." Oliver stated "He's…sumasshedshiy." At Dig's confused look, he gestured with his hand near his head. "Ahh."_

“How does he expect me to know what he’s talking about?” Diggle asked exasperated.

 

“He spends so long playing the selfish playboy, pretending to be stupid, he honestly relished in letting people know just how smart he really is.” Dinah explained.

 

_Oliver shook his head. "Since he was the only one that knew the formula for Vertigo, I don't I don't even know where to begin."_

_"Good, you're here." Felicity walked in briskly, headed for her computer. "Of course you're here. Where else would you be? You clearly love it down here." She sat down and pulled up the news. "You got to see this."_

_'I'm here at the scene where police say a disturbed patient escaped only hours ago.' The reporter was saying. Oliver turned to stare at the screen, a look of stunned disbelief on his face._

“Oh god, please don’t tell me it’s him.” Thea groaned as everyone stared at the screen in shock.

 

_'Authorities issued an immediate lockdown at the Starling County Institute for Mental Health following the breakout. Police are warning people to avoid contact with the drug dealer known as the Count.' Oliver spun away, furious._

“You have got to be kidding me!” Tommy shouted.

 

“How the hell did he get out, he was in no condition to even get out of his room?” Laurel wondered.

 

“Wait for it.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"Not so crazy after all, huh?" Dig noted. Olive responded by throwing over a table._

_The scene changed to the Mental Institute, where Lance was interviewing Dr. Webb._

_"I was administering his meds." The doctor was saying. "He was babbling. His usual ranting, then he's ice cold. He overpowered me. He forced me to take him out through the maintenance exit."_

_"I thought he was harmless." Lance stated. "Basically a vegetable, you said."_

_"I know. Which means…." He trailed off, helpless. "I've interviewed him dozens of times in the past few months. To be deceived by a patient so completely—"_

_"Don't worry. We'll find him." Lance said. "He's going to find prison a lot harder to break out of."_

_"Detective," Lance turned back to Dr. Webb. "He's dangerous." Webb said. "Don't underestimate him."_

“I think we already knew that.” Roy drawled.

 

_Lance and Hilton were let out of the wing and made for the exit. "Did we get anything from the security cameras?" Lance asked his partner._

_"Not according to the orderly here. Due to budget cuts, the cameras were the first to go."_

“Is the city really _that_ underfunded?” Laurel asked in disbelief.

 

“Yes.” Roy told her glumly.

 

_"That is unbelievable." Lance said._

_"There's another angle." Hilton continued. "Veronica Sparks, the dead girl from Verdant?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"I checked her LUDs. The last person she texted before she died was Tommy Merlyn."_

“You said you didn’t know her.” Laurel said and Tommy looked surprised.

 

“You’d be surprised by how many people text someone, hoping they can get a free a pass into a club.” Dinah said idly and understanding dawned on everyone.

 

_Lance frowned. "He said he didn't know her." He said as they exited the building._

_"Merlyn has two collars for possession, one with intent." Hilton reminded him._

_"Yeah, that was over five years ago."_

_"Maybe he's just better at not getting himself arrested." Hilton noted._

_"Well, Laurel says he's changed ever since his father cut him off." Lance argued._

_"Yeah, a leopard and his spots, you know? Maybe pushing Vertigo at his new club is a way of maintaining his old lifestyle." He offered._

_"Yeah, or maybe going after Merlyn's a great way to get my daughter to stop speaking to me again, Hilt." Lance said dryly._

_"Look, Quentin, you know I get that. But here's the thing- on a hunch, I subpoenaed the club's bank accounts. There's ten large missing from their operating expenses." Hilton said as they reached their car._

“What?” Tommy asked alarmed.

 

“Relax, it’s nothing bad.” Dinah assured him.

 

_"You think Merlyn spent that money on Vertigo?" Lance asked._

_"I think I can't explain how that much money just gets misplaced." He looked at his partner. "Look, I'll take a run at it." Hilton offered. "Keep you out of it."_

_Lance shook his head. "No. I should do it."_

_The scene changed to a small, fortified hole in the wall in the Glades. A large man in a hoody walked up to the door. The gangbanger looked him over once, and then banged on the door. The man walked in, up to the dealer sitting at a table._

_"What you need?" he asked. The man handed him a large wad of bills. "All right." The dealer said. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a small plastic baggie with several Vertigo pills. The man turned and left, pulling down in hood as soon as the door was closed. Dig smirked to himself and walked off._

_Minutes later he was back in the lair, tossing the pills onto Felicity's workstation. "The person of color has successfully purchased your drugs." He joked._

_"For the record, I offered." Felicity said._

“Somehow, I don’t think you’d be a believable drug addict.” Roy drawled.

 

_"How will we know when the tracker is active?” Oliver asked, already suited up._

_"It already is." She replied, pulling up a map on her computer. "I'm getting a good signal off the monofilament strips we placed in the bills."_

_"Drug money's like a pigeon- it always finds its way home." Dig said._

_"We can follow the money all the way back to the Count." Oliver said. Felicity nodded. "Keep tracking it." He said as he went to his bike._

_Felicity picked up the bag of drugs, looking at it. "Well, what are you going to do with all the Vertigo you bought?" she asked with a grin._

_"Plan on having a party, Felicity?" Dig joked._

_"My only experience with drugs was an encounter with a pot brownie my freshman year- by mistake." She said. "Which could have been fun, except I'm allergic to nuts."_

_"All right, Deadshot." He pulled out the article he had clipped from the paper. "Kills again, this time a U.S. Senator. Where have you been tracking him?" he asked._

_"Not very far." She admitted, pulling up what little information she had on her tablet. “I ran his Floyd Lawton alias through every conceivable law enforcement database. He's made a series of calls to an Alberto Garcia."_

_"Huh." Dig grunted._

_"According to NSA, Garcia's a reputed underworld talent scout."_

_Felicity told him, backing all the information up on a flash drive, which she then handed to him. "He books all the Deadshot's hits. It's not much to go on, but…"_

“Alberto Garcia.” Diggle muttered, the name imprinted in his mind now.

 

_Dig took the drive. "Yeah, but it's something, Felicity. Thanks."_

_"Don't you think Oliver should know?" she asked timidly._

_"No, this is personal." Dig said as he walked out of the Lair. "Lawton is my problem to deal with."_

“Because there’s no way that won’t come back to bite you in the ass.” Roy drawled and Diggle glared at him.

 

“You can glare at him all you want, he’s right.” Dinah told him and Diggle grumbled as he turned back to the screen.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Laurel answered a knock at the door, and was surprised to see her father. "What brings you by?" she asked, letting him in._

_Tommy walked into the room, holding a plate of food. "Hey, would you like some dinner?" he offered. "Your daughter ordered way too much Thai food."_

_"No, thanks." Lance shifted, uncomfortable. "This is a business visit, actually. I got some follow up questions on the Sparks' girl's death."_

_"Sure." Tommy said, and then he turned to Laurel to explain. "The girl was in the club before she got run-over."_

_"You said you didn't know her, but, um, but the last text off her phone was to you." Lance pressed on._

_Tommy's brow furrowed. "Really?" he turned on his phone and looked through the text history. "Because, uh…" he paused as he saw Veronica Sparks picture with a text reading 'Can you hook me up?' "Well, I'll be damned." He muttered, lifting up the phone and showing it to Lance. "Huh. Well, I didn't reply. I get a hundred texts like this a night." He explained. "People wanting to get into the club."_

_"So that's what she meant by, 'Can you hook me up'?" Lance asked._

_Tommy was suddenly defensive. "What else would it be about?"_

_Quentin took a breath. "$10,000 is missing from your club's bank accounts." He said. "What'd you spend the money on?"_

_"No idea." Tommy replied. "There must be some sort of bookkeeping error—"_

_Laurel walked over in concern as Lance continued the questioning. "Ok, let me put this another way- if you spent that money on Vertigo so that you could 'hook up' your clientele—"_

_"Dad!" Laurel exclaimed in disbelief._

_"- then the best thing for you right now is to cop to it, ok?" Lance finished. "Get out in front of this."_

_"Don't say anything." Laurel said at once._

_Quentin looked at her in resignation. "I am trying to—"_

_"To do your job?" she finished. "Yeah, I know. And this is me doing mine."_

_"Laurel, I know I look like the disapproving father-again." He tried. "But I came down here so another cop wouldn't. You understand?" he looked at the two helplessly, then turned and walked out. Laurel turned to her boyfriend. "Tommy, I—"_

_"I'm not hungry anymore." He said, walking disgustedly out of the room._

“As mad as I was at the time, dad was right,” Dinah mused as Tommy and Laurel looked at her incredulously, “better that it was dad then some other cop who wouldn’t take Tommy’s word for it.”

 

Tommy grumbled, turning back to the screen without a coherent word while Laurel looked thoughtful.

 

_The scene changed to the Glades. Oliver stood waiting for an update from Felicity. As the rain fell around him, he found himself staring at a puddle, lost in thought._

_The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver was seated in front of a crate in the fuselage, watching as Shado filled a bowl up with water._

_"Hold your hand up." She instructed him. "Palm facing me." He did so, and she stood across from him. She nodded at the bowl. "Hit the water." She instructed._

_Oliver looked at her in confusion. "What?"_

_She indicated the bowl. "Hit it."_

_He did so._

_"Again."_

_He did so._

_"Again. Harder!"_

_"If the point of this is to make me feel like an idiot, it's working." Oliver said crossly._

_She sat down. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."_

_"Confucius, great." He rolled his eyes, but hit the water again. "I'm starting to see the family resemblance."_

_"Laozi, actually." She corrected. "Again."_

_He did so, and now the bowl was empty. "Now what?" he asked._

_"Fill the bowl. Start again." He gave her an annoyed look._

“This…is the most unusual training method I’ve ever seen.” Diggle pointed out.

 

“But effective. Just wait.” Dinah smiled mysteriously.

 

_Back in the present, Oliver called Felicity. "What have you got?" he asked._

_"The end of the money trail." She announced. "Sending the dealer's location to you now."_

_He got the coordinates on his phone. After looking it over, he pulled on his helmet and got back on his bike._

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Roy muttered.

 

_The scene changed to the docks. A group of vagrants were gathered around a fire barrel to keep warm when an expensive car pulled up. The dealer got out and walked over to them, pulling out a bag with Vertigo in it._

_"Oh, hey! Hey, dude." One of the vagrants said._

_"Hey yo." He replied with a smirk. "Who's looking to party?"_

_"Oh, yeah." One of the vagrants held up a small wad of cash. The dealer gave him an annoyed look._

_"Come on. That's not enough, man." He said. "You don't pay, you don't play."_

_One of the car's windows rolled down, and a familiar voice called out "It's all right. Good for business."_

_The dealer looked back to the vagrant. "My boss seems to like you, G." he said. He took the money and gave over the baggy. The vagrant took it and ran off._

“This is sad to watch.” Laurel said softly.

 

“People ruin more than their bodies for this kind of stuff. They deplete their bank accounts; sell their jewelry, their houses, everything for a pile of drugs.” Diggle recounted and Thea squirmed, knowing she could have-and still could-end up like those people.

 

_"That's right." The dealer looked around._

_"Hey, hey, come here." One of them said. He held up a very large roll of cash. "How much for this?"_

_"Now that," he took the cash. "That'll buy you a brick, my man." He walked over to the car and the person inside passed over a large bundle of the green and black pills. He tossed it to the man-_

_But it was intercepted in the air by an arrow, which caused the package to break apart and the pills to rain down._

“Things are about to get good.” Roy smirked as they all leaned forward in anticipation.

 

_The group scattered and the main car speed off as The Hood slid down a chute and landed on the ground. He took cover as a guard in a second car got out and opened fire with a sub machine gun, then fired an explosive arrow at the car, blowing it up. The first car came speeding around a corner straight at him, and The Hood lined up a shot, but quickly ducked under cover as the driver held his gun out of the window and opened fire. The car sped off as The Hood looked on in frustration._

“Damn it!” Roy swore in frustration.

 

_The scene changed to the Starling City Aquarium. The first vagrant had already taken some of his Vertigo, and was starring in worried fascination at the fish behind the glass._

_"Don't forget to breathe." He told the fish. "He won't. I won't." he looked around- everyone seemed to be in a tunnel of light._

_A girl looked at him in disgust. "Congratulations. You're officially the creepiest person I've ever met." She said._

_"I don't…I don't feel so good." He said, staggering towards her._

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Tommy said uneasily.

 

_"Get away from me, creep." She said, disturbed. She ran towards a security guard. "Have we got a problem?" he asked. He looked at the vagrant, and then back at the woman in concern "Are you ok?" he asked. The guard turned to ask the woman what the man had said, but suddenly the vagrant snatched his gun from the holster and hit him on the back of the head, hard. The guard fell to the ground, unconscious, and the man started spinning in circles, waving the gun around. The people screamed and dropped to the floor, terrified._

“This is bad, very bad. A man high on Vertigo in a hostage situation can only end badly.” Diggle said as they stared at the screen, alarmed.

 

_Back at the lair, the call came in over the radio just as Oliver returned._

_'All units, all units, code 99. All available units- 417 in progress, Starling Aquarium. All available units—"_

_"This just came over the police frequency." Felicity said. "I hacked the aquarium security system to get a better look." The video showed the man yelling indistinctly before firing off a couple of shots- one of which just happened to take out the camera. "Bystanders said they saw him pop some green and black pills…" she trailed off as she watched Oliver go over to his trunk. He took out a small pestle and mortar and a small leather pouch, then he moved to a work table to mix up his healing herbs. Felicity watched in confusion. "There's a lunatic high on Vertigo who's taking hostages, and you're making- making tea."_

_Oliver put the concoction in a centrifuge to mix, and then turned to Felicity. "They're medicinal herbs from the island. They counter balance the effects of certain drugs and poisons." He explained. "They should counteract the effects of Vertigo." The machine beeped, and he pulled out the tube, and then proceeded to fill an injection arrow._

_Felicity looked at him in surprise. "And you aren't going to—" she mimed slitting her throat._

_"What?"_

_"You know…"_

_"My sister got high on this garbage." He told her. "Could have killed someone. She didn't deserve an arrow in the heart. This guy didn't fail the city." He looked her in the eye. "The city failed him. And so did I."_

“Maybe now she’ll see he’s not a serial killer.”  Laurel muttered.

 

_"What's happening now isn't your fault." Felicity told him. "You didn't make him take drugs."_

_"No, but I did fail to put the Count in a grave so deep that he couldn't come back and hurt anyone again."_

_"You caught him." She said. "They locked him up."_

_"And now the city is on fire!" he yelled angrily. "So clearly, it wasn't the right decision."_

“And that is why Oliver kills,” Dinah said as everyone looked over at her, “While I agree that not all our enemies deserve to die, men like The Count, men like Malcolm, will always keep coming back, causing more destruction and chaos unless they are put down. I learned that the hard way four years ago.”

 

“What do you mean?” Tommy asked as it clicked in place for Laurel.

 

“You told me it four years ago,” Laurel said softly and everyone looked over at her, “Arsenal said you lost a lot of people four years ago...he was one of the, wasn’t he?”

 

“Yes.” Dinah sighed, knowing the cat was about to come out of the bag.

 

“What are you talking about?” Thea demanded and Dinah sighed again before answering.

 

“Ollie isn’t on a mission…he’s dead.” Dinah said and there was stunned silence in the room.

 

“What?” Tommy managed to choke out after several moments.

 

“Four years ago, a group of our enemies teamed up to take us down. And Ollie was killed by an enemy of his that he had previously let live. He did this because an event that takes place at the end of his first year back convinces him that taking the high road is more important than saving lives. It’s a mistake that comes back to haunt him several times before he realizes his error in judgement. By that time…we’d all lost a lot.”

 

There was stunned silence in the room for several minutes as everyone absorbed this.

 

“Everyone okay to continue this?” Diggle ask and, receiving nods, he unpaused the recording.

 

_He stood, and then took a calming breath. "Get in touch with Diggle." He told her in a calmer voice. "With the security feed out, I'm going need a second set of eyes at the aquarium."_

_The scene changed to down at the docks. Diggle was getting out of his car when his phone rang. He looked and saw that it was Felicity, but hit ignore and put his phone back into his pocket._

“Bad move man.” Roy noted as Diggle flinched.

 

“Yeah, you always answer your phone when something like this happens.” Tommy pointed out.

 

_He saw his contact and walked over to her._

_"Glad I caught you stateside." He said._

_"Just barely. I leave in two days for Pyongyang."_

_"Isn't that classified?"_

_Lyla smiled at him. "I figure an old army buy can keep a secret. I was glad to get your call."_

“Man I miss her.” Dinah said wistfully.

 

“You know Lyla?” Diggle asked surprised.

 

“Yep.”

 

“Who is she?” Tommy asked curiously.

 

“Lyla Michaels. We served in the army together. And were briefly married,” Diggle admitted before turning to Dinah, “What do you mean you miss her?”

 

“She died eight years ago during an attack on Starling City.” Dinah said softly and Diggle was stunned into silence.

 

“Who did it?” Diggle demanded, already picking out his gun for when he returned home.

 

“Talia. Just another victim of Talia’s revenge obsessed madness, like Arsenal and you.” Dinah said and Diggle growled.

 

“Let’s keep watching.” Diggle growled as he unpaused the recording.

 

_"Lyla, that's not why I called." He said. The smile fell from her face._

_"There's something else you'd like me to do for you, then." She said._

_"Well, actually, I think there's something I can do for you." Diggle replied. "I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that Deadshot is on ARGUS's most wanted list."_

_Lyla looked at him curiously. "What do you know about him?"_

_"Well, his name, for starters." Dig said. "Floyd Lawton."_

_Lyla was stunned. "We don't even have that." She admitted. "Where'd you get it?"_

_"Same place I got this." He handed her the flash drive that Felicity had given him. "This is everything you need to locate who's giving Deadshot his targets."_

_"What's your interest in this?" she asked._

_"Lawton came up in connection with some things I'm working on." Dig lied. "I thought you were the right person to pass it off to."_

_Lyla smirked at him. "I remember you being a better liar than that, Johnny."_

_"Listen, Lyla, Lawton is a very dangerous man." Dig said seriously. "And your people are the most qualified to take him down. It's that simple."_

_"Nothing in our business is simple." Lyla said, giving Dig one last smile as she walked away._

“You are so in the doghouse when she finds out you lied to her.” Tommy said and Diggle winced.

 

“Yeah.” Diggle admitted.

 

“It would’ve been better if you had told her the truth. I got to know her quite well over the years. If you’d been upfront with her, she might have let you in on the operation.” Dinah pointed out.

 

“Maybe. What was the team’s relationship with Lyla?” Diggle asked curiously.

 

“She was our Argus contact and one of our greatest allies. She became head of Argus and the team and Argus began working together more frequently. After we freed Arsenal from Talia’s mind control, it was Lyla that managed to get the President to pardon him for everything he had done as Prometheus.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. Quentin Lance got out of his car and walked up to the loading dock, where Tommy was overseeing a delivery._

_"Here to ask for my help again, Mr. Lance?" Tommy said dryly as he checked items off of his list._

_"Eric Messner?" Lance said._

_Tommy froze for a moment, and then he took a breath. "Who?"_

_"He's a zoning commissioner for Starling City." Lance said. "A notoriously corrupt one, at that. The missing ten grand- you paid it to him to skip the inspection of your nightclub." He looked at the younger man. "Why'd you do that, Merlyn?" he asked. "What didn't you want him to find?"_

“Oh, I get it now.” Diggle said.

 

“So do I.” Tommy sighed.

 

“What?” Thea said, not seeing it.

 

“Tommy bribed Messner to skip the inspection so he wouldn’t find the lair.” Laurel explained.

 

“Oh….I don’t think this will end well.” Thea said uneasily.

 

“For more than one reason.” Dinah muttered.

 

_"We got nothing to hide here." He replied._

_"Great. Then let's just take a little look around." Lance said, walking towards the entrance._

_"Absolutely." Tommy agreed, finally looking at the cop. "When you come back with a search warrant."_

_Lance froze in his tracks, then turned and walked back to Tommy. "Are you sure this is how you want to play this?" he asked._

_"Apparently." Tommy replied._

_Lance stared at him hard. "Doesn't my daughter know how to pick 'em." He scoffed. Lance walked off, and Tommy closed his eyes and took a calming breath._

“Well, this can only end badly.” Roy drawled.

 

_The scene changed to the Aquarium. The vagrant was still waving the gun around at the terrified crowd. "Stop laughing at me!" he shouted. Suddenly the lights went out, and the man fired off a couple of shots. "Shut up!" he screamed as the people cried out. "Shut up!" he said again, more to himself. He reached into his pocket and pulled out three Vertigo pills, which he promptly swallowed._

_A moment later, the gun was knocked from his hand by an arrow. He looked up in panic as The Hood stood on the balcony, staring back at him. Terrified, he took off, running for a service door. He ran through the door, which led to the boiler room. He spun around, trying to figure out where to go._

_"Stop!" the Hood yelled. He fired off an arrow into a water pipe, causing it to burst. A gush of water hit the man in the face and sent him to the ground. The Hood jumped down and ran over to the man. "I don't want to hurt you." He said calmly. "I'm here to help you." He turned the man over and withdrew his cure arrow, but even as he lifted it to inject the man, the vagrant let out one final shuddering breath, then breathed no more. He looked at the man sadly, then got up and ran off._

“That poor boy.” Laurel said sadly.

 

“I should have been there.” Diggle chided himself.

 

“Yeah, you should’ve. I’m not saying it would have helped save the kid, but you should have been there.” Dinah told him gently and Diggle nodded in agreement.

 

_The scene changed to the island. Oliver was still seated behind his bowl as Shado did a handstand in front of him. She held herself perfectly still, and her legs were folded in the lotus position._

“Wow”. Tommy said as those from the past stared at the screen, impressed.

_Oliver stared at her for several minutes before he spoke._

_"My mom does yoga." He said._

_She smirked slightly. "Hey, remember when Slade and I rescued you?" he started._

_She looked at him sharply with a raised (lowered?) eyebrow. "You rescued me?" she said._

_Oliver sighed. "Fine. When we all rescued each other. You said you knew why Fyers wanted Yao Fei, and how he was forcing him to help." He reminded her. "Feel like sharing? We're almost out of slapping water." He added dryly._

_Shado slowly straightened her legs, and then bent backwards, allowing her feet to lie flat on the floor. She stood gracefully and took a cleansing breath before turning back to Oliver._

_"My father was a Shangjiang in the People's Liberation Army." She started. She walked over and picked up a canteen for a drink of water. "A general. I didn't hear the details of Fyers plans, but he wants my father to be the face of it. A scapegoat. To take the blame and conceal their own involvement." She took a sip of water._

“Whatever Fryers is planning, it must be big.” Tommy said uneasily.

 

“You have no idea.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"Why was Yao Fei on the island in the first place?" Oliver asked softly. "Fyers says he murdered people."_

_She spun to face him. "No, he didn't." she said sternly. "The Chinese military committed the massacre." She explained further. "Someone had to take the blame. They chose him. Sent him to this island for life." She sighed. "I spent years looking for him." She continued. She walked over and picked up the pail of water, then refilled the bowl. "A few months ago, a man came to my apartment. Said he had information about my father's whereabouts. I had given up hope." She sighed again. "Let my guard down. Didn't see the Taser until…" she trialed off. "When I woke up, I was here." Shado knelt before him. "I'm worried." She admitted. "This island… what he must have had to do to survive. That it changed him."_

“Yeah, that island sure has a way of changing people.” Dinah muttered so that only Roy could hear.

 

_Oliver gave her a reassuring smile. "He saved my life. He's still a good man, Shado." He told her._

_Shadow smiled in return, and then indicated the bowl. "Again."_

_He hit the water._

_The scene changed to Verdant. Tommy was finishing up paperwork when he heard a familiar voice._

_"So there I am sitting at our favorite Sushi restaurant, a bottle of Saki, and the only thing that's missing is my boyfriend."_

_Tommy closed his eyes in frustration, and then turned to face Laurel. "My God, I'm so sorry, baby." He let out a frustrated sigh. "I just have a lot going on here."_

_Laurel laid a hand on his arm. "Tommy, whatever's going on with you, I want you to know I believe you. I'm here for you." The two kissed. They broke apart just as Oliver bounded down the stairs form the office and tried to sneak past them._

_"Sorry." He told them._

_Laurel looked at him in concern. "Ollie. What's wrong?" she asked._

_"Bad night."_

_That was when Lance, with several more cops behind him, walked in. "It's about to get worse." He walked up to Tommy and handed him a piece of paper. "Mr. Merlyn, as requested, a warrant to search these premises."_

“Oh man, this isn’t gonna be good.” Tommy groaned and Dinah winced, knowing what was about to happen between Tommy and Oliver.

 

_Laurel snatched the warrant from Tommy and stared accusingly at her father. "I can't believe you're doing this." She said, and then started reading the warrant._

_"Believe it." He said coldly._

_"Detective, I'm not an attorney, but on what grounds are you searching my club?" Oliver asked._

_"Your general manager bribed a government official to keep him from inspecting the entirety of your building." Lance said._

_"What?" Oliver asked, shocked._

_"Because he's selling Vertigo out of the club." Lance continued._

_"Ollie, it's valid." Laurel said._

_"Thank you." Quentin said. He started walking towards the back of the club. "A sub level is not listed on the inspection's floor plans. However, I pulled the county records. There's something down there. I want to see for myself what it is." He stopped as he saw the door to the basement- and The Hood's lair._

_"Oh, look at that." He turned to Oliver. "Open the door."_

_"You're making a mistake." Oliver said._

_"No." Lance replied. "You are. If you don't open that door." Oliver stood frozen, not knowing what to do. "I said, open the door." Finally, Oliver put in his code and the door opened._

_"Thank you." Lance said, walking through the door and down the steps. Tommy followed right behind. The line of men walked down the stairs into the darkened basement. When he reached the ground, Tommy calmly walked over to the power box and flipped the lever, illuminating-_

_Furniture. Crates. Pallets of wine. Everything you would expect to find in the storage area of a club- and not an arrow in sight._

_"The place is kind of a mess." Tommy said casually. "I've been using it to store the bulk of our inventory."_

“Nice going Tommy,” Laurel smiled at him before frowning at the look on her friend’s face, “Tommy?”

 

“He thought I was selling drugs.” Tommy said in a hard voice.

 

“Can you blame him?” Dinah asked carefully.

 

“I am not the same person I was five years ago!” Tommy shouted angrily.

 

“And yet you expected Ollie to be the same person he was five years ago,” Dinah pointed out and Tommy deflated at the truth in her statement, “you treated him like he was the same person he was five years ago, and there were multiple chances that he could have called you out on it. But Ollie chose to be the bigger man and let it go. For you to get mad at him over this when you did the same thing to him is more than a little hypocritical.”

 

“Yeah…I see your point,” Tommy said as he calmed down, “but somehow, I don’t think I saw it that way in the recordings.”

 

_"What's in the boxes?" Lance asked._

_"Why don't you have a look?" Tommy offered. Lance opened a box and pulled out- a bottle of wine._

_"Well, if prohibition were still in effect, you might actually have a basis of a criminal complaint." Laurel noted dryly._

_"Would you like to open the rest of the crates?" Tommy asked._

_Lance opened another, and brought out another bottle of wine. His brow furrowed in confusion, he turned and looked at Tommy, who stood there casually, one hand in his pocket. "So if you don't have anything to hide… why didn't you want the inspector down here?" he asked._

_"Well, the ventilation system in this place hasn't been updated since the sixties." Tommy stated. "Maybe we shouldn't even be open."_

_Lance looked around, and then gave him a look. "Yeah."_

_A short time later, after Quentin and the cops had all left, Tommy led Laurel out of the basement._

_"I'm sorry." She said. "I thought he was ok with us being together."_

_"He wasn't wrong. I bribed a guy." Tommy said in thinly veiled disgust._

_"That's not why he brought out his jackboots." Laurel said._

_Tommy sighed. "It's all gonna be fine." He told her, giving her a kiss. "I'll see you at home."_

_"Good night." She called out to Oliver._

_"Good night." He called back. Laurel left, and then Tommy stormed over to the bar. "Is there something you want to say to me?" he asked, anger in his voice._

“This won’t be pretty.” Tommy said, already feeling guilty over what was about to happen.

 

_"Thank you.” Oliver said sincerely._

_"No, I meant the thing that you were thinking when Lance accused me of dealing out of the club." He glared at Oliver._

_Oliver sighed. "I don't understand why you wouldn't just tell me about the bribe." He said honestly._

_"I run the club, Oliver. I don't tell you a lot of things." He said angrily. Her walked around Oliver and picked up his clipboard. "So let me ask you a question, pal." He slammed the board down on the bar. "What have I done in the last 6 months that would lead you to believe that I would sell drugs?" he demanded._

_"In the last 6 months? Nothing." He replied._

_"Yeah." Tommy spat out._

_Oliver shot to his feet and turned to face him. "Before I left, you played hard." He accused. "You played with bad people who were into bad stuff."_

_"And so did you, Oliver." Tommy yelled. "But I changed just like you did. Now you put arrows in people who do illegal things." He held out his arms. "Last time I checked, bribing a city inspector was not legal."_

“Did I really think he would’ve put an arrow in me?” Tommy shifted, trying to ignore the disappointed and angry looks Thea and Laurel were shooting him.

 

“Not really, no. Like I said before, you were having trouble reconciling the Oliver before the island and the Oliver after.” Dinah explained.

 

_"Do you actually think that I could hurt you?" Oliver asked, incredulous._

_"Truthfully, I have no idea what the hell you would do." He spat. "You are a complete mystery to me. I've got no idea how you find it so easy to kill people. The next time you decide to think the worst of me, imagine what I now think of you." He jammed his finger into Oliver's chest, and then stormed off._

“You’re an ass.” Roy told Tommy.

 

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Tommy sighed guiltily.

 

_Oliver stood there, thunderstruck. He had no idea that Tommy had felt that way, and what's worse, he had no idea of how to fix it._

_Dig walked in just as Tommy stormed out. "What's his problem?" he asked._

_Oliver glared at the man. "What's yours?" he spat, walking past him towards the basement._

_Dig turned, looking at Oliver in annoyance and confusion. "Excuse me?"_

_"I asked Felicity to get in touch with you. There was a hostage situation at the aquarium."_

_Dig sighed. "I'm sorry; I didn't get that message till it was over." He said._

“Which was my fault.” Diggle admitted.

 

_"Why?"_

_"Because I was busy doing something else." He said. At Oliver's look, he expounded. "Lawton." Oliver shook his head and turned back towards the basement. "Oliver, you didn't end up needing me."_

_"You couldn't have known that." He said._

_"In other words, find your brother's killer on your own time, right?" Dig said harshly._

_"Vertigo's tearing this city apart, Diggle!" he yelled angrily. "So, yeah, maybe now's not the best time to indulge a personal vendetta."_

“He’s got a point.” Diggle sighed.

 

_"You're actually gonna stand there and tell me that you going after the Count is not personal?" Dig shot back. He ignored the warning in Oliver's face and pressed on. "Oliver, listen, I cannot read a book to my nephew without knowing that Lawton took his father from him. I can't move on with Carly, I can't move on with my life knowing that he's still out there. I thought if anybody got that it'd be you." He finished. The two looked at each other for several moments before Dig turned and walked off, and Oliver headed down to the basement._

_A short time later Felicity walked in. She paused as she looked around in shock. "What happened here?" she asked._

_"The Ethernet cable still works." Oliver noted, handing the cable over to Felicity as she pulled up a chair. "Would you plug in your tablet, please?"_

_"Did you decide to remodel?" she asked._

_"Long story." He replied._

_"Where's Dig?"_

_"Long story. The hostage-taking junkie." He pressed on. "He is the only lead to the Count we've got left."_

_"What type of information are you looking for?" she asked._

_"Anything that will give us a line on the Count's location. Has the M.E. performed the autopsy report yet?" he asked._

_"Yeah, just pulling it up now." She said._

_"Check the toxicology to see if there's something related to the Vertigo he was on." Oliver noted, still moving stuff around to find his gear._

_"He didn't die of a Vertigo overdose." Felicity announced._

_"I saw it, Felicity." Oliver argued._

_"According to the coroner, cause of death was severe anaphylaxis." She said. "He died of an allergic reaction to chlorpromazine."_

“Chlorpromazine? How did he get that in his system?” Laurel asked bewildered.

 

“What is chlorpromazine?” Thea asked confused.

 

“It’s an Anti-psychotic; doctors used it to treat metal problems like schizophrenia.” Laurel explained.

 

“But how did it get in the Vertigo?” Tommy asked confused.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah told them.

 

_"That's an anti-psychotic." He noted. "Pull up the Veronica Sparks autopsy. Did she have chlorpromazine in her system?"_

_She did so. After a moment, she looked up. "Yes." She said. "How did you know?"_

_"The Count must have added it as a new ingredient in this latest iteration of Vertigo." Oliver deduced._

_"But wouldn't the amount he'd need to manufacture enough for circulation be huge?" Felicity noted. "Where would he get that much?"_

_"A mental institution." He said at once. He paused, a thought occurring to him. "What if we're looking at this all wrong?" he said._

_"How so?"_

_"Everybody is looking for him outside the asylum, but what if he never left? What if he faked his escape the same way that he faked being insane?" he surmised._

“Oh my god.” Laurel gasped as it clicked.

 

“The Count is till at the institution.” Diggle realized.

 

_. Angered even further, he went for his gear._

_A short time later, The Hood broke through a grate and dropped into the service tunnel for the asylum. He cracked open a few glow sticks and threw them forward to light his path, then started moving. He made his way into a deserted wing of the asylum, shut down due to budget cuts. He moved into a surgical wing when he heard a familiar voice. He moved rapidly into the room, drawing an arrow as he did so._

_"I should have killed you when I had the chance." The Hood growled at the figure seated in a chair in the corner. The Count was facing way from him. "Turn around." The Hood ordered. He placed the arrowhead against his neck, drawing a thin line of blood. "I said turn around." When the Count said nothing, The Hood cautiously made his way around to face the Count. He sat, strapped to the chair, a vacant expression on his face and his eyes seemingly devoid of intelligence. He had leads attached to his skull to monitor is brainwaves, and he had some kind of medication on a drip keeping him sedated._

“What the hell?” Roy asked as they all stared, stunned.

 

_Suddenly, the big orderly that had been watching over The Count came up behind The Hood and hit him hard in the head with a metal pipe. The Hood collapsed to the ground, knocked out cold. Another figure kneeled beside him and pulled back his hood._

_"Oliver Queen." Dr. Webb said. "All those years on that island. Guess you really did go crazy."_

“It was the doctor the whole time…that son of a bitch.” Tommy snarled.

 

“So did not see that coming. Roy said surprised.

 

_When Oliver awoke, he was strapped to a chair similar to The Counts. There were thick leather straps around his wrists, ankles, thighs and chest. He tested them, and found he could get them to loosen at all. He stilled when he saw Dr. Webb walking in. "So the Count didn't fake losing his mind, did he?" he realized. "This was you the whole time. How'd you get him to give you the formula for Vertigo?" he asked. "Huh? Chemistry doesn't seem like his best subject right now."_

_Webb was calmly splitting open Vertigo pills and pouring the contents into a beaker filled with a green fluid. "He couldn't tell me if he wanted to." Webb said. "I ordered a biopsy on his kidneys. The tissue was suffused with the narcotic after his O.D. When I got the results, I realized I could reverse engineer the chemical compound of the drug, produce a synthesized version myself using the facilities here." he stirred in the powder until it dissolved._

_"And made a few improvements, like adding chlorpromazine." Oliver noted. His hand was working at the restraint on his left hand._

_"That's how you found us." Webb said. He picked up the beaker and walked over to Oliver._

_"Cops came around, started asking questions, you faked the Count's disappearance to draw attention away from yourself." Oliver continued. "It's clever."_

_"I wasn't trying to be a criminal mastermind. I just needed the money." Webb said simply. "Something I'm sure a billionaire wouldn't understand."_

“You became a drug dealer for the cash? Tearing our city apart for a few quick bucks? That’s your excuse!?” Diggle snarled angrily.

 

“He’s no better than The Count.” Laurel sneered.

 

_"Believe me, I understand you perfectly." Oliver said coldly._

_"Open his mouth." Webb ordered. The orderly came from above and pried Oliver's mouth open. He started thrashing about, and in the process dropped a small remote that was in his glove next to him. He frantically searched for, and found the remote and gripped it tightly as Webb poured the Vertigo drink into his mouth. Oliver stilled as the Vertigo started to take effect._

_"From what I've read in the tabloids, no one will be surprised to hear Oliver Queen died of a drug overdose." Webb said sarcastically._

Tommy gripped his pants legs tightly as Thea buried her face in Laurel’s shoulder as Laurel struggled not to cry. It was easily for them to forget that Oliver had lived through this. Even easier now they all knew he was dead in this time.

 

_Then Oliver pushed a button on the remote. On a table across from him, the head of his explosive arrow beeped, drawing the other two men's attention. The orderly cautiously approached the quiver- and then it exploded. The blast sent the orderly to the ground and tipped over Oliver's chair. He landed hard on his side, but the restraints had been loosened. As he worked his other hand free, Webb panicked and bolted out of the room._

“Yeah, I’d run to. Ollie’s about to kick your ass.” Thea sneered.

 

_Oliver finished freeing himself, and was struggling over to another table that held his thigh quiver- and his cure arrow within it. He just managed to get to the table when the orderly rose up behind him, wielding a, I.V. Stand. Before he could hit the beleaguered vigilante, Dig came in and kicked him away._

“Nice of you to show up.” Roy quipped and Diggle rolled his eyes, though he was smiling.

 

_. Oliver grabbed the injection arrow and fell to the ground. As Dig fought the orderly, he injected himself directly in the chest. He screamed in pain, but moments later he turned and vomited up the green liquid, and the herbs began countering the drug. He staggers to his feet, then grabbed his bow and quiver and took off after Webb._

_The orderly had managed to grab Dig's gun, but he quickly swatted it out of his hands they traded blows, and then the orderly got behind Dig and put him in a choke. Diggle managed to tip them over and he landed on top of the orderly, who landed on his back. Dig rolled off, and then gave him a sharp elbow to the chest followed by a chop to the throat. They rolled away from each other, and Diggle spied a defibrillator. He chard the machine, then grabbed the paddles. He spun towards the orderly just as the other man grabbed the gun, and placed the paddles on either side of his head. He hit the button, sending a massive electrical shock through the orderly's head, killing him instantly._

_Dig fell back for a moment to catch his breath. "Clear." He said dryly, before pulling himself to his feet and going after Oliver._

Tommy and Roy snickered as the recording continued.

 

_Webb was running down the service corridor trying to escape, but Oliver was right behind him._

_"Freeze!" Oliver yelled._

_Webb turned around and smirked at the vigilante. "You don't look so good." He said, pulling a scalpel from his white coat. He stalked towards Oliver, who was still seeing triple. "I doubt you could aim a single arrow."_

_Oliver lifted his bow and drew back the string, and Webb stopped cold when he saw three arrows stacked and aimed right at him._

_Oliver let the arrows fly. Two passed on either side of the doctor, but the third landed directly in his heart. Webb toppled backwards, dead before he hit the ground._

“Good thing he can fire more than one arrow.” Tommy said smugly.

 

_He turned away, pulling up his hood and walking away._

_He made his way back up to the Count's room. He sat in his chair, still bound, still babbling._

_"Looks like I'm the last one standing." He said. "Sitting. Spinning. Something to do." He stirred a bit. "What was I going to do? Memory not what it once was. Nothing what it once was." Oliver drew an arrow and drew back the string, aiming the arrow at the Count's head. The deranged drug dealer leaned towards the arrow. "Is there a name on the gravestone?" he asked. "No. It's new. And clean. And waiting."_

_Olive stared at the man. He was wracked with indecision- how could he kill such a pathetic creature? How could he not? Finally though, he relaxed the bow, removing the arrow. "We're finished here." He told Dig, who had been watching. The two left, leaving the Count to his demons._

“He was dead already, there was no need to kill him,” Diggle said and Dinah scoffed, “What?”

 

“Second year.  You’ll be eating those words.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. Oliver walked in just as Tommy was walking out of the office._

_"Hey. How we doing?" Oliver asked, trying to keep things light._

_"In the black." Tommy growled, handing Oliver the tablet. He turned and walked back to the bar. "Did the Hood get his man?"_

_"Well, we won't be having any problems with Vertigo anymore." He said. Oliver sighed. "Look, Tommy, I'm sorry—"_

_"I've caught up the bookkeeping and all my notes on the inventory are in there, along with a list of suppliers that we use." Tommy interrupted._

_"Ok." Oliver said in confusion. "I don't see why you're telling me that."_

_"This club is important to me." Tommy admitted, turning to face Oliver. "But for you it's just a front. You want me to keep your secret, help you be this thing you've become, but you refuse to see me for what I've become." He looked at Oliver in disgust. "I've got just a bit too much self-respect for that." Tommy stormed towards the exit. "I quit." He called out, leaving a saddened Oliver alone._

“I know, I’m an ass.” Tommy sighed.

 

“The first step to getting help is admitting you have a problem.” Roy said cheekily and Thea giggled.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver was still slapping water well into the night when Slade walked in, a pair of rabbits on a string in his hand._

_"Dinner." He announced. He looked at Oliver in amusement. "You're still doing that? Fyers better be careful with his bowls of water."_

_Oliver sighed in annoyance. "When are we going to do actual training?" he asked._

_"There once was a young boy whose father dropped him off at a shaolin monastery to study Kung Fu." Shado began._

_Oliver sighed and dropped his head into his hands. "Good, a story."_

_"After a year, the boy came to visit his family." She continued, sharpening her knife as she talked. "When they asked what he'd learned, the boy hung his head in shame. All the monks had him do was slap water in a barrel for a year."_

_"Well, we don't have a year." Slade said. "So I hope your training regimen is a bit faster."_

_Undeterred, Shado continued. "The family didn't believe him, so he showed them. He raised his hand and hit the table they were eating on. "It broke in half."_

_"I'm gonna be able to break a table?" Oliver asked sarcastically._

_"Better." She said. She rose and grabbed her bow, then walked back to Oliver and handed it to him._

_Oliver sighed. "Ok." He said, rising to take the bow._

_"Draw the bow." She said. She corrected his posture, and then stepped back. Oliver sighed- then drew the bow properly with seemingly no effort._

“Holy crap.” Thea said as those who knew Oliver stared, stunned.

 

_Slade chuckled. "I'll be damned." He said._

_Oliver relaxed the string, and then looked back as Shado. "What's next?" he asked earnestly._

_"We teach you to shoot." She said._

_The scene changed to a cop bar near the precinct. Quentin was sitting at the bar nursing a drink when Laurel walked in._

_"Drinking alone?" she asked._

_"Oh." He said in surprise. "Well, no, not anymore."_

_Laurel sat next to him, then took his drink and took a sip. She looked at him in surprise. "Just soda? Bartender forget the scotch?" she asked._

_"I didn't really feel the need for it." Lance said honestly. "So, um, the girl who died, it turns out that she got her Vertigo from a co-worker. Guess I owe your boyfriend an apology." He said._

_"He has a name, you know." Laurel said._

_"Yeah, I just can't seem to bring myself to use it." Lance said, taking a sip of his soda. "Baby steps."_

_He looked over at her, concerned. "Did I screw things up between us again?" he asked._

_"No." she replied with a smile._

_"Look, I really wasn't looking to jam up Merlyn, ok?" Lance said in a rush. "I knew by pursuing him that I could throw a wrench in—"_

_"Then why did you do it?" Laurel asked._

_"There was evidence, Laurel, and I had to follow it." He replied passionately. "I had to. Look, your mom was right, you were right. Like you said about me and the Vigilante, I can't let things go." He finished off his soda. "I close cases, it's what I do. Everyone else be damned."_

“Not necessarily a bad thing. But he needs to learn where to draw the line between pursuing leads and obsessing over a case.” Diggle noted.

 

_"Well, maybe the fact that there's no scotch in there means you're ready to work on that." Laurel said with a smile. "People can change." She told him. They sat in silence at the bar, their issues forgotten._

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver was trying to get things set up as they had been when Diggle walked in. "Hey." He said._

_"Hey." Diggle replied._

_"You had my back."_

_"You needed me." Dig said. "Felicity told me where you were headed."_

_"You ok?" he asked, thinking about the orderly. "I'm the killer, remember?"_

_"I've killed before, Oliver." He said. "It's just been a while." He looked at Oliver. "If you're the killer, why isn't the Count down, too?" he asked. "I'm sure it must have been tempting to take him off the board for good."_

_"People change." Oliver said._

_"People like the Count?"_

_"No." he turned to face Dig. "I meant me. Not so long ago I would have put that guy down for good, but looking at him today all vacant… there didn't seem to be a point. But not everybody deserves mercy." Oliver turned and pulled an image up on the computer- and image of Floyd Lawton. "For example."_

_Dig moved closer to look. "I thought he wasn't a priority to you." He noted._

_"He's a priority to you." Oliver said. "You two have unfinished business."_

Diggle smiled, happy that Oliver would help him with Deadshot.

 

_"Where do we start?" Dig asked, staring at the screen._

_The scene changed to Malcolm's office._

_"I'd prefer we skip the I-told-you-so's," Tommy was saying, "but the nightclub wasn't really working out. I guess I need something more boring, stable. Nine to five, go home kiss Laurel, that sort of thing." Malcolm turned in his chair to face his son, and Tommy sighed. "I guess what I'm saying is... I want a job."_

_Malcolm stood, a small smile playing on his lips. He grasped Tommy in a hard hug, true happiness on his face for the first time in years. Tommy smiled as well, finally feeling close to his dad._

“Great, now I’m going to work for my psychotic murderer of a father.” Tommy groaned miserably.

 

_“And on that note, I think it’s time we took another break.” Dinah ordered._


	26. Break three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone deals with the information they have learned as Roy receives a message from Arsenal.

“So…I guess we have some stuff to talk about.” Tommy said sullenly as he, Diggle, Laurel, and Thea sat around a table with untouched food in front of them.

“Like the fact that my brother is dead.” Thea said in a broken voice and Laurel wrapped an arm around her.

“Not yet,” Diggle pointed out as they all looked over at him, “that’s why we were brought here. Oliver and Lyla’s fates are not set in stone, no one’s fate is. We were brought here to change the future.” 

“He’s right Thea. Nothing that’s happened to them has happened to us yet. We can go back, we can save him…we can save everyone who dies.” Laurel told Thea who nodded slowly.

“So, you were married to this Lyla lady?” Tommy asked as he looked over at Diggle, who nodded. “If you don’t mind me asking, what the hell happened? I mean, she seems great.”

“It’s fine Tommy. We didn’t stay married long. I guess we couldn’t stay married without something to fight against. We were in couples counseling when I heard about my brother and I just…I was drowning in my grief. Lyla tried, she really did, but she couldn’t handle it anymore after a while. When Andy died, it felt like a part of me died to.” Diggle said solemnly.

“I get that.” Tommy said softly.

After Oliver had ‘died’, he had drowned his grief in a sea of partying, alcohol, and women. Malcolm had kept most of it out of the tabloids while trying to convince Tommy to go see a grief counselor. Tommy had refused until one night, after a night of wild partying, he had woken up in an apartment in bed with three women he didn’t recognize with no idea how he had gotten there. After that, he had finally agreed to the counseling, seeing his counseling every two weeks for the last four years. 

“How are they doing?” Kal asked as Dinah walked into the conference room.

“As well as can be expected, giving everything they’ve learned the last few days,” Dinah said as she took her seat, “and the investigation into Lucy?”

“Apparently, Talia broke into her sister’s home and kidnapped the sister. She then contacted Lucy and told her that if she didn’t do exactly as she said, her sister would die. Lucy has been feeding her information about our operation for over a week.”

“And the sister?” Dinah asked.

“I had Dick and Tim look into it; they found the sister’s body in one of Talia’s safe houses.” Batman said and Dinah sighed.

“Any leads on Talia’s whereabouts?” She asked tiredly.

“Must you even ask? We’ve been looking for my sister for over a decade and she has evaded us.” Nyssa pointed out.

“Was worth a shot.” Dinah sighed.

Roy was sitting at his own table, holding a blue ball the size of a baseball. Roy was staring at it inquisitively when Thea walked over to him.

“Hey, what’s so interesting about that ball?” Thea joked.

“Dinah gave it to me before she went…wherever it is she went. She says it’s a recording device…and that Arsenal left it for me.” Roy said and Thea sat down next to him.

“And you’ve been staring at it for the last half hour…why?” Thea asked.

“Dinah told me how to work it…but I just…I don’t know. Maybe I’m scared or something, I just can’t bring myself to play it.” Roy told her as he toyed with it.

“I could…watch it with you. If you want.” Thea said.

Roy hesitated, unsure. Then he looked over at Thea and saw the kind look in her eyes and made a decision. Roy put his thumb in the center of the device and there a faint light as it scanned his thumb print. As he removed it, a holographic screen, about the size of a food tray, appeared in front of them, Arsenal’s face clearly visible.

“Hello Roy. If you’re seeing this, then you’ve reached the point in the recordings were Oliver saved us from Joseph Faulk. I’d hoped to be there to talk to you when this happened but well, you know what happened,” Arsenal sighed before continuing, “I know you must be feeling very confused right now Roy. I know, at your age, none of this would’ve seemed even remotely possible to me. But you are much more than what you think you are. Inside you, there is a hero, just waiting to come out. You just needed someone to show you the way; you needed someone to save you.

“Thea Queen saved us. She had faith when no one else will. I know, she seems like a pain right now,” Roy snickered at this while Thea glared, “but there is much more to her than that. She’s a hell of a woman; she just hasn’t reached her full potential. When she does, if you’re anything like me, then you’ll fall hopeless in love. Once you fall for Thea Queen…there’s no going back.” 

“Oliver Queen saved us. He saved us in every way that a person can be saved. He is the one person who never gave up on us, even when everyone around him was begging him to. He saved us Roy…and now I need you to return the favor, by helping save him from his fate. Make sure this future never happens Roy. I’m counting on you.” Arsenal said before the screen vanished.

“Wow, that’s big.” Thea said and Roy could only nod silently.

“Hey,” the pair looked up as Dinah stood at the others table, Tommy, Laurel, and Diggle getting up to go back to the viewing room, “we’re heading back, you coming?”

“Hey,” Thea stopped Roy as he moved to follow them, “are you okay?”

“Yeah…I am,” For the first time, Roy flashed her a genuine smile, “Let’s go. We have a future to change.”


	27. Home Invasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy and Diggle learn of their hypocrisy towards Oliver as Laurel protects a young boy from a hitman and Roy begins his journey to find Oliver.

The viewing party entered the viewing room and retook their seats, Diggle picking up the remote and pressing play.

 

_The memory set opened in the Lair. Diggle was sparring with Oliver, only this time Dig was throwing the punches while Oliver caught them with the thick pads on his arms. "You feel better?" Oliver asked him._

_"I'll feel better once we end Deadshot." Dig snarled, and then resumed punching._

“Amen.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_The scene changed to Germany. Across the street from the US Embassy, Deadshot had taken position on the roof. He held his rifle steady as he searched for his target in the large party of people. Finally he found him- the new US Ambassador._

 

“Oh shit.” Tommy said as everyone realized what was about to happen.

 

_"Welcome to Germany, Mr. Ambassador." One of the embassy staff said, shaking the ambassador's hand._

_"Good to see you." He replied. He continued to shake hands, greeting each of the staff in turn. "Henrik, you're looking great."_

_Back in the Lair, Diggle continued to throw bombs. "We have to end this guy before he makes any more widows out of wives." He grunted._

_Back in Germany, Lawton lined up his shot and fired. The bullet passed through the window, through a bottle of champagne, brushed a ladies hair, and passed just over one man's shoulder before impacting the ambassador in the chest. He fell to the ground, dead._

“Too late.” Diggle growled as he clenched his fists at his side.

 

_Back in the Lair, Diggle had finally punched himself out. Oliver backed off and held up a calming hand. "We will." Oliver promised him. "Diggle, we'll stop him. I promised you I'd help take him down, and I keep my promises, but he's on another continent."_

_"Not anymore." The two men turned to Felicity, who was working diligently on her computers. "I thought it would be helpful to track A.R.G.U.S' manhunt for Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot, so I decrypted their communication logs. Which means, I just hacked a federal agency." She paused. "Which kind of makes me a cyber-terrorist, which is bad because I really don't see myself fitting in well at Guantanamo Bay."_

“You knew the risks when you did it, so stop complaining.” Thea rolled her eyes.

 

_"Don't worry, Felicity, they don't send blondes there." Oliver quipped, looking at the screen._

_"I dye it, actually." She said absently, the looked up at Oliver and pointed an accusing finger. "I keep your secret." She reminded him. He gave her a small smile._

“Yes because those secrets are on the same level. They absolutely compare!” Roy drawled.

 

_"Hey, what'd you find?" Dig interrupted._

_"Deadshot is scheduled to meet with a potential new client here in Starling City." She told him. "Except the potential contract is bogus. Your friend Lyla is setting a trap for him. Lawton took the bait."_

Diggle sat forward eagerly. A chance to avenge his brother’s death was finally closing in.

 

_"Great, I'll talk to Lyla, see if I can suss out any details." Dig said with a satisfied smile._

_"Good." Oliver straightened. "I've got to have lunch with Laurel."_

_Dig and Felicity looked at him askance. "So when did you become, uh, lunch dates with Laurel?" Dig asked._

_"Look, we're just… we're friends." Oliver stated simply._

_"Friends are good." She noted._

_"But?"_

_"Couldn't you be friends with someone less complicated than your ex-girlfriend, who's your ex-best friend's current girlfriend?" she asked._

“When you say it like that, we sound like we’re on a soap opera.” Tommy mused and Dinah barked out a laugh.

 

“Be glad you’re only seeing the first two years. During year three and four, Felicity has trouble handling the fact that Oliver isn’t the knight in shining armor that she built up in her head and makes everything overly dramatic.” Dinah said disgruntled.

 

_"I wear a hood and I put arrows into criminals," he noted, turning and heading towards the showers, "so when it comes to complexity I grade on a curve."_

“He’s got a point.” Roy pointed out.

 

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Oliver was walking towards the fuselage, staring at the picture of Laurel. He slipped it into his pocket as he entered the plane._

_"Rescuing your father and stopping Fyers is not going to be some walk in the park." Slade was telling Shado. "They're not going to allow us to just stroll on into their camp."_

_"Which is why we'll need cover." She noted._

_Slade gave her a look. "If both of us are infiltrating, who'll provide that?" he asked._

_Shado nodded towards Oliver. "He will." She decided. Slade laughed and Oliver was just stunned._

_"Me?" he said._

_"The assault rifle is flushed. It's useless." Slade said._

_"We have a bow, arrows." She replied._

_"And no one capable of shooting them." He looked over to Oliver. "No offense, kid."_

_"I was going to say the same thing." Oliver said._

“Yeah, even he knew how bad he was back then.” Dinah noted dryly as Thea, Roy, and Tommy snickered.

 

_I think we should be spending our time trying to devise a plan, not lower our already slim chances of survival."_

_"He'll hit his mark by sundown." She told the mercenary. "If not, we'll do it your way." She grabbed the bow and some arrows and walked over to Oliver. Wordlessly she held out her hand. After a moment's hesitation, he took it._

_The scene changed to A.R.G.U.S.'s headquarters. Diggle caught Lyla as she was walking down the hall. "Lyla!" he called out, running to catch up to her._

_"What is it, Johnny?" she asked crossly._

“Something tells me I’m in the doghouse.” Diggle noted.

 

“You’d be right.” Dinah told him, smiling slightly.

 

_"Just came by to see how things were going on your Deadshot investigation." Dig said. "Anything new come up?"_

_"Funnily enough, it did." She glanced at him as they walked. "I was curious why you, a bodyguard, were so keen on taking down such a high profile assassin, so I did some reading up on Lawton." She stated._

_He had the decency to look embarrassed. "Lyla, listen—"_

_"Did you really think I wouldn't find out that he killed your brother?" she asked hotly. "That you were using me-me! To what? Draw him into the open so you could take him down yourself?" she looked him dead in the eyes. "I will not let you use my agency to settle your blood feud."_

“You really should have told her,” Dinah said and Diggle looked over at her, “she probably would’ve understood and let you in on the operation if you had been honest with her from the start.”

 

“Yeah, maybe.” Diggle sighed.

 

_She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm. "Lyla I need to see this guy in a bag." He told her. "You of all people should get that."_

_"Get this-stay away from Lawton, Johnny, or so help me, I will have you arrested." She told him seriously. "You doubt me?"_

_He shook his head. "Never have." He said, and then watched as she walked off._

“Damn.” Diggle winced.

 

_The scene changed to CNRI. Laurel was hard at work on her computer when Oliver walked up. "Hi." He said, drawing her attention._

_She briefly glanced up at him. "Did you get my voicemail?" she asked._

_"No."_

_"Things got a little crazy around here- back to back meetings." She told him. "I am so sorry, rain check?" she asked._

_"Sure." He said. He paused. "I could definitely catch up on some club paperwork." He threw out. "We're way behind since Tommy left."_

_"I'm still shocked that he went to go work for Malcolm." Laurel said; rising to go meets some clients. Oliver chose to follow her. "You know, you were really understanding to let him take this opportunity." She told him. "Tommy said you were cool with it."_

“Really?” Laurel stared at Tommy exasperated.

 

“Hey, I haven’t lied to you yet!” Tommy protested and Laurel simply shook her head.

 

_"Why wouldn't I be? He's my friend." He smiled. "Like you."_

_They were stopped at the entrance, were a family of three were standing._

_"I'm sorry, are we early?" the man said._

_"No, not at all." Laurel realized Oliver was still standing next to her. "Uh, Oliver, this is Eric Moore and his wife, Nancy." She introduced. "I'm prepping them for a deposition for tomorrow."_

_Oliver nodded politely, and then smiled slyly as he pointed to the young child standing behind his parents. "And this must be your bodyguard." He joked._

_"This is our son, Taylor." Nancy said._

_Oliver smiled at them all. "Well, you are in very capable hands." He told them. "It was nice to meet you." He nodded at Laurel, then left._

_"Eric, Nancy, I want to make sure that you guys are up for this." Laurel began. "Edward Rasmus isn't known for playing with kid gloves, so this could get rough."_

“Rasmus.” Laurel hissed.

 

“Who’s this guy?” Thea asked curiously.

 

“Edward Rasmus. Passes himself off as a business man, as someone who helps people. Then, he cheats them out of their money. But he’s managed to manipulate the system to where he was never charged.” Laurel said scornfully.

 

_"We invested our entire life savings with Rasmus and he stole it." Eric said. "Our retirement. Taylor's college fund. He stole our future, Ms. Lance." He said. "We want it back."_

_"Well, then let's go get it." Laurel said, leading them to her desk._

_Late that night, there was a knock on the door of Eric Moor's apartment. He approached the door cautiously. "Hello?" he called out._

_"Mr. Moore?" Eric could see the blurry figure of a man through the frosted glass. "I have some documents for you from Ms. Lance related to tomorrow's deposition." He said. Eric opened the door and let the man in. He was a tall black man, well dressed in a tailored suit, carrying a leather briefcase._

“He doesn’t work at CNRI.” Laurel said with a sinking feeling.

 

_He looked around in approval. "What a nice home you have here." He complimented. He held the case in one hand and opened, then reached inside. "You can really… feel the love." The man picked up his silenced pistol and fired twice through the lid, killing Eric Moore instantly._

Thea jumped as everyone else stared in horror while Dinah simply sighed, feeling the guilt creep up on her.

 

“In the future, if you’re taking on powerful people in court, protect not just yourself, but your clients as well.” Dinah told Laurel, who nodded silently, still in shock.

 

_Mr. Blank closed the lid on the case, and then dropped it to the floor. He stepped over Eric's cooling body and started neatly tipping things over, then swiped several items off of a side table. "Sorry about the mess." He said to no one. "This works better if it looks like a break-in." He walked cautiously through the house, looking for the rest of the family. He saw Nancy coming out of her son's room and shot her. She fell to the ground, dead, as Taylor stared in horror. The kid looked up to see Mr. Blank staring at him, so he did the only thing he could do- he closed his door and locked it. Mr. Blank smirked. He tried the knob and saw that it was locked, but one well-placed kick broke the door open. He calmly walked into the room- but Taylor had climbed out of his window. He walked over quickly and threw back the drapes, looking around- but Taylor was gone._

“Thank god he got away.” Laurel sighed as everyone relaxed slightly.

 

“Somehow, I don’t think this is over.” Diggle said grimly.

 

“You’d be right.” Dinah told him.

 

_Mr. Blank's phone rang, and he answered it._

_"Is it done?" Edward Rasmus asked over the phone._

_"The parents, yes." Blank said. "I'm afraid there's been a variable. The child got away."_

_Rasmus tensed. "Got away? Did he see you?" he asked._

_"No, Mr. Rasmus." Blank said pleasantly. "What he saw was the face of the man who will reunite him with his parents." He then hung up and calmly made his way out of the apartment._

“Sick bastard.” Roy sneered.

 

_The next mooring, Oliver was just getting out of the shower in his room at Queen Manor when he caught the morning news._

_'Starling City is expected to be host of this year's Festival of Lights exhibition. In other news, the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Moore were found early this morning. The couple were being represented by attorney Laurel Lance of CNRI in a lawsuit against financier Edward Rasmus." He stared at the screen in shock. "Miraculously, their seven-year-old son Taylor survived the horrific attack."_

_The scene changed to SCPD. Laurel was in the squad room, waiting on her father as Tommy consoled her._

_"This isn't your fault, Laurel, you shouldn't feel guilty." He told her._

_"I don't feel guilty." She said. "I'm angry. This wasn't some random break-in. Edward Rasmus is involved, I know it."_

_Lance walked up to them after talking to the people in Robbery/Homicide. "Ok, listen, our guys are looking into this." He told his daughter. "But you need to stay out of it, ok? Because if Rasmus is behind this, he's clearly not messing around."_

_The social worker walked over with Taylor in tow. "Uh… If you'd like to say good-bye to Taylor, I will be taking him over to child services." She told them._

_"Doesn't he have any other family?" Laurel asked._

_"Grandparents are in Melbourne." She said. "We're tracking them down, but until then, he's going to be a temporary ward of the state."_

“Not good. I know some people who ended up in foster homes. A lot of them…aren’t good places.” Roy said uneasily.

 

_Her response was almost instantaneous. "He can stay with me." She declared, to Tommy's surprise and Quentin's dread. "As his attorney, I am assigning myself temporary guardianship."_

_"You'd still need a judge's order." The social worker said uncertainly._

_"I'll have it to you in an hour." She replied at once._

_The worker shrugged. "Well, have it your way." She said, handing Taylor off to Laurel and walking off._

_Quentin sighed. "Ok, look, I'm going to park a patrol car outside your place." He told his daughter._

_"Fine." She agreed at once._

_"And you," he turned to Tommy. "You look after them, all right?"_

_"I spend most nights at your daughter's anyways." Tommy said without thinking._

“Bright idea there to mention that to her father. Who owns a gun.” Roy joked and Thea giggled as Tommy paled.

 

_Lance gave him a look. "There was probably a better time to tell you that." He amended._

_Quentin shook his head. "Probably not." He said as he walked off._

“Yeah, I don’t think there was ever a way you could tell him where he was happy about it.” Dinah mused.

 

_Laurel knelt down in front of Taylor. "Hey, you're gonna come stay in my house, ok?" she told him._

_Tommy had looked up and saw Oliver entering the station. Leaving Laurel to talk to the boy, he walked over to his ex-best friend. "What are you doing here?" he demanded quietly._

_"I heard what happened; I just wanted to make sure Laurel was ok." Oliver stated._

_"You could have just called." Tommy noted._

_"I met Laurel's clients and their son yesterday and I felt badly."_

_A beat. "You met them?" Tommy asked; anger in his eyes._

_"Yeah, when I was picking up Laurel for lunch…" he trailed off at the look on Tommy's face. “Which she didn't tell you about." He surmised._

 “And now you’re being a dick to your best friend and a controlling ass to your girlfriend.” Roy told Tommy who flinched.

 

“I don’t have to check with you to hang out with a friend, even if that friend is an ex-boyfriend.” Laurel hissed at the shifting Tommy.

 

“Tell him that.” Tommy said as he pointed at the screen.

 

_"Tell you what?" Laurel asked, coming over with Taylor._

_"Nothing." Oliver said at once._

_"It's settled." She said. "Taylor's coming home with us tonight."_

_"Well, if you need anything—" Oliver started, but Tommy cut him off._

_"We're fine." He said sharply._

_"Ok." Oliver agreed._

_"We should really get going." Tommy said. Laurel took Taylor's hand, and the three walked off. Oliver watched them leave sadly, the pleading look in his eyes ignored by Tommy. Denied his friend, he turned and walked out._

“You’re an ass.” Thea snapped as she glared at her brother.

 

“I know.” Tommy sighed guiltily.

 

_The scene changed to the island, where Shado was teaching Oliver how to shoot the bow._

_"Set your sight." She instructed. "Hit the tree."_

_Oliver fired, and the arrow whizzed off into the forest, lost. He sighed in frustration. "Probably hit a tree." He said sarcastically._

_Shado handed him another arrow. "Set your sight. Hit the tree." She repeated. Oliver nocked the arrow and drew back the string. Shado placed her palm on his chest. "Steady your anchor point." She instructed. He turned to look at her, and they stared at each other for several seconds. Finally he turned away, and aimed the arrow at the tree._

_"I hope you're getting closer," Oliver let the string go slack as the two turned to see Slade standing there. "At teaching him how to be a better marksman." He finished with a glare. "It's not as though our lives depend on it or anything."_

“Does he have to be such an ass?” Thea wondered.

 

“He wouldn’t be Slade if he wasn’t.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

“You really hate him. So does Arsenal,” Diggle noted and she nodded, “what did he do?”

 

“Second year.” Dinah promised darkly.

 

_Slade stalked off, and the two both took a breath. "Try again." She instructed._

_"Ok." He agreed, pulling back the string…_

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver walked in and saw Felicity and Dig both hard at work. "What's this?" he asked._

_"Lyla's mission profile on the trap they've set for Deadshot." She told him._

_"Lawton is set to meet his new employer and get his assignment tomorrow at 8 pm." Dig reported. "Only, his new employer will be an A.R.G.U.S. agent. Lyla will then swoop in with her team and arrest him."_

_"Do you want Lawton arrested?" Oliver asked him_

_Dig considered the question for several seconds. "No." he finally admitted._

_"Then tomorrow night, we cross Floyd Lawton's name off your list." Oliver told his friend._

“Good.” Diggle said as a dark smile spread across his face.

 

_He turned to Felicity. "There is something else we need to look into. Two of Laurel's clients were murdered last night. Their seven-year-old son barely escaped."_

_"That's terrible." Dig said._

_"Edward Rasmus, the financial advisor Laurel was taking to court, may not have pulled the trigger, but he probably called in the hit." Oliver continued. He looked at Felicity. "I want you to get into his corporate accounts, phone records, anything that may link him to the killer, ok?" she nodded in agreement, and he went over and grabbed his Hood jacket._

_"Where are you going?" Dig asked._

_"Laurel's."_

“Of course.” Thea teased and Laurel rolled her eyes.

 

_"Another friendly meal?" he joked. Oliver just ignored him and made his way to his bike._

_The scene changed to the SCPD. Lance was walking through the squad room, talking on his radio to the cops watching over Laurel's apartment. "My daughter is secure at her place?" he asked._

_"So far, all quiet." A voice replied. Lance spied a familiar face and walked over towards him._

_"All right, let me know if there is any movement. I'm heading over there right now." He hung up and tossed the radio onto his desk, then looked at Roy Harper. "What did you steal this time?" he asked without preamble._

_"You got a minute?" Roy asked._

_"No."_

_"It's about the Hood."_

_Lance stopped and looked hard at the boy. "When my men found you on that subway car after you were kidnapped, you told them you didn't know anything about the vigilante." He stated. "So there's something you forgot to tell them?"_

_"No." Roy said calmly. "I just want to see him brought to justice like everyone else."_

“Right. And pigs fly.” Tommy drawled as Roy shrugged.

 

_Lance gave him a stern look. "Don't worry, kid. We'll get him." He assured him. "Just keep making sure I don't have a reason to get you." Lance turned and walked out. In his hurry to get to his car, he forgot his radio- which Roy quickly snatched._

“Oh yeah, that makes a lot more sense.” Tommy said satisfied.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Taylor was seated on the couch, he head down and his hands pressed between his knees._

_"Taylor? Sweetheart?" Laurel walked over to Taylor and laid a soft hand on his shoulder. "Are you hungry?" she asked. "You know, I make the world's best macaroni and cheese. It's the only thing I know how to make." She joked, trying to make him smile._

_"I miss my mom and dad." Taylor said softly._

There was not one person in the room who did not feel for him. Tommy, Roy and Thea had all lost at least one parent and understood Taylor’s pain very well. Laurel had, in a way, lost her mom and dad when Sara died. Even though it wasn’t the same, she felt empathy for Taylor like the others. Dinah reflected on the day Quentin had died when City Hall had been attacked. Her father had gotten everyone to safety, save for himself and had been shot in the head by the gunmen. And Diggle’s parents had died shortly after he had enlisted, a car crash tragically ending their lives while he was overseas.

 

_Laurel looked over to Tommy, who looked at the boy sadly, knowing exactly what he was going through. He walked around the couch and knelt in front of him._

_"When I was your age, my mom tucked me into bed at night before going out." Tommy began. "Then the next thing I knew, there was a police officer at my door. He said that she was gone and that I would never see her again. But you know what?" he asked rhetorically. "He was wrong."_

_"You saw her?" Taylor asked hopefully as Laurel watched on in interest._

_"Mh-mmm." Tommy said. "Every time I close my eyes, I can see her. Every time I go to bed, I see her in my dreams."_

_"Really?" he asked. Laurel smiled softly at the sight._

_"Yeah. Now try it, close your eyes." Tommy told him._

_Taylor closes his eyes and bowed his head. He was silent for several seconds, and then he looked back up at the older man. "I see them." He said._

_Tommy smiled warmly at the boy. "Whenever you are sad, or scared, just remember that they will always be there." He told Taylor as a tear ran down the boy's cheek._

“You’re just full of surprises aren’t you?” Thea asked in a chocked voice as she wiped away a tear.

 

“I aim to do the unexpected.” Tommy shrugged.

 

_Laurel smiled at her boyfriend. "You constantly surprise me, Merlyn." She said. He looked up at her and smiled._

_There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it." Laurel said. She and Tommy both rose to answer the door._

_"Ms. Lance?" Mr. Blank said from behind the door. "Lieutenant Kessel, SCPD." He held his silenced gun up to the peephole. "Your dad asked me to check in."_

_Laurel approached the door cautiously. "Lieutenant, can you hold your badge up to the door, please?" she asked. She risked a glance through the peephole, and saw a gold badge being held up. She read the badge number and paled. "Ok, great." She said shakily, backing away from the door. "Just one sec."_

_Tommy noted her panic. "What?" he asked._

_"His badge number begins with a zero, Lieutenant's badge numbers begin with a one—"_

_Suddenly a hail of bullets burst through the door. Laurel and Tommy split up- she headed for her bedroom closet, Tommy ran over to Taylor and grabbed him, pulling them both down to the floor just as Mr. Blank burst in. He urged Taylor to be silent as Blank looked around cautiously. He walked slowly through the apartment, stopping when he thought he heard a noise. He turned and looked into the living room, then raised his pistol and opened fire, shooting up the couch and table in front of it. Tommy and Taylor remained silent, watching the man's feet as they slowly moved towards them. Tommy put a hand gently over Taylor's mouth._

_"It was the badge that gave me away, right?" Blank guessed._

_"You know, my father's a cop." Laurel's voice called out. Blank spun and fired in the general direction, only hitting the wall. Then Laurel swung out of her room, the pump action shotgun she had had hidden in her closet out and pointed at Mr. Blank. She fired, just missing the assassin who managed to duck out of the way. "And that's not all he taught me." She said, pumping the shotgun. She pulled the trigger- and got nothing. Empty._

“You only have one round in that thing?!” Tommy asked worriedly.

 

“Always bring more than one. It’s suicide to only have one.” Roy advised.

 

“It’s scary that I’m getting advice on gun maintenance from a teenager.” Laurel noted.

 

_Mr. Blank swung back around; aiming his gun at Laurel's stunned face._

_Then suddenly a window exploded as The Hood dove through it. He landed in a crouch and quickly fired an arrow, disarming the assassin. A shocked Laurel backed off as Mr. Blank ran back into the apartment, ducking around a corner just as The Hood fired another arrow, which narrowly missed. Mr. Blank drew another pistol and leaned around the edge of the doorway, firing at the vigilante who ducked behind Laurel's desk. Blank kept firing at the desk as he ran past and jumped out of the window, escaping into the night. Oliver stood, looking around just as Tommy looked over the back of the couch. The two stared at each other in silence for several moments before The Hood turned and ran off._

 

“Thank god he was there.”  Tommy sighed as they all let out the breath they didn’t know they were holding.

 

“No kidding.” Laurel said wearily.

 

_A short while later, Lance stood in his daughter's trashed apartment, staring at the broken window. "I'm feeling like it might be time for you to move." He deadpanned._

_"Dad, whoever Rasmus hired is going to keep coming until he finishes the job, otherwise Rasmus will just hire someone else who will." Laurel stated bluntly._

_"Ok, listen, I want the three of you in protective custody immediately, and don't even think about it." He pointed to Laurel, who for once wasn't arguing. "He killed two of my men."_

_"The Hood just saved our lives." She pointed out. "We can trust him. He won't let anything happen to me." Tommy looked away at that. He hated it, but she was right._

_"Even if I was comfortable with the idea of him watching over you 24/7, which I'm not, something tells me he's got better things to do." Lance pointed out._

_"What about Oliver?" Tommy said suddenly, grudgingly._

_Detective Lance looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry, you got another friend named Oliver?" he asked sarcastically._

_"The Queens have more security than the President." Tommy pointed out. "They've got cameras everywhere, bodyguards in every wing, and no one goes in or out without being accounted for. We both only want what is best for Laurel." He told the man. "And right now that is to stay close to Oliver. Trust me."_

“Un-freaking-believable,” Thea snarled as she glared at Tommy, “he offers his help and you basically spit in his face. Then, instead agreeing, you use him like a pawn to protect Laurel. I guess you are our father’s son.”1

 

“Thea!” Dinah snapped as Tommy flinched.

 

“No, she’s right. I deserved that.” Tommy sighed.

 

_The next morning Laurel, Tommy and Taylor arrived at Queen Manor, where they were greeted by Oliver, Moira and Diggle, along with another security guard._

_"This is Mr. Robbins." Dig introduced the guard. "Where you go, he goes. You'll be very well protected, Ms. Lance."_

_"Thank you." She said._

_"I hand-selected these men myself." Dig continued. "The house and the grounds are completely secure."_

_"Please make yourself at home." Moira said. She leaned down to look at the boy. "You must be Taylor." She said kindly. "How about I show you where I hide the good cookies? Ok?" Taylor nodded and took her hand, and allowed himself to be led off._

“And you said Oliver put on a front.” Roy told Tommy, who nodded.

 

_"Mr. Queen, whenever you're ready, I can take you to your next appointment, sir." Dig told Oliver, who looked confused. "The Lawton meeting?" he reminded him._

_"Yes." Oliver said in realization. "I just need to swing by the club and pick up my good suit." He said as Tommy looked on, angered and confused. "So, I'll meet you there."_

_"Of course, sir." Dig said, heading out the door._

_"You're leaving?" Tommy asked._

_"There's something else I need to take care of." Oliver said. "It's important."_

_"More important than what's going on here?"_

_"No offense to Oliver, but I think we need Mr. Robbins and his men more than him." Laurel said. Oliver nodded in agreement, and Laurel moved off to find Taylor._

_Oliver moved to leave, but Tommy stopped him. "You are the reason why we're here, and trust me, that wasn't easy to admit." Tommy hissed._

“Yes, it must be so difficult to ask your best friend for help.” Roy drawled and Tommy flinched.

 

“Tommy, if you had asked for his help, Ollie would have helped you in a heartbeat, whether it was me or not, because you were his best friend. You know this. You can’t tell him to back off, then ask his mom for a place to stay and get mad at him when he has prior engagements.” Dinah told him and Tommy sighed.

 

“I know that…but he doesn’t.” Tommy gestured to the screen.

 

_"You'll be fine." Oliver told him. "I promise." He walked out the door, leaving an angry Tommy silently fuming behind him._

_The scene changed to Big Belly Burger later that night. Roy and Thea were eating dinner, with Roy shoveling food into his mouth without stopping._

_"You know, chewing might help." Thea said dryly._

_"Hmm." He swallowed, and then grabbed some fries. "Not dainty enough for you?"_

_"I could eat you under the table, Roy Harper." Thea said with a smirk. "Don't forget that."_

“Thea blushed while Roy smirked as everyone realized what she had said. Tommy glared at Roy while everyone else simply looked uncomfortable.

 

_They continued to eat in silence, when suddenly the silence was broken by a squawk on the radio he stole._

_'All units, code 10-80. Starling City port,'_

_"What is that?" Thea asked._

_'Suspected vigilante activity, requesting all available units' the radio message continued._

_"Do you have a police radio in your pocket?" she asked._

_Roy gave her a peck on the lips. "No, I'm just happy to see you." He said as he quickly climbed out of the boot. "Got to run." He called out as he left, leaving a bemused and confused Thea behind._

“You’re a terrible liar.” Thea told Roy.

 

“He got better at it.” Dinah noted.

 

_Roy rode a motorcycle down to the port, looking for the police response and hoping to see The Hood. He got off of his bike and looked around, then pulled the radio from his pocket and turned it on._

_'Nice evening, huh?'_

_Suddenly a police cruiser pulled up, followed closely by Detective Lance's car, and Roy knew he had been played._

_Lance climbed out of his car and walked around the patrol officers to Roy. "I think you've got something that belongs to me." He said with a small grin._

“Busted.” Tommy said with a grin.

 

“You sound way too happy about that.” Roy grumbled.

 

“You date my sister; I have to dislike you on principle.” Tommy shrugged.

 

_Roy rolled his eyes, but handed the radio over. "You set this up, just to get your radio back?" he asked._

_"Well I do love that radio." Lance noted, and then nodded at the patrol officers, who cuffed Roy. "Come on." He directed._

_The scene changed to the lair. Felicity sat behind her computer, pulling up information while talking to Oliver as he leaned against a table behind her. "I'm uploading a satellite overview of the Plaza to your phone—"_

_"Thanks, but I know the place—"_

_"Dig was pretty specific about where you should perch," Felicity interrupted, "you know, what position gives you the best shot at Lawton." She paused. "I think. He used a lot of military jargon. So you're sniping a sniper. Kind of ironic, don't you think?" she shook her head. "Me neither."_

_Her computer beeped. "What's that?" Oliver asked, looking at one of her screens as something popped up._

_"I had a remote access trojan scouring the Internet for Edward Rasmus." She said, turning her attention to the new info. "His name just popped up on a flight manifest… 8:15 to Shanghai."_

_"He's running." Oliver stated._

_Felicity looked up at Oliver. "That's good, right? If he's leaving town, he won't be after Laurel and the child anymore." She then realized his dilemma. "But if you did want to stop him, looks like it's now or never. Deadshot or Rasmus- your choice."_

“Unbelievable. He’s gonna let Lawton get away!” Diggle snarled angrily.

 

“John,” Dinah said softly and Diggle looked over at her, “I know you’re angry, and you have every right to be. But I want to ask you something: Tell me, when you asked me who killed Lyla…you were already picking out the gun you were going to kill that person with when we sent you back, weren’t you?”

 

Diggle opened and closed his mouth several times but no sound came out. Dinah stared at him knowingly for several seconds before he slumped back in defeat.

 

“Yes.” Diggle finally admitted.

 

“I’m not defending Ollie. He let his love for me blind cloud his judgment. The same way your love for Lyla and your brother clouds yours. Ollie made a mistake…but at the end of the day, are you any different than him?” Dinah asked.

 

“No.” Diggle said after a moment.

 

“I’m not saying what he did was right or that it was wrong. But he made that decision because he loves me the way you love Lyla and Andy. You just couldn’t see that because you were too caught up in your vendetta against Lawton.” Dinah told him and he nodded, conceding her point.2

 

_The scene changed to the Plaza Diggle walked in, pulling a baseball cap low on his head. He was opposite from the main entrance, and leaned against a wall, partially in the shadows right behind Lyla._

_"Trap one, this is Harbinger." She said, sitting at a table, seemingly working on her tablet. Her eyes scanned the area, looking for her target. "Wait for Lawton to enter and make contact. Then we'll take him down." Directly across from her, an older fellow looked up and nodded._

_Diggle looked around, spotting half a dozen other agents. In the distance he heard the clock tower chime, and he looked down at his watch in frustration. "Damn it, Oliver…" he whispered._

_Meanwhile, across town Rasmus was riding in his limo towards the airport, talking to an associate on his phone. "Just until this CNRI mess dies down." He was saying. "And if it doesn't, two best things about China- wontons and no extradition treaty." He chuckled. Suddenly the car stopped. Rasmus looked up in annoyance "Hey, hey, I thought I was paying you extra not to stop at the reds." He said crossly. Suddenly two arrows flew through the windshield, pinning both of Rasmus's shoulders to his seat by his very expensive jacket. Outside The Hood stood directly in front of the car, lowering his bow._

“Well, at least one good thing came out of this.” Diggle admitted grudgingly.

 

_At the Plaza, Dig was still looking around for Oliver when he saw a man walking in, wearing a peacoat and a fedora pulled down low._

_"Trap one, possible target acquisition." Lyla announced, reaching under the table for the gun that hung there. "Get ready."_

_Diggle watched; sweat rolling off of his head from the tension. The man approached Lyla's table, but as he took off the hat, everyone saw it was just a college kid. The boy walked right past, going over to a group of friends._

_"Stand down." Lyla said, and all across the floor half a dozen agents suddenly stopped and looked around. "Maybe Lawton didn't take the bait after all." Lyla mused._

_Dig looked around as well, frustrated both by the lack of Oliver and the lack of Deadshot. He happened to glance up, looking at the upper walkways, when he caught sight of a red flash coming through the window._

“Shit.” Diggle swore as everyone tensed, having a good feeling they knew what was about to happen.

 

_Across the way, Lawton took aim through the scope of his rife, the red targeting eye searching the floor. Picking his first target- the older man seated near Lyla, he began firing._

_The man went down, and then another. "We're blown! Take cover!" Lyla called out, standing up and looking for the shooter. Lawton continued to kill the agents around her, but before she could be targeted Diggle ran up behind her and tackled her to the floor. She hit hard on her head, stunning herself._

Diggle breathed a sigh of relief, glad Lyla was not hurt.

 

_Dig drew his pistol and started firing in the general direction of the shooting, forcing Lawton to back off. He looked down at his ex-wife in concern. "Lyla?" he checked to see that she was okay, and satisfied she was just stunned, Diggle took off. He crossed the plaza outside and ran into the opposite building, then ran into fire stairs. He rapidly climbed the stairs, hoping to head the assassin off. He was rounding another flight of stairs when Lawton came right at him. Deadshot managed to disarm him, but Diggle fought back hand to hand, landing several furious punches and knocking him back against the wall. Dig then grasped his throat with both hands, trying to choke the life out of him, but Deadshot managed to knock him loose, and then back a few steps, just long enough to reach his gun. He also managed to scoop up Dig's gun, and held both of them on the bodyguard, discouraging him from fighting anymore._

_"On your knees." He ordered. "On your knees." He repeated forcefully. "Hands behind your head." Dig did so reluctantly, breathing hard. "I saw you coming a mile away. Thanks for tipping me off." Lawton smirked._

“Damn it…this is all my fault,” Diggle realized, “if I hadn’t been so caught up in my vendetta against Lawton, then those men would still be alive and Lawton would be off the streets.”

 

“We all make mistakes John. You are here to learn from your mistakes.” Dinah advised him.

 

_"I'll kill you for what you did to Andy." Dig growled._

_"I'd be pulling these triggers right now, except there's nobody paying me." Lawton stated. He dropped Diggle's gun, then pulled down his collar, exposing his tattoo of Andy Diggle's name on his chest. "There's space for you right here, right next to your brother. You'd do best to remember that." He warned, and then slammed his gun across Dig's temple. Diggle went down in a heap, and Lawton casually continued his way down the staircase to freedom._

“You son of a bitch.” Diggle snarled angrily.

 

_Later that night, Felicity was cleaning the cut on Dig's temple when Oliver came back to the lair._

_"What happened?" Oliver asked._

_"You didn't show, things didn't go well." Dig said quietly, holding still so Felicity could work._

_"Rasmus was skipping town… and I had to reprioritize." Oliver stated._

_"Thanks to your new priorities four agents are dead, Oliver." Dig spat. "You could have stopped this guy, ended this maniac once and for all."_

“Um, that’s more your fault. No offense, but you said it yourself that you let Lawton know he was being watched. He’d be locked up if he hadn’t known that.” Roy pointed out and Diggle sighed.

 

“I know. I’d be able to see that if I wasn’t so blinded by my vendetta against Lawton.” Diggle said bitterly.

 

_"Lawton got away?" Oliver stated more than asked._

_Dig finally had enough, and stood to face Oliver. "You seriously think a man who goes by the name 'Deadshot' was going down without a fight?" he asked hotly. "I needed you there, man." He said._

_"Taylor Moore was relying on me, Diggle." Oliver argued._

_"But this was never about that kid, Oliver." Diggle said. "He is safe under armed security at your house. This is about Laurel."_

_Oliver looked at him hard. "Diggle, I made a choice." He said plainly._

_"I know." Dig scoffed. "You chose Laurel. Always her." Oliver couldn't look him in the eyes. "Everybody else be damned." Dig brushed past him and walked out._

“And apparently it makes me a hypocrite to.” Diggle sighed.

 

_Oliver stood in silence, and then looked to his newest team member. "Something to say, Felicity?" he asked._

_Felicity picked up the bloody bandages and metal equipment tray. "Nothing you want to hear." She said, walking away to clean up. Oliver sighed._

“Fuck you to.” Thea snapped.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island, where Shado was still trying to get him to shoot straight._

_"Try again." She instructed. He did so, and missed._

_"You're thinking too much." She decided._

_Oliver smirked at her. "Nobody ever accused me of that before." He said._

“Truer words never spoken.” Tommy said amused as Thea and Roy snickered.

 

_She grinned back, taking the bow. She had two arrows stuck in the ground, and she spun around quickly taking one of the arrow, notching it, and firing in, separating a branch from a tree. She grabbed the other arrow and knelt down, firing again, splitting the falling branch. It had taken her less than five second._

_"Show-off." Oliver said good-naturedly._

_"I see my target in the distance, I feel the variation in the wind, I hear the bowstring tighten… and I let go." She explained softly. "Give in to your senses." She said as they stood closer. "Don't think."_

_Oliver leaned down and kissed her._

“Typical.” Laurel sighed, feeling the familiar stirrings of jealousy and hurt.

 

_She reciprocated, and they spent a few moments enjoying each other's presence. Suddenly though, Oliver pulled back, instantly ashamed of himself. Shado was ashamed and embarrassed as well._

_"You're right, this is definitively not the time or place—" she started._

_"No, it's," Oliver sighed. "No, it's just there's, uh… someone." He explained. "And it's a mile past complicated, but I can't."_

_"Does she know how much you love her?" Shado asked._

_"I suspect right now she doesn't." he said sadly. "But as soon as I'm home, she will."_

“Ollie.” Laurel sighed, feeling a barrage of emotions that she couldn’t even name.

 

“He was far from perfect bit he did love us.” Dinah told her and Laurel nodded slowly.

 

_The scene flashed to Queen Manor, where Laurel was in the sitting room, looking through old photo albums. Moira walked in and glanced down at the picture with a smile._

_"You looked so beautiful that night." She observed. She took a seat next to the lawyer. "I remember Oliver telling me once that he wished your father would let him come over to your house more often." She said to Laurel's surprise. "That being there made him feel less like Robert Queen's son and more like himself. I liked who my son was when he was around you." She admitted._

“Yeah, I get that.” Tommy mused thoughtfully.

 

_"Thank you." Laurel said with a smile._

_"Hey." Oliver said as he came into the room. "The police just called. Edward Rasmus was arrested."_

_"Really?" Laurel asked. "What happened?"_

_"Apparently he confessed to everything." Oliver said. "He's going to go to prison for a long time and won't be able to hurt anyone ever again."_

_"Why would he confess?" she wondered._

_Oliver let out a satisfied sigh. "The vigilante was involved." He said._

_"Good for him." Tommy said as he walked into the room. Oliver and Laurel both looked away from each other, feeling awkward._

_"So, I guess it's over." Laurel said._

_"Yes." Tommy said quickly. "Great, I'll go wake up Taylor—"_

_"No, Tommy, please." Moira interrupted. "He's sleeping; he's been through a lot. Now you all are welcome to stay. We certainly have enough room." She pointed out lightly._

_Tommy was torn. He had no problem with Moira- in fact, she had been like a mother to him after his own had been killed; but he didn't want to stay near Oliver one second longer than he absolutely had to. But it wasn't really his call… he schooled his features and looked to Laurel. "It's your call." He told her._

_Laurel considered for a few seconds, and then smiled at the Queen matriarch. "Thank you, Mrs. Queen." She said. Tommy's face stayed impassive, but there was a defeated look in his eyes. "I guess we'll stay, then." She announced._

“This can only end well.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

“Yep, because I’m being an ass.” Tommy sighed.

 

“You said it, not us.” Roy told him.

 

_"Good." Moira said, oblivious to the tension between the three._

_The scene change to the SCPD. Rasmus sat in an interrogation room, listening to the thunder crash outside. Suddenly an officer opened the door._

_"Your lawyer's here." He announced. He stepped aside, and Mr. Blank walked in. As the officer closed the door, Blank set his briefcase on the table and opened the lid before sitting down._

_"It's you." Rasmus said._

_"I'd like to discuss loose ends." Mr. Blank began._

_"You didn't get my message?" he said quietly. He leaned in. "Forget about the Moore boy. I've already confessed, that freakshow in a hood told me he'd kill me if I didn't." he groused._

_"We need to make this meeting appear legitimate." Blank said, oblivious. He pulled some papers out and slid them across. He then pulled out a pen and held it out for Rasmus. "Lawyer stuff. Sign here, please."_

_"Am I clear? You leave the boy alone." Rasmus hissed. He reached for the pen, but as he grasped it, Blank grabbed his wrist with his other hand._

_"I wish I could, but he's seen my face." Mr. Blank said, applying pressure on Rasmus's wrist. "Just like you." He let go, and started putting things back into his case. "If you put pressure in just the right areas above the forearm, like I did to you, an embolism will form in the medial antebrachial vein." He began explaining. "When the air pocket reaches your heart in, give or take, fifteen seconds, you'll die. It's relatively painless." He said, closing his case. He stood. "Oh… nothing personal." He noted pleasantly, then walked to the door as Rasmus sat back, unsure if the man was telling the truth or not. "We're done here!" Blank called out. He was let out of the room and the door was closed behind him. Mere seconds, later, Rasmus fell over dead._

“Good god.” Diggle breathed.

 

“It’s not over yet.” Laurel said as her blood ran cold.

 

_Mr. Blank was walking out just as Thea was walking in. She stopped a patrolman. "Excuse me," she said, gaining his attention. "Hi, I'm looking for my boyfriend; he's kind of a regular around here." She explained. "Piercing blue eyes, and may or may not have stolen a police radio."_

_The officer smiled at her, then nodded towards Lance's desk. "Yeah, that's him. Behind you." He pointed out._

_Thea thank the man, and then walked over to Roy, who looked up at her with a subdued expression. "Well, that's a nice look." She said dryly. "What were you thinking?"_

_"Well, if it isn't the wonder twins!" Lance said in amusement, walking up to the two._

_Thea turned to him. "He's very sorry for stealing the radio," she began as Roy rolled his eyes, "and he won't ever bug you or steal anything from you guys ever again."_

_Lance gave her a look. "Both of you." He tossed the keys to the cuffs to Roy. "Come with me."_

_Lance led the two down into the morgue._

_Thea looked around apprehensively. "What are we doing here?" she asked._

_"Well, your boyfriend is so interested in the Hood; I thought he might like to meet someone else who already made his acquaintance." Lance said, then he pulled open one of the drawers revealing the frozen corpse within. Thea gasped and turned away, a hand over her mouth._

“Seriously? Doesn’t this violate some sort of law or regulations?” Tommy demanded angrily.

 

“I have to look it up when we get back, but I’m pretty sure it does violate some form of police regulation.” Laurel said thoughtfully.

 

“So the law only matters when it suits him. glad I understand your father.” Roy said dryly and Laurel sighed, knowing Roy had a point.

 

_"Oh, God…" she muttered._

_Roy had a hard time looking at the body. He looked at Lance instead. "Who was he?" he asked._

_"Well, that's the thing." Lance said. "When you're alive, you get a name. When you wind up down here, you get a number." Roy forced himself to look down at the body. "Meet 26." Lance continued. He pulled an arrow out of an evidence bag and placed it back in the hole it had created, causing Thea to blanch and gasp again. Roy closed his eyes briefly, but forced himself to look despite his discomfort. "See, your pal the Hood, he's already sent 26 men here since he started his little one-man war."_

_"Maybe this guy deserved it." Roy said defensively._

_"Maybe he did." Lance conceded. "But that's not how justice works. You see, the vigilante, he doesn't have to answer to anyone but himself, and that's a very dangerous power to give to any one man."_

Dinah had a hard time not rolling her eyes, seeing that her father had taken the law into his own hands many times.3

 

_"He saved my life." Roy stated._

_Lance pulled the arrow back out. "And how do you know tomorrow he won't just as easily take it?" Lance asked rhetorically. He nodded at the door. "Get out of here."_

_"Let's go." Thea said, grabbing his arm and dragging him to the door, away from the corpses and death._

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Taylor was asleep as the storm raged on outside. Laurel watched him as he slept for a while, then looked up and saw Oliver standing at the door. Quietly she made her way out of the room, and he shut the door behind them._

_"He's safe now, Laurel." Oliver said._

_"With a hard road ahead of him." Laurel noted._

_He smiled tiredly at her. "Well, he's lucky to have you in his life." He told her. "I know the feeling."_

_Laurel considered him for a moment. "When you first got home, I didn't think that you changed much." She admitted. "But you have, and… it's nice to see."_

_Oliver smiled. "Thank you." He replied, giving her a hug._

_From down the hall around a corner, Tommy watched the exchange with a sinking feeling in his gut._

Tommy and Laurel avoided each other’s gaze as everyone around them shifted uncomfortably.

 

_The doorbell suddenly rang. Down in the foyer, Mr. Robbins was headed towards the door. 'I have a delivery van coming in for Ms. Lance,' a man over the radio said, 'his I.D. checks out."_

_"Thanks for the heads up." Robbins said dryly. He opened the door a bit, and then seeing it was just a teen delivery man, opened the door wider. He stepped back to allow the boy to come in._

_"For Ms. Lance." He said nervously. Robbins looked down at the envelope he was carrying, and saw that the kids' hands were shaking. Knowing something was wrong, he reached for his gun-_

_But was felled by two bullets that Mr. Blank shot through the back of the kid, killing them both._

“Good god.” Laurel said as they all stared, horrified by the scene.

 

_Mr. Blank calmly walked in. "What a beautiful home." He said. He stepped over the two bodies, looking around. "Hmm… such pain here." He noted. "A sense of loss and regret, you can feel it, down to the wood paneling." He looked down at his watch, counting down. Seconds later, the charge he placed on the fuse box blew, sending the house into darkness._

_Upstairs, the sudden blackout startled Oliver and Laurel, who stepped away from each other in confusion. Tommy also made himself known, coming around the corner and looking to Oliver._

_"Tommy." He gestured at his former friend, who came over. "Can you two stay here with Taylor?" he ushered them towards Taylor's room._

_"Where are you going?" Laurel asked._

_"It's an old house, fuses blow all the time." Oliver lied smoothly. "It's probably nothing, just please… come on."_

_"Ok." She said. Laurel and Tommy walked into the room, and Oliver shut the door behind them. He then kicked off the doorknob to lock them in before stalking down the hall._

“Smart move.” Diggle mentioned and Dinah and Roy nodded silently.

 

_Mr. Blank walked cautiously up the stairs. He paused as a shadow moved, and he moved quickly up, firing several times. One of the security guard's collapsed, still alive but wounded._

_In Taylor's room, Tommy and Laurel both heard the whispers of the silenced shots and the body falling. Laurel held a fearful Taylor close. "He's here." She whispered._

_"Where's the child?" Mr. Blank asked the fall guard, pressing the silencer on his gun into the wound on the man's chest. "This house is quite large and I don't particularly care to check every room." The man said nothing. "Very well." Mr. Blank stood. "Have it your way." He fired once more, killing him._

“All this…to kill a kid, to save his own ass. I’ve seen a lot of low lives in The Glades, but this guy takes the cake.” Roy said disgusted.

 

_Oliver moved quickly but quietly through the house, searching for the intruder. He paused at an intersection to listen when suddenly lightning flared. He saw a shadow cast out of the corner of his eye, and ducked just before Mr. Blank fired. The rounds hit the wood, and Mr. Blank quickly made to follow._

_In Taylor's room Laurel made to go for the door, but was grabbed by Tommy._

_"Laurel… Laurel, l don't—" he started to say as she struggled against him._

_"No, Ollie is still out there." She argued, even though she knew Tommy was right._

_Mr. Blank moved across the top hall, heading towards a pair of closed doors. He opened one-_

_And Olive leapt out at him. He managed to disarm him, but Blank was a highly skilled opponent. They traded punches, with Oliver getting the upper hand. Oliver jumped up, kicked off a pillar, and punched Blank hard in the jaw, sending the man tumbling down a set of stairs. Oliver jumped down, landing in a crouch, and immediately went on the offensive. The two traded blows back up the stairs, moving to the landing above the front door. Oliver threw a punch, but Blank caught his wrist._

_"What happened to you on that island?" he asked, starting to apply the same pressure hold he had used to kill Rasmus._

“You have no idea.” Roy said with a savage smile.

 

_Oliver stopped him. "You're about to find out." He growled. He then sent the both of them tumbling over the railing, and they crashed through the small table on the ground floor. Both groaned in pain, and Oliver staggered to his feet, but was grabbed from behind by Blank in a choke. Oliver struggled mightily against the hold, and Blank threw him hard down onto the floor. He landed near the fireplace, and grabbed the poker from the rack next to it. Blank grabbed Robbins gun and went to shoot Oliver, the he swung around, knocking the gun from his hand, then swung in reverse, cutting the man's Achilles' tendon. He finished the fight by stabbing the poker through the man's heart. Blank let out a gasp, then collapsed to the floor, dead. Oliver fell back to the floor himself, winded but alive._

“Thank god he’s alright.” Laurel sighed in relief along with Tommy and Thea.

 

“Mr. Blank had to be one of the toughest hitmen Ollie ever went up against.” Dinah mused.

 

_A short while later the M.E. was zipping Blank's body up in a bag. Lance looked at it with clinical detachment and no small sense of happiness._

_"Death by poker." He quipped, looking at Oliver. "That's a new one."_

_"He was going to shoot me." Oliver said. "And then, uh, Mister Robbins, he grabbed the poker and saved my life." He lied, giving the dead guard a worthy honor._

_"Mr. Robbins was a real hero." Tommy said. He was leaning against a pillar next to the staircase. "If it weren't for him, we'd all be dead."_

_Lance knew bullshit when he smelled it, but in this case he wasn't going to worry about it. "I've got enough details for my report." He said. "I'll clear my boys out of here. Let's go." He said to his cops. As they left, Oliver walked past Tommy, but turned and saw Laurel walk up the stairs with Taylor._

_Tommy noted this. "You still love her. Don't you?" he asked._

_Oliver sighed. "It doesn't matter how I feel. Because of what I do I could never be with her. You see, you don't have anything to be afraid of." He told him. "She is never ever going to know my secret."_

_"It doesn't matter if she knows." Tommy said sadly. "I know. And I don't know how to be with Laurel knowing the entire time that if she ever found out who you really are she would choose you." Dejected, Tommy walked off, leaving a devastated Oliver behind._

“That’s not why…but I’m sorry Tommy.” Laurel said regretfully.

 

“You can’t choose who you love…it’s alright Laurel.” Tommy sighed.

 

_The next morning at Laurel's apartment, Taylor's grandparents were picking him up. "Thank you for everything you tried to do for Eric and Nancy." The grandmother told Laurel. "And for keeping Taylor safe."_

_Laurel nodded, sniffling. She knelt in front of Taylor. "Come here." She said, fighting back tears. She gave him a big hug. "You keep being a good boy, ok?" she said tearfully. He nodded, and then she rose and let his grandparents take him away. She was barely holding it together by this point. "Tommy, I really need to talk to you…" she trailed off as she saw Tommy walking out of their room, his bag in one hand and his coat in the other. "What's that for?" she asked, stunned._

_"It's my stuff." He said simply._

_"What's going on?" she asked fearfully._

_"I'm not sure that I'm ready for the kind of commitment that you're looking for." He lied. His own heart was breaking, but he was better at hiding it. Something, he supposed, he got from his father. "I don't want to hurt you in the long run, so—"_

_"Wait." She said. "We both almost lost our lives, and I'm emotional, too, but you can't be serious."_

_"This is me serious, Laurel." Tommy said calmly._

“Of all the times to do this, you do it now? When I am barely holding on?” Laurel asked, anger in her voice.

 

“Yeah, I know. I’m an ass.” Tommy sighed.

 

“Admitting you have a problem is the first step to getting help.” Roy said sympathetically and everyone laughed, even Tommy managing a small smile.

 

_"But… but it doesn't make any sense, I mean, why… why now? Why even at all?" she stammered._

_"I thought that I wanted this." Tommy explained. "You. And the other night made me realize I don't."_

_"You're lying." She denied._

_"I am not a liar." He denied, eerily calm._

_"If you've changed, and I know that you've changed, then you wouldn't- you would never do this." She protested._

_"Then I guess I haven't changed as much as we all thought, then." He said, and then walked past her out the door, leaving her to break down alone. In the hall, Tommy finally let his emotions out, even as he walked briskly away from the only woman he had ever truly loved._

“Ass.” Thea snapped and Tommy flinched, knowing he deserved it.

 

_Later that night, Thea met Roy in the Glades._

_"I know." He said. "You think I'm an idiot."_

_"I always thought you were an idiot." She said, only half joking. "Now I think you're brain dead."_

_"Yeah, you're probably right." He admitted._

_"Look, I don't understand this, Roy." She said. "Why is finding the Hood so important to you?"_

_Roy sighed. "I can't stop replaying that night in my head." He explained. "The night I got kidnapped by that psycho, I just I thought I was going to die."_

_"But you didn't." she reminded him._

_"Yeah, because of him." Roy said_

_"You don't owe him anything." She told him._

_"You're wrong, I owe him everything." He said. "And I can't go back to the way things were, Thea; I can't just go back to being nothing. You're the one that keeps telling me that I can be better than who I am, and this… this is my chance to be." He sighed, shaking his head. "I can't explain it, but it feels like my life is connected to his."_

“You have no idea.” Dinah said ominously.

 

_Thea sighed. She thought hard for a few moments before making a decision. "So let's find him." Roy looked at her in surprise. "I can tell this means the world to you. And you mean the world to me." She admitted. "So let's find him. You and me. Vigilante, here we come." She declared. He chuckled and pulled her in tight; enjoy the warmth of her embrace in the cold night's air._

“Somehow, I don’t see this turning out well.” Laurel noted.

 

“It doesn’t.” Dinah promised.

 

_The scene changed to the lair. Oliver walked in to find Diggle sitting there, alone in the dark._

_"Was hoping you'd be here." Oliver said. "I want us to get back on the same page."_

_Dig shook his head. "Oliver, we're not even in the same book, you and me, not anymore."_

_"I just did what I thought I had to." He said. It sounded lame even to him._

_"Just like I'm doing what I have to." Dig said. He exhaled. "We're done." He said, then rose and walked past his former friend._

_"Don't do this." Oliver pleaded a pained look on his face._

_Dig stopped and faced him. "The only thing you have to stop me from going out that door is an arrow." He said seriously. He walked out, walking past a just arrive Felicity._

“So now I’m a hypocrite and an ass.” Diggle sighed.

 

_"Hey." She said, and was puzzled when she got no response. "Where's he going?" she asked Oliver. He had no answer._

_The scene flashed back to the Island. A dejected Oliver and Shado walked into the fuselage. Slade sat, sharpening his sword. He looked up, but didn't look at the two._

_"So how did our Robin Hood do?" he asked. Their silence told him everything he needed to know. "As expected?" he goaded. "So back to the drawing board we go."_

_Suddenly there was a noise, and the three tensed. Their anxiety turned to surprise as Yao Fei walked stiffly into the plane._

_"Yao Fei!" Oliver exclaimed loudly._

_"Ba!" Shado ran up to her father and hugged him, but backed away when he didn't return the gesture._

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Tommy said uneasily.

 

“You’re not the only one.” Laurel muttered as she exchanged a weary glance with Thea.

 

_Slade stood slowly. "How did you escape?" he demanded._

_"I didn't." suddenly a dozen men armed with AK-47's rushed into the plane to their collective shock._

_"You son of a bitch!" Slade growled. He made to lunge at Yao Fei, but a soldier smashed the butt if his rifle against Slade's head, sending him to the ground._

_"Hey!" Oliver protested, kneeling beside the fallen man._

_Yao Fei looked down at them both. "Your time on this island is at an end." He declared in resignation._

“He betrayed them.” Tommy said in anger and shock as the screen faded to black.

 

“He didn’t exactly have a choice. You’ll see soon enough.” Dinah promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: I like Tommy, but his attitude and actions towards the end of the season, in this episode in particular, got on my last nerve. In this episode, he comes off as a controlling and manipulative person who is willing to use people to benefit his own needs. Ironically, that is the same thing he criticized Malcolm for earlier in the season. So on top of all the other crap he pulls in this episode, Tommy is also a hypocrite.
> 
> 2: I am not saying Oliver made the right choice, because I’m not certain there was a right choice. Whatever way you look at it, Oliver was letting a murder go free to continue to hurt people, no matter what he did. However, I find Diggle’s reaction, as understandable as it is, to be hypocritical. Over the next three seasons, we see Diggle make decisions based purely on his love for Lyla, the way Oliver made this decision based on his love for Laurel. And, just throwing this out there, but Diggle’s blind trust of Andy, which largely contributed to Laurel’s death, was based almost purely on Andy helping to save Lyla. With Diggle not even questioning if Andy could have ulterior motives for saving the person most likely to succeed Amanda Waller as director of Argus.
> 
> 3: while I like Quentin, he is very hypocritical on this matter. He says we don’t need to go outside the law to find justice, but he himself does it many times to meet his own goals, both before and after working with Oliver.


	28. The Undertaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The viewers learn of Malcolm's plan for The Glades as Oliver and Felicity get a lead on Walter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to Changingdestiny40 on Fanfiction.net. Happy birthday!

_The memory set opened in an office downtown. Harold Backman, underworld accountant, was setting banded stacks of $100 bills into a metal briefcase as he talked on his speakerphone._

_"Call Cayman Fidelity." He said as two bodyguards stood watch. "Tell them their favorite accountant is flying in to make a special deposit for a special client." He grinned at the implication. He loved the power his position offered him, and loved taking advantage of every benefit._

“Ugg, this guy.” Laurel said in disgust.

 

“What’s the deal with this one?” Thea asked.

 

“Harold Backman, accountant for Starling City’s corrupt. Whenever someone needs to pay someone to do something off the books-and illegal-, he’s who they call.” Laurel explained grimly.

 

_The smile fell off his face, however, when he heard the elevator ding._

_"That elevator's supposed to be on a key." He said aloud. He looked up at his guards. "Go. Check it out." He ordered. One of the men grabbed the briefcase, and both drew their guns as they headed to the elevator. They looked on in confusion as the door to the elevator opened, then closed partially, then opened again._

_Suddenly the Hood crashed down through the ceiling tiles. He kicked one guard back, and then battered the other down to the ground, grabbing the briefcase and turning just as the other guard got up and started firing. The Hood held the case in front of him like a shield, and its sturdy design coupled with the millions of dollars inside of it blocked the bullets. The guard kept firing a he stalked towards the vigilante, and when he was close enough the Hood struck. He smashed the case against the man's hand, sending the gun and hundreds of dollars flying into the air._

_He followed that up with several sharp, vicious jabs to the head, and ended with a spinning back kick that knocked the man out and sent sliding across the floor. He stopped just in front of the door Harold Backman was about to exit. He stared in panic at the fallen man, and his eyes widened even further as the Hood walked into the room._

“Now he’s gonna get it.” Roy said with a smirk.

 

“You reap what you sew, Mr. Backman.” Laurel said cheekily and the younger viewers-and Tommy-snickered.

 

_The Hood grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him back against the wall. "Harold Backman, you have failed this city." He growled._

_Backman cowered, clutching his laptop to his chest. "I'm only an accountant." He argued weakly. "I'm just the money."_

_"The money that leads to extortion, kidnapping, and drugs. It's the destruction of innocent lives!" he spat._

_"You think you scare me more than the people I work for?" Backman asked seriously._

_"No." The Hood said after a moment. "They can deal with you." He belted Backman in the temple with his bow, knocking him out. As the accountant fell, The Hood grabbed the laptop, and then calmly made his way out._

“I think that’s a fair punishment. Don’t you Laurel?” Roy drawled.

 

“I think it’s exactly what Mr. Backman deserves.” Laurel said with a dark smile.

 

_The scene changed to the lair. Oliver set the laptop down in front of Felicity, who looked at it curiously._

_"Hmm. Let me guess. Some bad guy missing his fancy new laptop." She surmised._

_"Harold Backman." Oliver said. "He's who Starling City's worst call when they want to launder money in the Caymans."_

_"Shouldn't we just turn this over to, I don't know, the IRS?" she asked even as she opened the laptop, booted it up, and connected it to her system._

_"We will." Oliver promised. "Just as soon as you return the money to the rightful owners."_

_Felicity started going through the records, but frowned when the screen flashed red. "Well, it sounds like a very nice idea." She temporized. "Backman's files are all protected with an asymmetric encryption algorithm."_

_"Really?" Oliver had no idea what that meant, but took a guess anyway. "So it's gonna take a while to break in."_

_"Days, at least." She muttered, already hard at work._

_"Better get started, then." Oliver noted._

_He went to put up his gear, but Felicity spun around to face him. "At the risk of ending up with an arrow in my eye," she began, rising from her chair and walking to him, "can I ask… when are you planning on making peace with Diggle?"_

_"He's the one who left, Felicity." He said at once. "I did everything I could to stop him."_

_"Except apologize." She noted. "You promised you'd help him track down Floyd Lawton and then you-"_

“Was put into an impossible position. I’m just too blinded by my hate for Deadshot to see it.”  Diggle sighed.

 

“At least you recognize it.” Laurel pointed out and Diggle nodded slightly.

 

_"Made a choice that I can live with." He said sharply. "If he can't, then I don't need him. I need to get back to the club." He said suddenly._

_"Oliver—"_

_"Let me know when you break in." Oliver said, ignoring her as he walked away._

_Felicity sighed. "I wish someone would send me off to the Caymans." She muttered as she headed back to her computer._

“Don’t tempt me.” Dinah said savagely.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Moira was talking angrily on the phone Walter's life Insurance company. "Yes, I know it's been 6 months. But—" she paused as they said something. She growled in frustration. "I am very well aware of the statistics. But I haven't given up hope and neither should you." She jabbed at the disconnect button, and let out a frustrated sigh._

_"That didn't sound too good."_

_Moira looked over to the doorway and saw Thea standing there. "Oh, it's fine." She said tiredly._

_"Who were you talking to?" Thea asked._

_"Just the insurance company. They insist on paying out Walter's life insurance policy." She said sourly._

“But he’s not dead!...right?” Thea asked desperately as she turned to Dinah.

 

“He makes it home safe and sound.” Dinah assured her.

 

_Thea approached her mother awkwardly. "I know we haven't talked about Walter in a while, but I-I miss him, too. It's like losing dad all over again." She said sadly. Moira gathered her in her arms and hugged her, silently enraged at Malcolm for tearing her family apart yet again._

_The scene flashed back to a younger Moira Queen opening the door to her home to a younger Malcolm Merlyn._

_"You look radiant." Malcolm said with a smile_

_"Flatterer." Moira replied with a smile, mugging a little for her friend. Malcolm walked in and kissed her on the cheek. "I think you're the last to arrive." She told him, closing the door. "How's Tommy?"_

_Malcolm sighed and allowed himself to be led by her. "Tommy is Tommy." He said. "How's Oliver?"_

_"Still in bed. It's only noon." She quipped. They both laughed. They walked into the sitting room, already filled with various power players. Robert Queen was standing by the window, having a drink of scotch as the two walked in._

“Dad.” Thea croaked.

 

Laurel took her hand as she and Tommy stared at the screen as well, the sight of the late Queen inducing strong feelings in all three of them.

 

_. "Well, look who I just found." Moira said._

_"Get lost trying to find the house?" Robert joked, walking up to Malcolm and clapping him on the shoulder._

_"You say that as if your driveway's not longer than most roads." Malcolm joked._

_"Can I get anyone anything else?" she asked, and then looked down to the distinguished Asian man sitting on the couch. "Frank?"_

_"We're fine, dear, thank you." Robert said, dismissing his wife. He didn't want her involved in this._

_He was saved hen the doorbell rang. "Oh, excuse me." She said, walking out to get the door once again. She walked to the door and opened it to find Walter Steele standing there._

_"Hello, Mrs. Queen." Walter said with a pleasant smile. "I'm sorry to bother you at home."_

“Walter.” Thea said in the same choked voice.

 

“He’s alright Speedy.” Laurel reminded her as she wrapped an arm around the younger woman.

 

_"Oh, no, no. Don't be silly, Walter. Come in, please." She said, inviting the man in. "You're here to see Robert." She guessed._

_"Yes." He said. "There's just some papers he needs to sign for the stock offering."_

_"Well, he's in some private meeting right now, but you're welcome to wait for him in his study." She offered._

_"Thank you." He replied._

_"Unless you'd like to help me get my children out of the house." Moira continued lightly. She paused on the stairs and turned back to the man. "You don't have children, do you, Walter?" she asked._

_"Not yet, I'm afraid." He replied._

_"Well, save yourself the trouble and don't. They eventually all turn into teenagers." Moira joked as she headed up the stairs. Walter headed to Robert's study._

“Hey!” Tommy and Thea shouted offended.

 

“I see her point.” Dinah admitted.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tommy asked insulted.

 

“I’ve had to deal with younger, hot-headed vigilantes. I look no more forward to raising one than I did to putting up with someone named Wild Dog.” Dinah deadpanned.

 

_In the sitting room, the meeting had already begun._

_"Adam Hunt was reluctant at first, but was more cooperative upon being informed we knew about his embezzlement." Frank Chen was telling the small group. Malcolm sat there, annoyed with it all._

_"Police communication system could use an upgrade." Robert noted._

_"I think Mr. Hunt can be persuaded to make an anonymous donation." Frank said confidently._

_"Well, that will certainly cure what ails this city." Malcolm said in disgust. He stood and began pacing._

_Robert looked up at his friend. "What's that, Malcolm?"_

_"We're emptying the Atlantic with a tablespoon." He said. "For years we've been forcing the city's worst to do what is best, leverage them to help us save the city. But it's not working." He threw down his notebook onto the small table in front of the couch. Unlike Robert's Malcolm's book had the symbol emblazoned on the front cover. "Crime in the Glades is rising. The cancer is spreading."_

_"We just need to take some more time." Robert offered. Malcolm cut him off._

_"Did Rebecca get more time?" he spat. "Did the man who raped Frank's daughter give her any quarter?" he looked at the small group. "Everyone in this room has lost something or someone to the Glades. And we have committed ourselves to fixing it. But what have we truly accomplished?" he asked rhetorically. "Nothing. Maybe it's because the Glades can't be fixed." He stated bluntly._

“I don’t like where this is going.” Roy said uneasily as those from the past shifted uneasily.

 

“Because you’re smart. All will be revealed soon.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"You're saying we should abandon the project?" Frank asked cautiously._

_"Yes." Malcolm said. "In favor of a new undertaking. Like Ben Tre in Vietnam. The village must be destroyed before it can be saved."_

_"Are you suggesting we somehow level the Glades?" Robert asked incredulously. Malcolm's answer chilled him to the bone._

_"Down to the bedrock." He said, taking his seat once again. "Only then can we truly rebuild Starling City and make it safer for everyone."_

“Oh my god.” Laurel breathed as those from the past stared, stunned.

 

“Is-is he serious?” Tommy asked incredulously.

 

“As a heart attack.” Dinah said bluntly.

 

“What on earth makes him think that destroying The Glades will make the city better?!” Diggle demanded and Dinah sighed.

 

“He blames the people who live in The Glades for the death of his wife.” Dinah said and everyone looked at her stunned.

 

“A mugging killed mom, not all those people!” Tommy snapped.

 

“I know tommy, I know. But Tommy…after your mom died, Malcolm joined the League of Assassins,” Dinah told him and Tommy gapped at her as everyone else gasped, “he became Ra’s most trusted assassin, his horsemen. Ra’s would often talk with him about the prophecy of Ra’s al Ghul. In it, the new Ra’s must server all ties to his old life, including destroying his home. The idea stuck with Malcolm and was largely the inspiration for Malcolm’s plan.”

 

“He wants to get revenge on all of them.” Roy said softly and Dinah nodded.

 

“He doesn’t just blame the person who shot her; he blames the people who didn’t help her. The people who walked by as she bled out. He sees The Glades as a physical manifestation of everything wrong with the city.” Dinah explained and everyone was silent.

 

“And that’s my father.” Tommy said disgusted.

 

“Our father.” Thea said softly.

 

_Robert stared at the man. "You've always had something of a God complex, Malcolm." He stated. "It's part of your charm. But even you can't create a natural disaster."_

_"Have you ever heard of Unidac Industries?" Robert looked confused, as did the other four members of the group. "It's a small company. They have an idea… an idea that will serve our purposes." He explained with a grin. "My sources tell me they're five years away from a prototype. And any undertaking of value is worthy of patience."_

“Oh my god. Unidac Industries, that’s the company that Walter buys in just a few months.” Thea realized.

 

“Yes, Malcolm had Moira whisper in his ear. A seed that grew into a tree.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

_"And restraint." Robert stated._

_"One man alone can't save this city, Robert, and we both know that." Malcolm said as Robert stared hard at him._

_The scene changed to Verdant. The club wasn't open, but Laurel was sitting at the bar drinking a cup of coffee._

_"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." Oliver said as he walked in from the back._

_"This coffee's terrible, Oliver." Laurel said dully._

_"That's what you get for ordering coffee in a bar." He replied with a grin. Then he looked at her in concern. "You look tired. Too much work?" he asked._

_"Too much crying." She said. Then she dropped the bomb. "Tommy broke up with me."_

_Oliver stilled. He forced himself to remain calm. "What happened?" he asked._

_"I have no idea." She said. "Things were good. They were… great, and then suddenly he's packing up his things and telling me that it's over." She looked at him in desperation. "Did he say anything to you?" she asked._

_"No." he lied after taking a moment to compose himself. "Tommy and I haven't talked very much since he quit." He admitted. "But he'll come around. It's probably just cold feet."_

“He would know.” Laurel said bitterly.

 

“Laurel.” Dinah warned and Laurel sighed.

 

“I know I know, he’s not that person anymore and everything he’s suffered was far more than what he deserved. But it still hurts.” Laurel said and Dinah had no response.

 

_"Like it was with you." Laurel stated bluntly. Oliver winced, but Laurel pressed on. "Oliver, you don't sleep with your girlfriend's sister unless you're looking to blow the relationship up."_

_He nodded in acceptance. "If you still want to be with Tommy, do what we should have done. Talk to each other and be honest." He recommended._

“Maybe if we had paid attention to how Oliver reacted when we talked about the future…none of this would have happened.” Dinah mused.

 

“Maybe.” Laurel conceded.

 

_Suddenly the door behind the bar burst open and Felicity came storming out. "Oliver, I need to show you what—" she paused, seeing Laurel sitting at the bar. "I just totally walked in on a thing, didn't I?" she said awkwardly._

_"I'm sorry, uh, who are you?" Laurel asked._

_"Nobody." Felicity said at once, and then winced. "I mean, I'm not nobody. I'm someone, obviously. And so are you. You're Laurel, right?" she asked, still rambling as Laurel and Oliver watched on in bemusement. "That Laurel. Gorgeous Laurel."_

“Well, it’s good to know he talks about me.” Laurel said amused as everyone snickered.

 

_"This is Felicity." Oliver interrupted thankfully. "She's setting up my Internet."_

_"Router." She corrected automatically. "And I need to show Oliver something very important related to it."_

_"I'll let you go, then." Laurel said with a kind smile. She looked to Oliver. "Thank you for the coffee and the advice." She said. Oliver smiled and followed Felicity down to the basement._

_"Tell me you got in." he said once they were downstairs._

_"Better." She said. "I hacked Cayman Fidelity and put together a list all the deposits Backman made last year."_

_"Felicity, what good does that do us if we don't know whose money it was?" he asked in frustration._

_She handed him a printout. "Look at the biggest deposit Backman made last year." She instructed. "Bottom page."_

_Oliver sighed. "$2 million on Decem—" he paused suddenly, getting the significance. "December 12." He finished. "That's the day Walter disappeared."_

Thea sat forward eagerly as they all stared at the screen, hope on their faces.

 

_"What if one of Backman's clients was paid 2 million to kidnap Walter?" Felicity surmised._

_"Then we find out which client it was… and we use them to find Walter." Oliver declared. "Ok, back-trace the account, follow the money, hopefully it will lead us to whoever kidnapped Walter." Oliver said as Felicity took a seat at her computer. She began frantically typing, doing just that._

_"After all this time, do you think Walter might still really be alive?" she asked hopefully._

_Oliver sighed. "I don't know." He finally admitted._

Thea whimpered even though she knew that Walter made it out alive. Laurel wrapped an arm around the younger woman, hoping to comfort her.

 

_The computer beeped. "Got it." She announced, pulling up the name. "Dominic Alonzo."_

_"Yeah." Oliver sighed._

_"Name ring a bell?" Felicity asked looking back at him._

_"Alonzo runs the biggest underground casino in Starling City when he's not busy kidnapping." He explained._

_She glowered at the photo on the I.D. sheet. "He looks like the kind of lowlife someone would hire to kidnap Walter." She said crossly. "How many arrows do you think you'll have to put in him before he gives up Walter's location? Say a lot?" she asked._

“Please?” Thea begged and Roy snickered.

 

_"It's not that simple." Oliver said. "That casino has its own private army. We need to access Alonzo's computer, but without setting off any alarms."_

_"Looks like we're gonna need all the help we can get." Felicity said with all the subtly of a sledgehammer. "It's too bad there's not someone else we could call…"_

_"That's enough." He said softly, but sharply. "We can do this on our own." He declared._

_"Well, then Looks like someone's going gambling tonight." Felicity said._

_"Those guys would make me the minute that I walked in there." Oliver argued. "Oliver Queen would never be caught dead in a place like that." He said, trying to think of another way._

_"I wasn't talking about you." Felicity said._

_"Absolutely not." Oliver said at once._

_"I can count cards." She said. "It's all probability theory and mathematics. Have you met me? Bottom line-I know my way around a casino." She promised._

“And now because I’m a hypocritical ass, he’s sending an untrained asset into the field.” Diggle sighed.

 

“It’s not completely your fault. Ollie could have swallowed his pride and going to talk to you.” Dinah pointed out.

 

“He wouldn’t need to swallow his pride if I could see past my hatred of Lawton for one second to see that Oliver was put in a lose-lose situation.” Diggle grumbled and no one could think of a response to that.

 

_Felicity, I'm not letting you walk—" he started, but she cut him off._

_"The reason I joined you in the first place was to find Walter, and for the first time, we have a real chance of finding him." She said. He looked conflicted. He didn't want to put her in any danger, but he knew she was right. "You have to let me do this." She said firmly._

_Oliver sighed. "All right." He finally agreed. "But we do it my way." She nodded in agreement. He gestured towards the exit. "Come on." He said, leading her out._

“Why do I think this will go badly?” Thea groaned.

 

“Because sending an untrained person into a dangerous area can only end one way.” Diggle deadpanned.

 

_The scene flashed back to Queen Manor five years ago. Robert was taking a break from the meeting of Tempest to talk with Walter._

_"I'm sorry I had to pull you away from whoever you were meeting." The Brit said apologetically._

_"Oh, it's nothing." Robert said. "Everyone's left already. Besides, it's my fault for forgetting to sign the K-5s this morning." He said distractedly._

_Walter looked at him in worry. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but is everything all right?"_

_Robert gave him a weak smile. "Just, uh, taking care of some odds and ends." He stammered out._

_"Well, if ever you need a friendly ear." He offered._

_"You're a good man, Walter." Robert said, shaking his hand. Walter walked out the door and Robert headed back into the sitting room for another glass of scotch. What he found was Malcolm still standing there, looking out the window with a drink in his hand._

_"I thought you'd left." Robert said, annoyed._

_"I'm still waiting for your answer." Malcolm said simply._

_"How can you even think of doing this?" Robert demanded._

_"That place took your soul, Robert.”_

“What does he mean by that?” Thea asked worriedly as Tommy and Laurel on confused and Roy became interested.

 

“Watch.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"Doing this won't give it back." Robert countered. "It won't bring back Rebecca, either."_

_Malcolm looked at him sadly for a moment, and then turned back to the window. "It still feels like yesterday, that day." He said, his eyes focused on nothing but the memory. "When she called my cell phone for the first time, I remember being annoyed. She knew I was busy, so I just let it ring. When she called back a minute later, I shut my phone off." He admitted. Robert closed his eyes in grief. "A little after midnight, two SCPD officers showed up in my office. All I remember them saying was… she'd been shot. Murdered in the Glades." He spat. "After the cops left, I sat in my office the rest of the night listening to Rebecca's messages." He turned and walked towards his friend. "She kept calling my name," he continued. "Asking for help until she was just struggling to breathe, gasping for air. I listened to my wife die over and over and over again."_

“Good god.” Diggle said sadly as Tommy put his head in his hands.

 

“I hate him,” Dinah announced, “I have for years and I probably always will. But no one deserves to go through that, not even Malcolm.”

 

_"I can't imagine, Malcolm." Robert said sadly._

_"Try." He replied. "Imagine it was Moira lying on that pavement, bleeding, calling your name. And then tell me you wouldn't be prepared to do what I am." He demanded. Robert looked back at him, knowing what his answer was- to both questions._

_The scene changed to Diggle's apartment. There was a knock on his door and he went to answer it, pausing to check though the peephole. Seeing it was Felicity, he opened the door._

_"What do you want?" he asked bluntly._

_"Is that any way to treat a girl who just walked up… six flights of stairs?" she teased._

_Diggle smiled, abashed. "No, it's not." He admitted. He gestured for her to enter. "Where are my manners? Come on in."_

_Felicity entered. "Thank you." She said as he closed the door._

_"Welcome." He replied, heading to his kitchen and grabbing a couple of beers._

_Felicity looked around, noting the paintings on the wall. "Did you do these?" she asked, trying to make small talk._

_"You know, Felicity, Oliver and I don't need a relationship counselor." He said wryly, holding out a bottle for her._

“That’s ironic.” Dinah said dryly.

 

“Why?” Diggle asked confused.

 

“Because while they were together, it seemed like you got regulated to Oliver and Felicity’s relationship councilor.” Dinah explained.1

 

“Really?” Diggle complained.

 

“Before and while they were together, you complained about constantly having to solve their problems.” Dinah explained.

 

_"That hasn't been my experience." She noted, taking the proffered beer and sitting down on the couch. "We have a lead on Walter. I need you to come back and help us find him." She said._

_"Oliver put you up to this?" he demanded._

_"No. He doesn't even know I'm here." She admitted. "Look. I know Oliver didn't help you find your brother's killer and that hurts. It sucks." She said. "But… you gotta know if it was your life on the line, on not just your very understandable vendetta, he would be there for you. No hesitation."_

_"And I don't want a partnership with those kind of qualifications, Felicity." Dig said._

“And I’m being a stubborn ass, which will put Felicity in danger because of my ego.” Diggle sighed.

 

_"I know Oliver's religiously against admitting he's wrong." Felicity said bluntly. "Truth is, he needs you."_

_"Yeah." Dig sighed, and then stood. "And when Oliver is ready to say that, he knows where I live." He replied._

_Felicity sighed herself. She had tried. She put the bottle down and rose. "Sorry for bothering you." She said sadly._

_"It's no bother. I hope you find him." He replied honestly. Felicity turned and walked out the door, closing it in disappointment._

_The scene changed to Merlyn Global. Laurel walked in to Tommy's office just as two assistant were handing him papers to sign. Despite being dressed impeccably, he looked haggard, and he frowned upon seeing her. The two assistant's gathered their things and left._

_"Wow, you really look like your father." Laurel said, starting things off. "I never thought so before, but just now I saw him in you."_

Tommy flinched at that while Laurel shifted. Wisely, no one said anything.

 

_"What are you doing here?" he demanded._

_"We need to talk." Laurel said._

_"I said everything I have to say." He said coldly._

_"Well, I haven't." she countered. "Tommy, I love you, and I think that you still love me, so whatever problems that you think that we have, I know that if we face them together—"_

_"You don't understand." Tommy interrupted._

_"Then help me understand." She pleaded. "If our relationship is gonna end, at least let it end with honesty."_

_"Ok, Laurel." Tommy picked up his briefcase and moved to stand in front of her. "Honestly you belong with Oliver."_

_She was stunned. "Excuse me?"_

_"He's still in love with you." Tommy said, stunning her further. "I have a meeting." He said, leaving her alone in the office with her thoughts._

“Drop a bombshell like that on me then walk out. Nice Merlyn.” Laurel said dryly and Tommy flushed.

 

_The scene changed to the Glades, near Alonzo's casino. Oliver and Felicity were walking down an alley, preparing for the mission._

_"You ready?" he asked._

_"I think so." She replied. She was wearing a killer low-cut red dress, and had traded her glasses for her contacts. Her face and hair were done up all courtesy of Oliver's black Visa. "Just to be clear, the plan is for me to get caught counting cards in an underground casino filled with hardened criminals." She noted with a little fear in her voice._

“That…is the worst plan I’ve ever heard.” Diggle deadpanned.

 

“Well, there are some bad ones over the years.” Dinah mused.

 

_"So you can get a friendly warning from Alonzo and plant a bug on his office computer." Oliver continued._

_"Right. Which will hopefully lead us to Walter." Felicity fidgeted nervously. "That is assuming I get the friendly warning and not a bullet."_

_"Hey," he stopped her, turning her to face him. "You don't have to do this." He told her._

_"Yes, I do." She replied._

_He was amazed by her inner strength. "Ok." He said after a moment. "If anything happens, I'm right outside." He told her._

_Oliver took up position on a fire escape directly across from the club. He had a small listening device pointed at the club's door, and was watching through his binoculars as a limo pulled up. A man got up and approached the two heavily armed security guards._

_"Password." One asked him._

_"Snapdragon." The man replied. The guars nodded in respect and allowed him to enter._

_"Password's snapdragon." He told Felicity over her earpiece._

_She walked up to the door a moment later, staring at the guards with a confidence she didn't feel._

_"Password." He asked._

_"Snapdragon." She replied. They nodded and allowed her entry._

“Well, so far so good.” Thea said nervously.

 

“Yeah…but how long will that last?” Diggle asked and no one had an answer.

 

_She walked in, handing her coat to an attendant, and then made her way onto the casino floor._

_Oliver's voice sounded in her earpiece as she looked around. 'What do you see?' he asked._

_"6 armed guards, 2 pit bosses, and a floor man." She said quietly. "No slot machines. I mean, how do you call yourself a casino without any Lucky 7s?" she started to ramble._

“Not the time Felicity.” Laurel rolled her eyes.

 

_'Stay focused, please.' Oliver said calmly. 'I'll be with you the entire time.' He reminded her to settle her nerves._

_"Thanks." She sighed. "It feels really good having you inside me."_

Roy, Thea, and Tommy snickered while Laurel rolled her eyes. Even so, she had an amused smile on her face as Diggle chuckled.

 

_She blanched, realizing what she had just said. "And by 'you,' I mean your voice." She said frantically. "And by 'me,' I mean my ear." She grimaced. "I'm gonna stop talking right now."_

_'That would be my preference.' Oliver said dryly._

_Felicity took a seat at a blackjack table, and then pulled out $10,000 in a banded stack of $100's,- courtesy of Oliver. "One stack of High Society, please." She said, passing the bills over to the dealer. The dealer looked at her in surprise, then took the money and flipped through it. He looked back to the pit boss, who gave the ok._

_The scene changed to Merlyn Global. Malcolm was in a good mood, and had a grin on his face when Moira walked in. He prepared two drinks as she walked over to his desk. "Thank you for stopping by." He said jovially._

“He’s in a good mood…something bad is about to happen.” Tommy declared.

 

“You’re learning.” Dinah said darkly.

 

_"Of course." Moira replied, setting her coat on a chair. "Uh, you said you had news." She prompted._

_"I do." He said with a wide smile. "It's ready." He said. Moira froze in shock, but kept her face neutral. "The Markov device passed its final beta test this morning. Applied Sciences is loading it on a truck bound for Starling City as we speak." Malcolm capped the bottle of scotch and handed one of the tumblers over to Moira, who feigned happiness._

“Oh my god.” Laurel breathed as everyone tensed.

 

“I hate being right.” Tommy groaned.

 

_"Well… congratulations are in order, then." She said_

_"To both of us." Malcolm said. They were both silent for a moment, contemplating the future. "Moira, you may be surprised to know that I sometimes waver in my convictions. But your friendship, your endless support always gives me the strength to carry on." He said honestly. Moira's heart was pounding in her chest, but outwardly she remained calm. "After all, you and I will always have a connection." He smiled._

_Moira nodded. "I'm just sorry that Robert's not here to celebrate with us." She said._

_"I'm sorry I had to take him from you." He told her. He meant it._

“You didn’t have to do anything, you sick son of a bitch.” Thea sneered as they all glared at the screen.

 

_"If anyone's to blame for his death, it's me." Moira said. She too meant it._

“What does she mean by that?” Thea asked confused.

 

“You’ll see.” Dinah said vaguely.

 

_Malcolm raised his glass in salute. "To Robert." He toasted._

_Moira raised her glass as well. "To Rebecca." She said, silently thanking god the woman was dead, so she wouldn't see the monster her husband had become._

_The scene flashed back to five years ago. Moira and Robert had just returned from an event, and Moira had noticed how distracted Robert had been._

_"Are you feeling all right?" she asked him. "I know tonight was just another Ted Kord fund-raiser, but you were surprisingly quiet."_

_Robert stood in front of the fireplace in their room. "Moira, there's something I need to talk to you about." He said finally._

_Moira sighed. "Robert, if this is what I think it is, I don't want to know her name." she started. "I don't—"_

_"No, it's about Malcolm." He said unsteadily. Robert spun around, ripping off his bowtie. "He wants to level the Glades." He said bluntly._

_Moira crossed her arms, annoyed at this game. "And how does Malcolm propose to evacuate an entire section of the city?" she asked dryly._

_"He doesn't."_

_Moira's arms dropped in shock. "Robert," she said, shocked. She moved towards him. "That doesn't sound like you."_

_"Because I'm not the man you think I am." He said softly, disgusted with himself. He moved away from her, opting to sit on the edge of their bed. "About a month before the opening of Steele factory, the one in the Glades, I was approached by a local councilman." He began. "He wanted money. Told me that's the way everything was done in the Glades." He shook his head. "I told him I'd never paid a bribe in my life. We got into an argument." He paused. "I didn't want to hurt him." He said, an almost pleading tone in his voice as she began to realize… "I swear, Moira. But he fell."_

“Dad.” Thea gasped as she, Tommy, and Laurel stared at the screen in shock.

 

“He wasn’t the man you thought he was Thea. He made mistakes, he had flaws. He was a good man Speedy, but he wasn’t perfect.” Dinah said softly.

 

_Her stomach dropped. "Oh, dear God." She whispered, turning away from her husband. "Oh, dear God."_

_"The work I'm doing with Malcolm, with the list, it's my penance, Moira." He continued to explain._

_"What, so you'll atone for one murder by committing hundreds, thousands?" she asked, horrified. She moved to her husband and knelt before him. "Oh Robert. You listen to me." She said. "Whatever wrongs you've committed, whatever mistakes you've made, preventing this horror is your chance to make it right. Please, please, Robert, promise me you won't let this happen." She begged._

“Mom convinced dad to back out…and Malcolm killed him.” Thea said shocked and Dinah nodded.

 

“She blamed herself for what happened…and I think she did until she died.” Dinah explained.

 

“But it wasn’t her fault. My father did this, not her.” Tommy protested.

 

“Guilt isn’t always rational.” Dinah told him.

 

_The scene flashed forward to the Casino, where Felicity was on a hot streak. She pushed her considerable pile of chips forward, betting it all. The dealer looked at her, then back at the pit boss, before he dealt. The first card was an ace, and the second card…_

_A queen._

_"Blackjack!" he called out. Felicity laughed in joy she looked happily at the doubled pile of chips, and didn't notice the pit boss until he was standing right beside her._

_"Miss… can you come with me?" he asked in a tone that said he wasn't asking, but telling._

“Oh boy, here we go.” Thea said worriedly as everyone tensed.

 

_Felicity feigned ignorance. "Is something wrong?" she asked._

_He leaned in close to her. "Get up." He growled._

_"Oh, since you ask so nicely." Felicity said, but got up and followed the man. Another man joined the escort as they led her to the manager's office._

_"Oh, there's the bathroom. I should have known the manager's office would be down the hall and to the right of the bathroom." She rambled, giving Oliver directions while acting nervous._

“Clever girl.” Diggle noted.

 

_Well, maybe not acting…_

_The pit boss led her into the office. "Mr. Alonzo." He announced. The man looked up and gestured the pit boss. He pushed her gently farther into the room and closed the door._

_Alonzo gestured at the chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat." He offered. Felicity smiled and took the offered seat. "What's your name?" he asked._

_"Megan." She said._

_"Do you know where the term "86" comes from, Megan?" he asked her._

_"As it happens, I do." She said nervously. "It's from prohibition. There was a- an illegal casino, not like this one, located at 86 Bedford street in New York, and God, you know, I'm just gonna stop talking." She rambled out._

_"Now it means to ban someone, someone who's cheating." Alonzo said. "You're 86'd. Leave your chips and go."_

_Felicity swallowed. "Thank you." She said. "Thank you." She stood to leave, but the pit boss stopped her. He waved a scanning device over her, and it beeped._

_"Oh, yeah, Megan, one more thing." Alonzo said, coming around his desk. "You see, the thing about card counters is, uh sometimes they work with a partner." He reached up to her ear and took out the earpiece. He then dropped it to the floor and smashed it with his shoe._

_Out in the alley, Oliver winced at the feedback but immediately went into action._

_Felicity stared at the broken device on the floor, and then looked up at Alonzo; the anger she felt at Walter's kidnapping overpowering her fear. "You're gonna be really upset when you meet my partner." She warned._

_Out in the casino business was booming. That became literal two seconds later when the crowd heard shots fired outside and a moment later the door burst open revealing The Hood, who promptly slammed the second guard through the other door. One guard rushed him, but Oliver sidestepped him, shoving him in the right direction to slam through a blackjack table. Another guard rushed him, but he blocked the hit and sent him crashing through a glass table by the door. Oliver looked up, spotting the armed security moving into position. One gunman came right at him, and The Hood grabbed a handful of broken glass and threw it into the man's eyes, then sent him to the floor as he jumped over a table for cover. Across the room another gunner had turned over a blackjack table and was spraying bullets as the patrons frantically rushed the exits. The Hood paused for a moment, then stood up and fired an arrow, hitting the man in the chest. He ducked and fired again, killing another gunman, then spun and ducked again as the last gunman sprayed bullets wildly, shattering the mirror behind the bar along with several bottles of expensive liquor. He stood and fired, killing him, then turned and stalked towards the manager's office. The pit boss who had escorted Felicity rushed the Hood with a pool cue. He swung for the fences, and the cue broke against the vigilante's chest. The Hood just stood there, not reacting at all, and then grabbed the broken cue from the man's hand and jabbed it into his shin. The man collapsed and The Hood walked on._

_He kicked open the door to Alonzo's office to find the man holding Felicity nest to him with a gun to her head. The Hood fired the arrow, which hit the bull's-eye- on the dartboard behind the man._

_Alonzo smirked. "I heard you never miss." He said scornfully._

_"I don't." The Hood replied. A second later, the explosive head on the arrow detonated. The shock sent Felicity sprawling and Alonzo into his desk hard. The Hood grabbed the man and slammed him up against the wall._

_"Uhh!" he groaned in protest._

_"Where's Walter Steele?" the vigilante demanded._

_"What? What are you talking about, huh?"_

_Oliver tighten d his grip. "Six months ago you had him kidnapped!"_

_"It was just a job." Alonzo protested. "I was given a name. I didn't ask any questions."_

_Oliver gripped him by the jaw and squeezed. "Last chance." He snarled. "Where is he?"_

_"Below ground."_

_Felicity gasped in shock. Oliver's grip tightened. "You're lying!" he shouted._

_"I'm not." Alonzo said. "I delivered him and they killed him. I heard the gunshot. He's dead."_

“Y-You told me that he made it home safe!” Thea jumped to her feet and glared at Dinah, tears forming in her eyes.

 

“He does,” Dinah said calmly, “you really think Malcolm would trust a man like Alonzo with the truth about Walter? He faked Walter’s death so that if anyone put together the connection with Alonzo, it would be a dead-end.”

 

“Thea, let’s sit down and watch.” Laurel said softly as she grabbed Thea’s arm and pulled the younger woman back down to her seat.

 

_In a rage, Oliver decked the man hard, knocking him out. He turned back to Felicity, lowering his hood. She was crying._

_So was he._

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Moira and Thea were sitting together on the couch in the sitting room, bundled up in a blanket. Thea had her tablet and was showing her mother how to shop for clothes online._

_"Oh, let's see that blouse in that violet shade." Moira asked, and Thea did so. She chuckled. "You're a miracle worker, Thea." She said warmly._

_"Oh, when it comes to shopping, it's not work, really." Thea joked. She looked up as she heard Oliver come in. "Hey." She said. "I'm teaching mom the joys of online clothes shopping." The smile fell from her face as she saw the look on his. "Ollie? Are you ok?" she asked._

_"I need to talk to you both." He said quietly._

“Oh boy, we won’t take this well.” Thea fretted.

 

_"What is it?" Moira asked._

_"It's about Walter." He sat down stiffly as the two women sat up._

_"Did the police contact you?" she asked._

_Oliver shook his head. "One of Mr. Diggle's army buddies works for the FBI now." He started, spinning a lie to tell the truth. "And they got news tonight."_

_Thea shook her head. "No." she whispered, horrified._

_Oliver was barely holding back tears of his own. "I'm very sorry." He said sadly._

_"No, no, no, no, no. There must be some mistake." Moira said. "Who did Mr. Diggle talk to? Did they find a body?" she demanded._

_Oliver looked at her in pain. "Mom… Walter's gone."_

_"No. This isn't right." She declared, getting up off the couch and heading out of the room._

_"Where are you going?" Oliver asked,_

_"Out."_

_"It's 10:00 at night."_

_"I need some air."_

_"Mom, you're in shock." Oliver tried._

_Moira spun around and faced her son. "Don't tell me what or how I feel, Oliver!" she snapped then hurried out of the room._

“I wouldn’t want to be Malcolm right now.” Roy said and the others nodded.

 

_Oliver stared at where his mother had been, shocked by her reaction. He wasn't the only one._

_"Why is she acting like that?" The asked tearfully._

_Oliver held out his arms. "Come here." He said, drawing her into a hug as she broke down._

_The scene flashed back to 5 years ago. Robert and Frank Chen were walking into the sitting room, talking about Malcolm's plan._

_"I suspect I know what this is about." Frank said._

_"You and I got in bed with Malcolm to cure what ails this city." Robert stated. "But I think you agree, killing thousands of people is not the answer."_

_"Indeed." Frank said. He looked at Robert. "If we were to wage a war with Malcolm Merlyn, we will lose." He said seriously. "My family has already suffered enough."_

_"And I have no desire to endanger mine." Robert said. He handed Frank a laptop. "Fortunately, there's another option. 6 months ago Malcolm started buying up buildings in the Glades through an offshore company called Sagittarius." He explained._

_"And he made it sound as if this undertaking of his was a recent inspiration." Frank noted with dread. "If you're right, he has been thinking about this for months."_

_"If he can't rebuild it, he'll abandon the project." Robert said simply._

_Frank looked at him in consideration. "How much of the Glades does he already have?" he asked._

_"About a third." Robert said. "Now, if we can quietly buy up the rest before he can, he won't be able to gain the control he needs."_

_"We will need capital." Frank noted._

_"Do you still have your contacts in China?" Robert asked._

_"I already have a flight planned for Shanghai tomorrow." Frank said. "Come with me."_

_Robert shook his head. "We shouldn't travel together. Malcolm might get worried. He already knows I have my doubts." He grinned. "Besides, I'm getting the urge to take out the 'Queen's Gambit' for another voyage."_

 

“That’s what that trip was about, stopping The Undertaking.” Laurel realized.

 

“And Sara and Ollie got dragged into it.” Dinah noted bitterly.

 

_"Dad!" Oliver ran into the room, heedless of his father's company. "Do you have any cash? The jerk pizza guy can't break a $100."_

_Robert gave his son a wry look, but pulled out his wallet and handed him a twenty. "Oliver, you remember Mr. Chen?" he prodded._

_"Hey." Oliver said casually._

_"Hi." Frank said in bemusement._

_"Waiting." Ollie grabbed the bill. "Thank you." He said. He paused to grab a bottle of wine, and then headed out of the room._

_Up in Oliver's room, Laurel lay on his bed studying for her SAT's when Ollie walked back in._

_"Pizza." He announced._

_Laurel rolled over and smiled. "My hero. I'm starved." She said. She climbed out of the bed and went over to his desk to get the bottle opener for the wine._

_"Yeah." Ollie said, enjoying the view._

_"Hey, Ollie." She looked over at him. "Where do you keep the bottle opener in this thing?"_

“Déjà vu.” Tommy quipped and Laurel glared at him.

 

_Bottom drawer." He said. What a view._

_"Did you talk to Ray today?" she asked suddenly._

_Ollie looked at her in confusion. "About the ski trip?" he guessed._

_"No." she said, standing with the bottle opener in hand. "He asked Jean to move in with him last night."_

_An icy ball of fear formed in Ollie's stomach. "Oh." He forced a smile. "Guess they've been together forever."_

_"We've been together longer." Laurel pointed out._

_"Guess we have." Ollie said in a strained voice._

“Oh boy.” Tommy said.

 

“In hindsight, I don’t know why I couldn’t see that he wasn’t ready for that kind of thing.” Laurel mused.

 

“We were caught up in the picture perfect fantasy we had created in our head so we couldn’t see that Ollie didn’t see the same thing.” Dinah explained and Laurel sighed, knowing she was right.

 

_I only bring this up because your mom busted me yesterday." Laurel said, sitting on the bed. "And obviously we can't hang out at my house."_

_"Why? Because your father threatened to taze me the last time that I closed the door to your bedroom?" he said._

_"So wouldn't it be nice to have a little place of our own?" she asked hopefully._

_"Yeah. Maybe." He said doubtfully. "This is a little fast, Laurel."_

_She sighed, but smiled at him. "I know that you like to think of yourself as a bad boy, Oliver Queen, but I feel like we're ready to take the next step." She held her breath, waiting for his answer._

_"Yeah." He said finally. "Let's do it." Happily she leaned in to kiss him, and then proceeded to open the wine. All the while, Ollie sat there thinking 'How the hell do I get out of this?'_

“I know, I know. Don’t say it.” Laurel snapped and Thea and Tommy closed their mouths.

 

_Back in the present, Moira stormed into Malcolm's office just as he was finishing up with a pair of Chinese businessmen._

_"You lied to me." She said emotionally, paying no heed to the men. "We had a deal."_

_Malcolm froze; a smile on his face so as not to alarm the two business men. After a moment, he addressed them. "Gong dag. Gong-pa-ma-tsom." He told them. They rose and left and Moira stalked directly up to the desk. "What are you talking about?" he asked calmly._

_"You promised if I cooperated with the Undertaking, Walter wouldn't be harmed!" she exclaimed._

_Malcolm's face was dead serious now. "He hasn't been. I'm a man of my word, Moira."_

_"We both know better than that." She spat, causing him to tense. "And I know I know you've had him killed."_

_Malcolm jabbed a button on his speaker phone. The call connected immediately. "Turn on the camera." He ordered. He opened a laptop on his desk and turned it to face her. After a moment, a live video stream appeared, showing Walter in his cell._

_Moira let out a relieved sob. "Oh, Walter…"_

_"Like you said, Moira, we have an agreement." Malcolm said. Unnoticed by them, an arrow had been shot, embedding itself in the wall right next to the window. A recording device was attached, and its light was blinking red to show it was recording. And across the way, on an opposite rooftop, The Hood stood listening to it live. 'Walter would stay in my custody until the Undertaking was complete.' Malcolm was saying. 'We're both in this together.' Oliver looked over at the building, a look of shock and betrayal ion his face._

“Well shit.” Roy drawled.

 

“I have a feeling things are about to get a lot more complicated for the Queen family.” Diggle noted.

 

“You’d be right.” Dinah told him.

 

_Later that night, Oliver sat, alone in the dark in the foundry. He had been there for hours before Felicity walked in and turned on the lights. She noticed him immediately._

_"I've been sitting in the dark all day, too." She said morosely. "All these months I kept thinking if I could find a clue, I could get a lead on him." She sighed. "Guess it wouldn't have mattered. I can't imagine what your family's going through."_

_"Walter's alive." Oliver interrupted._

_Felicity paused in confusion. "What? But Alonzo said—""_

_"I need you to pull up Malcolm Merlyn's phone records." He ground out. "He made a call from his office to wherever Walter is being kept at 10:30 p.m."_

_Felicity was astonished. "Malcolm Merlyn? Tommy's father?" she asked, unbelievingly. "Why would he kidnap Walter?"_

_"Felicity." Oliver pleaded with a look. She sat down and pulled up the records in under a minute._

_"L.U.D. showed he made a call to a tenement complex located in Bludhaven." She said._

_Oliver got up and walked over to her. "Can you pull up a satellite view?" he asked._

_"Ok." She hacked into an A.R.G.U.S. thermo imaging satellite. A moment later the screen showed the thermal cam of the apartment, along with all of the guards arrayed around it._

_"That's a lot of security for low-income housing." Felicity noted. "There's two guards stationed at all access points."_

_"There's just one on the roof." He noted._

_"Exactly. There's no other buildings in that area." She told him. "If you want to get onto the roof, you're going to have to jump off of something."_

_"I've got something." He growled, and then left to make a call._

_A few hours later, a lone cargo plane flew over the city of Bludhaven. As it flew over the apartment complex, it dropped its lone piece of cargo._

“Well, this should be good.” Roy smirked.

 

_The Hood parachuted out of the plane and landed gently on the roof. He quickly cut away his chute. He slid down the access stairs feet first, knocking the room guard over the railing and to the ground several stories below before opening the door and walking in._

_In the security room, a guard was posted watching the monitors. Suddenly he saw the Hood fighting with several men. "There's a problem in quadrant 4." He announced over the radio._

_The Hood stalked down the narrow hall, his mood darker than the night. Guards soon appeared one after the other- looked like street thugs to Oliver's trained eyes, but they still knew how to fight._

_Unfortunately they didn't fight as well as The Hood._

_One by one he dropped them, most by beating them senseless with his bow. A few he shot at a distance, but none stopped him. The last guard grabbed him in a choke, but Oliver expertly spun out of it, punched him twice in the chest, and then rammed his head into a light fixture. He rammed his head into the wall two more times as the man fell, insuring he was out of the fight. He looked back at the 20 odd men he had just disabled briefly, and then made his way onward._

“Whoa.” Tommy breathed in awe.

 

“Cool.” Roy grinned.

 

“That was pretty badass.” Thea smirked.

 

“Oh trust me; you haven’t seen how badass he can be.” Dinah smirked.

 

_Soon he found himself outside a heavy iron door. It was bolted shut, but not locked, and Oliver slid the bolt back. He opened the door and looked inside. Walter lay there, huddled on his side on a thin mattress on the floor._

_For a moment Oliver feared he was dead, but then saw the body move slightly and he realized Walter was just asleep. He activated his voice changer and called out to the man. "Mr. Steele." He said softly. When he didn't stir, he added a bit more forcefully, "Walter."_

_Walter jumped slightly as he came back to awareness. He rolled over and saw the vigilante standing in the open doorway. "What?" he asked in a raspy voice. "What's happening?"_

“Walter.” Thea said in a choked voice and Laurel out a comforting hand on her shoulder.

 

_"You're going home." Oliver said softly, his face hidden in the shadow of his hood._

_Oliver had Felicity call the appropriate authorities, and the police arrived shortly thereafter. The Hood stayed nearby but out of sight as a young patrol officer escorted Walter's gurney out to a waiting ambulance. The officer looked up, and for a moment Oliver could have sworn the man was looking right at him. But the gaze shifted around, and soon the officer climbed into the ambulance to get Walter's statement on the way to the hospital._

_Walter didn't stay in Bludhaven long. As soon as the doctors cleared him, he was airlifted back to Starling General Hospital, where a tearful Moira found him the next morning._

_"I thought I'd never see you again." She said, crying as she ran into his room and hugged him. Thea and Oliver followed her in._

_"I'm all right." He assured his wife._

_"Welcome home, Walter." Oliver said kindly._

_Walter looked at him, and suddenly things became a bit clearer. But now wasn't the time for such things. "Thank you, son." He said warmly. Oliver smiled._

_Walter looked up and saw the last remaining female crying next to him. "Thea." He said happily. She sobbed and collapsed into his arms, crying happy tears for once._

_A knock at the door, drew their attention, then they all looked up to see Felicity standing in the door with a pot of flowers. "This is totally a family thing, isn't it?" she said awkwardly._

_"I'm sorry, who are you?" Moira asked politely._

_"This is Felicity." Oliver introduced. "She's my friend."_

“And that’s all she ever should have been.” Dinah grumbled.

 

“Jealous?” Roy teased and she rolled her eyes.

 

“Of an I.T. girl that went on a power trip? As if. No, what I dislike about her relationship with Ollie is that she thought she could treat him like crap and get away with it. It was a very toxic relationship for Ollie. And frankly, it made out pre-island island relationship look healthy.” Dinah explained and Laurel, Tommy, and Thea frowned in concern.

 

“Just another reason that this girl should never find out Oliver’s secret.” Tommy muttered.

 

_"Mine, too." Walter said with a smile. "It's good to see you."_

_"You, too." She replied warmly. She set the flowers down. "I'll let you guys get back to your hugging." She said. Moira and Thea laughed and recommenced hugging Walter at once. Felicity smiled at Oliver, then walked out._

_"Oliver." Moira held out her hand, beckoning him over. "We're all together again. Everything's gonna be all right." She said. Oliver looked at her, barely masking the betrayal in his eyes._

“It is so far from alright that it is not even funny.” Thea muttered darkly.

 

_The scene flashed back to five years ago. At Starling City harbor, Robert was preparing to take 'The Queen's Gambit' out as Moira looked on worriedly._

_"Robert, I don't like the idea of this." She said._

_"It's gonna be ok." Robert assured her._

_"Yeah, well, how long will you be gone?" she asked._

_"A few weeks. Maybe more, depending on weather—"_

_"Why can't you just fly to China?" she asked plaintively._

_He smiled at her. "I think it's better the less you know."_

_"I just hate that stupid boat." She admitted._

“She always was a smart woman.” Dinah said idly.

 

_"Look at me." Robert said, and she did so. "I love you. Everything's gonna be fine." He assured her._

_She nodded. "I know." She said, hugging him._

_"Hey." They looked up to see Oliver as he dropped his bag on the dock next to them "Got room for one more?" he asked pleasantly._

_"No." Moira said at once._

_"Mom, let me keep dad company."_

_"Oliver, you're in school." She said._

_"Not really." He said. His parents looked at each other and sighed. "I forgot to tell you that." He added lamely._

_"I could use an extra hand on the ship." Robert said._

_"Robert—"_

_"Moira, let the kid take the boat out with the old man." He said with a grin._

_She sighed. "All right. All right." She said finally. She looked to Ollie. "But you promise me that you'll behave yourself." She said sternly._

_"Oh yeah. I promise." He lied. She knew it._

“He was such a terrible liar.” Dinah said idly and everyone who knew Oliver nodded.

 

_"I love you so much." She said hugging him._

_"I love you, too." The two hugged. The sound of a car door slamming made Ollie look up, and he saw Laurel standing at the end of the entrance ramp to the dock. He pulled away with a smile._

_"I totally spaced." He said. "I gotta call Tommy and let him know I'm out of town for a few weeks. I'll see you on board in 5." He told his dad. He walked off towards Laurel while pulling out his phone. He dialed a familiar number as he smiled at his girlfriend. "Sara?" he said when his girlfriend's sister picked up. "You here? Yeah, you might want to circle around the block a few times, because your sister just showed up." He hung up the phone just as Laurel reached him. "Hi." He said with a smile. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a kiss. "What are you doing here?" he asked_

_"You're leaving for 3 weeks." She said._

_"I wanted to come say bye to you in person."_

_They kissed. "I'm glad you did." Ollie lied as he pulled away._

_"And I wanted to bring you something." She said with a smile. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a wallet-sized version of her senior picture. He took it with a happy "Oh." She smiled at his reaction. "In case you get lonely at sea." She said._

_Ollie kissed the picture. "Thank you." He said._

_"Hey, is everything ok?" she asked suddenly. "I mean, I didn't totally freak you out when I brought up the whole apartment thing earlier, did I?"_

_"No." he lied with a smile._

“Yes.” Dinah, Tommy and Thea sai in synch.

 

“Okay, rub in why don’t you?” Laurel grumbled.

 

“Oh don’t worry, we will.” Thea promised and Laurel rolled her eyes.

 

_"Good." She said._

_"No." he grinned. The two kissed for a bit before Ollie pulled away. "Mm. But I do have to get back to the boat." He said._

_"Yeah." She sighed. She watched as Ollie walked back to the boat, and then turned and headed for her car. She didn't notice the other car that was parked in the lot above- a car containing Frank Chen._

_'Is it done?' Malcolm asked him over the phone._

_"Yes. The bomb is in place." Frank replied dutifully. "And there's a storm front moving in along the 'Gambit's' projected course."_

_'Good.' He said. 'When the 'Queen's Gambit' goes down, no one will suspect it's anything other than an act of God.'_

“You son of a birch.” Tommy snarled.

 

“Are you talking about Malcolm or Chen?” Thea grumbled.

 

“Both.” Tommy glowered as he glared at the screen as though it were his nemesis.

 

_In the harbor, Moira watched as the boat sailed off into history, unknowing of the fate Malcolm had decided for it._

_Back in the present, Oliver left Walter's room to get some air and put some distance between himself and his mother. Outside, though, he found someone else he had reason to hate._

_"Oliver." Malcolm Merlyn said, walking briskly towards the younger man. Oliver gritted his teeth, and then plastered a tired smile on his face as he turned to face the man. "What a miracle. How's Walter? The police are saying that he was rescued by the Vigilante." Malcolm said._

_"Yes, he was." Oliver replied softly._

_"Has he said anything about his ordeal? Was he able to identify any of his captors?" Malcolm asked casually, fishing for information._

_"No." Oliver said._

_"Hmm. That's too bad." Malcolm noted._

_"They'll get what's coming to them." Oliver remarked._

“Oh yes, they will.” Thea growled.

 

_Malcolm looked at him curiously. "I'm just glad that my family is back together." He continued._

_"We all are." Malcolm replied. The two looked at each other in silence for a moment before another voice thankfully broke the tension._

_"Ollie." Laurel called from the end of the hall. Oliver glanced at her, then back to Malcolm. "Excuse me." He said, walking away from the elder Merlyn and over to his ex-girlfriend._

_"Is Walter ok?" she asked. "I saw it on the news."_

_"Yeah." Oliver said. "Are you ok?" he asked concernedly._

_"Of course." He looked at her in disbelief. "I promise you now is not the time."_

_"It's you and Tommy." He guessed._

_"You and me, actually." She remarked. He stared at her curiously. "I talked to Tommy yesterday, and the reason he broke up with me is because he thinks that you and I still belong together."_

_"What did you say?" he asked._

_"Nothing." Laurel said. "He walked out on me."_

_"I just want you to be happy. It's what I've always wanted." Oliver said._

_"Then will you please go talk to Tommy for me?" she begged._

_"And say what?"_

_"Say that you and I are over." She said. "That you're not still in love with me."_

_"I can't do that."_

_"Why not?" she demanded._

_"Because it wouldn't be the truth." He said, stunning the woman. "And I have enough lies in my life already." Oliver walked past her, heading out of the hospital as Laurel stood frozen in the hall._

“So did not see that coming.” Roy said as Laurel stared, shocked that he had admitted it.

 

“If he hadn’t been so emotional because of Moira, he probably wouldn’t have told me that. But he did and he couldn’t close the bottle afterwards.” Dinah explained.

 

“So, is this where…” Dinah trailed off.

 

“No. Every time he and I took a step forward, it felt like we would take too steps back. Sometimes, it felt like the universe was conspiring to keep us apart. But, eventually, we found ourselves back together.” Dinah said, not able to keep the happiness out of her voice.

 

_The scene changed to Diggle's apartment. There was a knock on his door and he approached cautiously out of habit. He looked through the peephole and let out a resigned sigh. Opening the door, he saw Oliver standing there._

_"I guess you do know where I live." Dig said._

_"I've always known where you live." Oliver replied. He paused for a beat. "May I?" he asked. Dig silently motioned for him to come in. He entered, pausing briefly in front of Dig. "I'm sorry." He said softly. Dig accepted the apology with a nod of the head and closed the door. "You were right. And I was wrong." Oliver admitted._

_"About Deadshot?" Dig asked pointedly._

_"About everything." Oliver responded. "About my mother and about her involvement in the Undertaking. She lied to me." He hissed. "To Thea. She's working with Malcolm Merlyn." He announced, surprising Diggle. "They're planning something. Something terrible. I don't know what yet. But I just know one thing." He looked Diggle in the eyes. "I need your help to stop them." He asked._

_Meanwhile, out on the highway a lone truck sped on. In the trailer was a crate marked with the Unidac Industries logo painted on the side. And its destination was Starling City._

“Things are about to get intense.” Tommy noted.

 

“You have no idea.” Dinah said as she looked at him sadly as Diggle started the next recording.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Now, I haven’t watched all of season five, so I don’t know if this has changed, but in seasons three and four, Diggle seemed to get to demoted from Oliver and Felicity’s friend to their relationship councilor. I mean, can you guys name any point in those seasons where Oliver and Diggle hung out by themselves after work and did not have a conversation about Oliver and Felicity’s relationship? Because I’m drawing a blank.


	29. Darkness on the edge of town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity move towards finding out what Malcolm plans with desperate haste. Tommy comes to a realization about Oliver and Laurel's relationship while growing displeased with the growing closeness between Roy and Thea.

_The memory set opened in Unidac industries. Two scientists in white coats were walking down the clean, polished floor to the main laboratory. One of the scientists was hoping to get lucky._

_"So, I was wondering," the male scientist started, "there's a late night happy hour at Stella's. You know, the place across the street."_

_"You mean the place that's always playing loud salsa music at all hours when I'm trying to work late?" the female scientist said crossly._

_"That-that would be the one, yeah." He replied lamely. "Anyway, I was thinking that, um, maybe, you know, if you wanted to, we could perhaps grab a drink?" he asked nervously a she punched in the code for the door. They passed through decontamination into the main lab._

_"How about two?" she called over her shoulder as she took the lead- a lead that stopped when she saw her co-workers dead. "Oh, my God!" She gasped in horror as she saw a large man in a black outfit and hood standing over a kneeling Dr. Markov, aiming an arrow at his heart._

“What the hell?!” Tommy asked shocked as they all stared at the screen in stunned silence.

 

“What is he doing?” Thea demanded.

 

“Cleaning house.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"Please. I did everything Mr. Merlyn required of me!" Dr. Markov begged._

_"He knows, Dr. Markov," the Dark Archer said, "and he thanks you for your service." He fired the arrow, killing the man._

“One hell of a thank you.” Roy said disturbed.

 

“That’s Malcolm for you.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

_The female scientist screamed, drawing his attention. He watched as they ran towards the door, and calmly plugged a small device into the USB port on the mainframe. It activated at once, sending an EMP through the computers, destroying all the data on Markov's project. It also tripped the alarm, which sent the lab into lockdown. He walked steadily towards the two scientists who were banging on the door, begging to be let out._

_Two guards came running into the room, their guns drawn. "Freeze!" One of them yelled, and the Dark Archer spun and fired, killing him immediately. The other guard opened fire, but missed badly. He had the wisdom to duck behind the now useless mainframe just as an arrow was fired. It hit the computer behind him. The Dark Archer shot another arrow into the mainframe, then turned and calmly headed towards the two scientists, who were still banging on the door and yelling "Open the door! Open the door!"_

_"Get down on the floor!" the second guard said. A moment later the second arrow exploded, sending shrapnel into the man's face and chest. The Dark Archer paid him no heed; he stood towering over the two innocent scientists who would never go on that date. He drew and arrow and aimed it at the female, who screamed in terror._

_Only minutes later, a black Porsche sped out of Unidac's parking lot. In the car, Malcolm Merlyn ripped off his mask, satisfied at the night's work._

“He’s actually proud of that.” Laurel realized, her disgust at Malcolm growing by the minute.

 

“He is the devil in human form.” Dinah said darkly.

 

“No, that’s an insult to the devil.” Tommy said coolly, staring right at the screen.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver and Felicity were there, along with Diggle, who was back._

_"I've been watching your mother for days now, Oliver, and nothing." Dig reported. This time he had permission to tail Moira Queen. "She goes to work, she comes home. Occasionally she goes out for dinner. She seems to particularly like the salmon tartar at Table Salt." He added dryly._

_"I'm linked into her home and office phone." Felicity added. "Nothing out of the ordinary. No mention of Walter's abduction or the Undertaking. Just a few innocuous calls to Malcolm Merlyn."_

_"Why wouldn't she call him? They're old friends." Oliver said sarcastically. "We're all old friends." He added quietly, sadly._

_Felicity got up and walked over to the vigilante. "Are you ok?" she asked gently._

“Did she seriously just ask that?” tommy stared incredulously at the screen.

 

“Why on earth would he be okay?” Thea snapped, angry at Felicity’s thoughtlessness.

 

“For someone who’s so smart when it comes to computers, she’s pretty stupid when it comes to people.” Roy drawled.

 

_"My mom and my best friend's dad are involved in a conspiracy that may have dire consequences for the city." He said. "And I'm pretty sure they murdered my father. I'm not planning on using the word 'ok' again anytime soon."_

_"Listen, all we know for sure is that Malcolm and your mother are planning something for the Glades." Diggle said reasonably._

_"And that Walter and I were getting too close to it, that's why they had him kidnapped." Felicity added._

_"We have to find out what this Undertaking is." Dig stated._

_"I got to ask her." Oliver decided, rising to leave._

_"Well, no." Felicity said quickly. "The last time the Vigilante paid your mom a visit, you got shot, and I got to play doctor with you." She closed her eyes and groaned, running a hand over her hair. "Ahh! My brain thinks of the worst way to say things."_

“You know, as much as I hate to admit it, she has a point.” Thea admitted.

 

“But what she fails to realize is that Ollie is not that stupid.” Dinah told her.

 

_"This time it'll just be me asking." He promised. "Friendly mother-son chat."_

_Oliver walked up stairs and was getting ready to head home when he saw Laurel standing in the empty club. "Laurel?" he called out, gaining her attention. "What are you doing here?" he asked, walking over to her. "It's not even 7:00 a.m."_

_"That's just after closing time, right?" she joked. They both chuckled. "How's business?" she asked._

_"Well, it's busy. Busy." He sighed. "It was easier when Tommy was running things." He admitted._

_"Tommy's a good guy." She said._

_"Yeah." Oliver agreed._

_"Are you?" she asked suddenly._

“I see where this is going.” Roy smirked as Laurel blushed and Tommy simply looked uncomfortable.

 

“Behave.” Dinah chided gently, although there was a small smile on her face.

 

_He looked at her with a guarded expression. "What do you mean?" he asked cautiously._

_"Last week, I told you that I wanted to get back with Tommy." She said. "That I needed you to go to him and explain to him that you didn't still have feelings for me. But instead, you told me that you did." She reminded him. "As I'm sure you can probably imagine, I haven't been able to think of much since."_

_"I shouldn't have said that." Oliver said at once._

_"Then why did you?" Laurel asked._

_"I didn't have an agenda." He said. "I didn't mean to make it more difficult for you to fix things with Tommy." He moved to leave._

_"But what if you did?" she asked, stopping him. He turned back to face her. "After you disappeared- with Sara- I was sorry I ever knew you." Laurel stated. "But now, things have happened that I never thought would. You coming home. My parents being in the same room. And you." She looked at him in hope and trepidation. "What if I'm finally starting to see you for who you really are?" she asked._

“No, that wouldn’t be for about another year.” Dinah mused.

 

“So we find out at the end of year two?” Laurel asked curiously.

 

“Sort of. You’ll see.” Dinah promised.

 

_"No, Laurel, it's—"_

_"And maybe Tommy was right." She continued, cutting him off. "Maybe he and I weren't meant to be. Maybe I'm finally ready to admit that that I still have feelings for you, too."_

_"Nothing's changed." Oliver said bluntly. "My life hasn't changed. I haven't changed." He told her harshly. She looked at him, crestfallen. "I got to go. Walter's coming home." Oliver tuned and walked out, leaving Laurel alone and heartbroken once again._

“You were right. One step forward, two steps back.” Laurel noted sadly.

 

“He once told me, after we were married, that because of all the things he had done while he was away and all the ways he had hurt before and after those five years, that he felt he didn’t deserve my love, didn’t deserve to be loved by me. That that was why he kept pushing me away.” Dinah said softly.

 

“That’s not up to him. I get to decide what I deserve, not him.” Laurel huffed.

 

“I know. But if you do decide you want to try again with him, I just want you to know what you’re dealing with.” Dinah explained and Laurel nodded in understanding.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor, as once again a lost loved one returned home._

_"Everything's exactly as you left it." Moira was saying as she led Walter into the house. Oliver and Thea were on hand to greet him._

_"How are you feeling, Walter?" Oliver asked kindly._

_"I'm on the mend, thank you, Oliver."_

_Thea rushed up and hugged him. "Oh, I'm so glad you're home."_

_"That makes two of us." He quipped._

_"All of us." Moira added happily. "We've prepared a delicious brunch for you. All your favorites." She added._

_"Oh, yum, English food." Thea joked lightly._

_Walter sighed. "Actually, I'm more tired from the drive than I expected." He said. "So I think I'd like to lie down for a bit."_

_"Yes, of course." Moira told him. Moira leaned in to kiss him on the lips, but he turned his head at the last second and she kissed his cheek instead. He gave her a stained smile and then headed for the bedroom._

“That doesn’t look good.” Thea said uneasily as she worried.

 

“Walter’s a smart man Speedy. It didn’t take him long to put together that your mom was somehow involved with his kidnapping.” Dinah explained and Thea sighed, dismayed.

 

_Thea looked on in concern, but a buzzing noise got her attention. She pulled out her phone and saw a text from Roy._

_:Meet me tonight:_

_Thea walked over to Oliver. "Walter doesn't really seem like himself." She noted as they watched Walter slowly make his way up the stairs._

_"He's gone through a lot." Oliver said. "It's just going to take a little bit of time."_

_Thea sighed. "I'm really sick of us all having to go through a lot, you know?" she said in frustration before moving off herself, leaving Oliver alone with their mother._

“You and me both.” Dinah sighed.

 

_In the sitting room, Moira was watching a news broadcast in dread._

_'Six scientists and three security personnel are confirmed killed in the massacre.' The reporter was saying. 'Among the dead, respected seismologist Brian Markov. A spokesperson for Unidac Industries says a comment would be forthcoming.'_

_Oliver walked briskly into the room just as the news broadcast was winding down. "Mom, we need to talk." He said brusquely, but Moira was too distracted to notice his tone._

_"Oh, uh, later, Oliver." She said, hurrying out of the room._

“You can’t avoid this anymore mom.” Thea snapped.

 

_Oliver looked on in frustration, but then the news broadcast caught his eye. He moved closer to the TV to watch._

_'-co-workers, parents and families of all the victims to see how they're coping with their loss.'_

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Slade, Shado and Oliver sat in the back of a truck, their hands bound, as it made its way back to the mercenary camp. They drove in right past the missile launcher, which was now fully operational. The soldiers unloaded them and walked them into the command tent, where Oliver saw a familiar face- the 'student' that had come staggering into the cave, Alan._

“Looks like you were right John.” Laurel admitted as Diggle nodded slowly, watching with interest.

 

_"You!" Oliver growled, lunging towards the man who was sitting at a radio. Alan smirked at him as a soldier put him back into the line._

_"Save it." Slade told him. "We don't have the luxury of indulging in vendettas."_

“Dinah couldn’t help the scoff that escaped her at that, mouthing ‘later’ when Roy looked over at her curiously. Roy nodded before turning back to the screen.

 

_"Ba!" Shado exclaimed as she saw her dad._

_"Shado." He replied sadly._

_"You led Fyers right to us, you coward!" Slade spat, straining against the soldier that held him in place._

_"Fyers was about to fire bomb the entire forest just to eliminate you." He explained harshly. "This way, you all have a chance."_

_"Well, pray I don't get the chance to repay your mercy." Slade said coldly._

_That was when Fyers walked in, looking inordinately pleased with himself. "How fitting." He said smugly. "Everyone reunited for the end."_

_"The end of what?" Oliver asked, exasperated. "What is all this for?"_

_Suddenly the radio flared to life._

_“HKIA, this is Ferris Air flight 637 out of Berlin, nonstop to Hong Kong. We are steady on approach at 33,000 feet and winds at 15 knots. ETA, two hours, 15 minutes, over.”_

_Alan activated his mic. "Ferris 637, this is HKIA. Adjust course to 0.6 degrees south, 11 minutes. Over." He said as the three prisoners looked on in confusion._

_“Roger, HKIA. Why the course change?”_

_"Nothing to worry about, 637." Alan replied. "Just looking to make sure you avoid a little turbulence."_

_“Roger that. Adjusting course now.”_

“He’s gonna shoot down a plane with the missile launcher.” Diggle put together and Dinah nodded.

 

“That’s an awful lot of work just to shoot down a plane.” Roy said skeptically.

 

“Because there’s a lot more to it than that. Just watch.” Dinah told them.

 

_Alan switched off the mic and looked back at Fyers. "They're altering course, sir." He told him. "The plane will be in range of Lian Yu in 26 minutes."_

_"Good. Keep tracking it." Fyers ordered._

_"That's a commercial airliner, Fyers." Oliver said. "It's not like it can land here."_

_"It won't be landing anywhere, Mr. Queen." Fyers said coldly. "I'm going to destroy it."_

_Oliver's eyes widened, then he looked outside at the missile launcher in horror._

_The scene changed to Unidac, where Lance and Hilton were looking over the sight of the massacre. Lance looked down at the pretty female scientist, who had an arrow in her chest, and frowned._

_"Arrows are black, not green." He noted._

_"Copycat archer again." Hilton said._

_"Psychopaths are color-coding themselves now. That's helpful." Lance said dryly as the two men started to head out of the building._

_"Yeah, except we haven't seen the copycat in quite a while." Hilton said._

_Lance sighed. "Ok, last time he took hostages to draw out the Vigilante. This time, he massacres a bunch of lab nerds?" he shook his head. He was missing something. "I want a press lockdown, nobody hears about the other archer and we need to get a list of all Unidac employees and find out what they're working on here." He ordered as they walked outside._

_"Apparently it was a tight group." Hilton said. "Anyone who knows anything about the project is dead. And the copycat fried all their computers and burned their research."_

“He killed everyone at Unidac that was involved in his little project so no one could trace it back to him.” Laurel realized.

 

“Say what you will about Malcolm, but is not stupid and he covers all his bases.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_Lance let out a breath. "Whatever's going on here, someone doesn't want anyone to know about it." He guessed._

_Across the street, Roy Harper sat snapping photos of the cops as they went about their business._

“And of course you’re there.” Thea teased as she looked over at Roy.

 

“Would you expect anything less?” Roy smirked as Thea laughed.

 

Tommy narrowed his eyes as he looked back and forth between them. Were they…flirting?

 

_"Where did you even get that camera?" Thea asked from the passenger seat. She frowned. "Come to think of it, where did you get this car?” She asked suspiciously._

_Roy looked at her guiltily. "I borrowed it. Illegally." He admitted._

_Thea sighed. "You know, when I imagine being in a car with you, this isn't exactly what I had in mind." She teased._

“What exactly did you have in mind?” Roy raised an eyebrow.

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Thea said coyly as Tommy glared at Roy.

 

“If you look at me any harder, I’m going to think you like me.” Roy quipped and Thea and Laurel laughed as Tommy glowered at Roy.

 

“Let it go, it’s not worth it.” Diggle whispered to Tommy and Tommy grunted as he turned back to the screen.

 

“She’s my sister.” Tommy hissed so only Diggle could hear.

 

“I know. But the more you tell her not to, the more she’ll do it anyway. Besides, you’ve seen how he turned out, he’s a good kid. And he gets Oliver’s stamp of approval, so I think he passes.” Diggle said reasonably.

 

Tommy simply grunted in response.

 

_"Yeah, well, you're the one who said you'd help me find the Vigilante." Roy reminded her._

_"I know, but it's been two weeks, and the closest we've come is snapping photos of the cop who hates the Hood just as much as you worship him."_

_He looked at her sharply. "I don't worship him." He denied. "I just need to find him."_

_"You don't need to find him to be somebody." She told him honestly. "Besides, it's not like you're going to meet him any time soon. Looks like the cops don't have a clue."_

_Roy suddenly had an idea. "We don't know what they know." He looked at his girlfriend with a sly smile._

_Thea frowned. "Ok, I officially do not like that look." She said worriedly._

_"You still work at CNRI, right?" he asked. She looked at him in confusion._

“Please tell me you’re not about to do what I think you are.” Laurel pleaded as she looked from Roy to Thea.

 

“Would you like the truth or a lie?” Roy asked and Laurel groaned.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Moira was standing alone in the sitting room, staring out the window when Oliver walked in._

_"Hey, Mom."_

_Moira turned around, a bit startled. She sighed when she saw it was Oliver- in dread or relief, he didn't know. "Walter's upstairs resting." She said. "I think he's doing well, don't you?"_

_"Who took him?" Oliver asked, deciding on the direct approach._

_"Well, we don't know yet. But I'm going to make sure all the resources of Queen Consolidated are behind it." She replied automatically._

_Oliver gave her a tight grin. "That's the answer that you gave to reporter's yesterday." he reminded her softly. "Tell me the truth."_

_Moira scoffed. "I don't know what you mean."_

_"I think you do." Oliver said. "A couple months ago, when I showed you dad's notebook, you seemed to know something. Something about our family being in danger." He pressed._

_She stared at him with a mixture of outrage and fear. "Are you suggesting that I knew something about my husband's kidnapping?" she demanded._

“Yes.” Everyone said in synch.

 

_"I'm just suggesting that maybe you were scared." He offered. "That maybe you didn't mean for any of this to happen. But it was harder than you thought. And now you're barely keeping your head above water. Please, Mom." He pleaded gently. "Let me help you before you drown."_

_"You need to stop asking these things." She said fearfully "Do you understand? I need you to stop."_

_"I can't. I need to know." He said._

_Suddenly the lights flickered, and then died. Moira looked around in confusion. "Is that a power outage?" she asked._

_Oliver looked around warily. "I don't know." He said. There was a sound of breaking glass, and then suddenly a dart whizzed through the air and hit Oliver in the neck. He sank to the floor, knocked out by the 'tranquilizer'._

_"Oliver!" Moira exclaimed, falling to the floor to check on her son. "Oliver!" Suddenly, she too was hit with a dart. As the world darkened around her, she saw a shadow of a hooded figure on the wall. As she fell back, all she saw was a dark shape approaching her as she lost consciousness._

“Holy crap.” Thea breathed as they all stared at the screen stunned.

 

“I guess Ollie is done messing around with her.” Laurel muttered.

 

“You have no idea.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_When she awoke, she found herself bound to a metal chair in what looked to be an old, abandoned warehouse. Directly across from her, bound in a similar fashion, was Oliver._

_"Mom!" he exclaimed groggily, still 'coming out from the tranq'._

_"Oliver." She slurred._

_"Are you ok?" he asked._

_She leaned forward, and the bindings made themselves apparent. "Oliver?" she said, more panicked now that full awareness was returning, "How…how are… we got to get out of here."_

_"Moira Queen. You have failed the city." She looked up, and though her vision was partially obstructed by the heavy work lights that were pointed directly at her, she couldn't mistake the form of The Hood- the man she had shot months ago._

“Wow, he really isn’t messing around anymore.” Tommy muttered.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island._

_"It doesn't make any sense!" Oliver exclaimed. "Why do you want to blow up a plane?"_

_Fyers stood in front of him. "When the New York Stock Exchange reopened after 9-11, the Dow Jones dropped nearly 685 points." He lectured. "Can you imagine what would happen to China, the world's second largest economy, if all air travel in and out of China were to be grounded indefinitely?"_

_"You want to destabilize China's economy?" Slade guessed._

_"It's not what I want, but rather my employer." Fyers said simply. "We have enough missiles here to shoot down any aircraft approaching the mainland." He explained. "And that will decimate China's economy. Especially," he turned to face Yao Fei, "once a rogue element in China's own military claims responsibility." Yao Fei's eyes widened. "You see, inconvenient though you occasionally were, you're always worth more to me alive than dead."_

“He wants to destabilize China and blame it on Yao-Fei. Man, this guy was one sick bastard.” Roy said disgusted.

 

“Understatement of the century.” Thea said as she glared at the screen.

 

_"Then you should have killed me." He said boldly. "Because I won't do it."_

_"Really?" Fryers asked softly. He turned back to the prisoners, then drew his gun and batted Oliver on the side of the head with the butt of the gun, then shot Slade in the thigh and Shado in the right shoulder._

“Damn, this guy is a monster.” Tommy said disgusted.

 

“Yeah, he’s a dictator disguised as a mercenary. And trust me, I know the difference.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_"Ahh!" she screamed in pain as she fell back to the ground._

_"Shado!" Yao Fei screamed in panic, running over to his wounded daughter. "Shado!"_

_"I said I need you alive, but I can kill everyone you care about." Fryers said, raising his gun at Shado once more._

_The scene changed to the SCPD. Thea walked in, doing her best to hide her nervousness. She ended up standing in front of Lance's board with the Hood investigation, staring at the sketch that had been made almost a year previously._

_"Help you with something?" an officer asked her._

_"Yes, um, I'm from CNRI and we're investigating claims of racial bias in SCPD arrests." She lied. "So I'm going to need a copy of each file from every arrest in Starling City January, 2011 to the present."_

_"It's almost 9:00 at night." The cop argued._

_She handed him the court order she had picked specifically for her task. "Yeah, well, tell that to Judge Grell. He's the one who signed the court order."_

“Not bad for a first try,” Roy noted, “if I didn’t know you so were lying, I would say that you were telling truth.”

 

“Not bad for her first try.” Dinah mused.

 

  
“Let the record show that I’m not happy about this…but I am impressed.” Laurel admitted.

 

“Did I ever join in on Ollie’s team? I mean, I know everyone else does, but you haven’t mentioned e at all.” Thea pointed out and Dinah paused.

 

“Yes. After Arsenal left, he gave you his uniform. You modified it for you and went by Speedy for a while,” Dinah said before smirking, “I guess some couplies trade clothes, you two trade vigilante gear.”

 

“I don’t need to hear that.” Tommy groaned as Thea flushed and Roy smirked.

 

_"Wait here." He said. The cop sighed and walked off to comply._

_"I don't know; it seems like a bit of a reach."_

_Thea's eyes widened in alarm, and she leaned against the bulletin board, her back to the doorway just as Lance and Hilton walked in. She quickly made her way to the other side of the doorway, into the back hall and listened as the two detectives spoke._

_"Yeah, which is what you do when you got nothin'." Lance said, walking past her into the squad room with Hilton. “'Cause all I know is the copycat, he torched every record down at Unidac. And all we got are phone records and they show that this Markov guy, he made a couple of calls to an unclaimed line at Merlyn Global."_

_"A couple of calls?" Hilton said incredulously. "Did I say reach? I misspoke. I meant leap."_

“Leap, misstep, call it whatever you want, but my dad was closer to anyone on the force to figuring out what was really happening.” Dinah grumbled.

 

_Lance sighed tiredly. "Just get someone down here from Merlyn Global to answer a few questions under oath." He asked. Hilton nodded and walked off to make the call._

_A short time later, Thea made her way back to Roy's house._

_"Did you find anything?" she asked, walking in the door._

_"Lots." Roy said, perusing news articles on Thea's tablet._

_"Anything helpful?" she asked hopefully._

_Roy sighed. "No, still looking." He closed the tablet and looked at his girlfriend. "What about you? You learn anything from the cops?" he asked._

_"As a matter of fact…" she started._

_Roy grinned. "I like the sound of that." He said._

_"You know that copycat archer?" she asked._

_"Yeah."_

_"Turns out he's connected to Merlyn Global somehow. Or, at least his victims are." She told him._

_"We're looking for the Hood, not some crazy wannabe." He pointed out._

_"Well, the guy with the black arrows seems to hate the guy with the green arrows, so…" the trailed off._

_Roy shook his head. "So what, we just show up at Merlyn Global and hope the Hood shows up, too?" he asked doubtfully._

Dinah snickered at this and everyone looked over at her questioningly.

 

“Just keep watching.” She said with an amused smile.

 

_"Last I checked you don't have any better ideas." Thea pointed out. Roy nodded in agreement._

_The scene shifted back to the warehouse. The Hood- Diggle in disguise- stood next to the bound Oliver. The hood itself was pulled down low over his face, and the work lights pointed at Moira blinded her to the fact it was suddenly a black man questioning her, and not the white man she had shot._

_"Please! Do not hurt my son." She pleaded._

_"Tell me what the Undertaking is and I won't have to." Dig said; his voice distorted through the voice changer. Moira hesitated, torn between protecting her son now, and protecting him from Malcom overall. Dig looked down at Oliver, who looked up at him and subtly nodded. Dig hauled off and slugged him._

“Damn!” Roy said as Laurel, Thea, and Tommy all glared at Diggle.

 

“Don’t look at me like that. I haven’t done it yet.” Diggle told them and they looked away sheepishly.

 

“Besides, nothing happened in that warehouse that wasn’t on Ollie’s orders.” Dinah pointed out and everyone nodded, feeling a little stupid.

 

_"No!" Moira cried._

_"Tell me!" Dig yelled, punching Oliver again._

_"Please! Leave my son alone!" she begged, tears in her eyes._

_"What is Malcolm Merlyn planning?!" The Hood demanded, still facing Oliver._

_"I can't tell you! He'll kill me, he'll kill my family." She cried._

_"You should be more worried about what I'll do." Dig snarled. He hit Oliver hard in the face, knocking him and the chair over. Oliver coughed and gasped in pain._

_"No! Malcolm is planning to level the Glades!" Moira finally admitted. "He said so he could rebuild it, but…"_

_Dig stalked over to Moira, carefully keeping his face hidden. "How?" he demanded._

_"There's a device."_

_"What device?!"_

_"He says that it can cause an earthquake." Moira said._

_Dig was stunned. "How is this possible?" he asked, walking behind her._

_"I don't know." Moira said. "It was invented by Unidac Industries. Malcolm used my company's Applied Sciences to turn it into a weapon."_

_"Why would you get involved in something like this?" Dig asked quietly._

_"My husband…" Moira said hesitantly as Oliver listened from the floor. "He got involved without my knowing. He was just trying to do some good." She said, more for Oliver's sake than the Hood's. "He was lost. He… his decisions left me vulnerable to Malcolm, and I had no choice. I had to protect my family and my children." She finished, trying to justify her actions._

“And the truth finally comes out.” Thea said bitterly.

 

“But by that point, it was too late.” Dinah said in the same tone.

 

_"This device," The Hood started, "Where is it?"_

_"I don't know." She said tearfully._

_"If you don't tell me, I can't stop Merlyn!" The Hood said angrily._

_Moira scoffed. "Oh, you can't stop him." She spat. "It's too late."_

_Dig pulled a flachette off of the wrist gauntlet and stalked over to Oliver._

_Moira's eyes widened in panic. "No, no, no, I told you everything!" she cried. She stilled when The Hood cut Oliver's wrist free. He then walked back behind Moira and cut the rope holding her to the chair, allowing it to drop free._

_Moira ignored the vigilante, who was walking away, and hurried over to her son. "Oliver!" she cried._

_"No!" Oliver gasped in pain- more emotional than physical, pushing her away._

_She looked at him sadly. "Oh, sweet- Please, I know what you must be thinking, sweetheart, but I never intended any of this to happen." He coughed, glaring at her. "You know I would never willingly be a part of anything like this." She pleaded._

_Oliver staggered to his feet. "I don't know anything anymore." He said wearily, limping out of the warehouse- away from his mother._

“That’s what happens when you spend all your time lying-those closest to you don’t trust you anymore.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“Well, and I’m not defending her, but she was trying to protect Thea. And Oliver once he came back.” Tommy pointed out.

 

“I have a daughter,” Dinah said bluntly and everyone looked at her startled, “Her name is Olivia, she’s three. She is the only thing I have left of Ollie and she means the world to me. But I would never value her life over lives of thousands of people; no matter ow much I love her. As a parent, one half of your job is to protect your child. The other half is to set a good example for them. Moira only did one half of her job.”

 

“Can-can I meet her?” Thea asked timidly and Dinah softened as she smiled at Thea.

 

“I’ll bring her to lunch tomorrow.” Dinah promised.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair a short time later. As Oliver wearily made his way into the hideout, Felicity gasped in shock._

_"Oh, my God." She exclaimed. She looked accusingly at Dig. "You said you were going to pull your punches!"_

_"I did." He said defensively._

_"Let me get you an icepack for… everything." Felicity offered._

_He gently pushed her away. "I'm fine." He said. "I need you to dig up everything you can on Unidac Industries."_

_Felicity moved back to her computers. "Well, we know Queen Consolidated acquired them seven months ago. That's when we met." She added, smiling at him._

“So the infatuation started early then.” Laurel noted distastefully.

 

“Yep. She got star struck and got a little crush when she started thinking of him as a hero. What she didn’t realize was that Ollie was already a hero, just a much darker one than she imagined.” Dinah said a matching tone.

 

_"I need information about what I don't know." Oliver said gently._

_Felicity typed away. "Unidac is a small research and development technology company that specializes in seismic infringement." She informed them._

_"Merlyn plans on leveling the Glades with a device that triggers a manmade earthquake." Oliver said._

_Felicity looked up at him in shock. "You're kidding."_

_"What else does it say?" Oliver asked._

_"More information on the stock auction and, you know, the latest on what the media's calling-"_

_"The Unidac massacre." Oliver finished._

_"There's no way this timing is a coincidence." Dig said._

_"Oliver, there's a website claiming the police suspect a copycat archer." Felicity added quickly, pulling up the article in question._

_"What?!" Oliver exclaimed softly._

_"So the other archer works for Merlyn?" Dig asked._

“If only it were that simple.” Tommy said bitterly.

 

_"He's tying up loose ends." Oliver said. "Erasing all evidence this device exists so no one can trace the devastation back to him."_

_"All right, so you're going to have a pointed conversation with Mr. Merlyn." Dig stated._

_Oliver shook his head. "Well, even if I take out Merlyn, the other archer is still out there. He can set off the device." He sighed. "We need to find it. Then Merlyn can get his."_

_"Well, maybe there's another way to get Merlyn to tell us." Felicity said, typing away on her keyboard._

_"What do you have in mind?" Diggle asked._

_"As I keep proving, people keep secrets." She said. "Computers don't."_

_"Felicity, are you hacking into the Merlyn Global mainframe?" Oliver asked, amused._

_"'Hacking' is such an ugly word. No. I'm…" she paused for a beat. "Yeah, totally hacking into the Merlyn Global mainframe."_

“There’s really only one word to describe breaking through a computer’s firewall and getting access to all its information.” Laurel pointed out.

 

“She didn’t like thinking about all the laws she broke.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island, where Fyers was moments away from shooting Shado again._

_"Stop!" Yao Fei cried. "I'll do it." He said in resignation._

_"I knew your good judgment could be counted on." Fyers said, lowering his weapon. "Come along now. We need to get you back into uniform."_

_Slade started squirming, trying to get back up, and the guards turned their attention on him- as did Fyers who walked over and held his gun at Slade's face, causing him to still. But while everyone was distracted, Yao Fei quickly pulled a small throwing knife from his boot and slipped it into Oliver's hand, much to his surprise. Oliver quickly concealed the small blade in his hands as Yao Fei said something in Chinese to Shado. He helped her sit up, but was then grabbed by two guards and escorted out._

_Fyers grabbed a satellite phone and headed out as well. He dialed a number from memory. "It's Fyers. It's happening." He said simply._

_On the other end of the line, a bespectacled man walked into an office. "Understood." He said. He hung up the phone and looked at the woman behind the desk. "That was Fyers. Everything is proceeding to your plan."_

“Who the hell is that?” Tommy asked with narrowed eyes.

 

“Amanda Waller, director of Argus. Back then anyway.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“And Lyla works for this woman?” Diggle said disgusted.

 

“Lyla doesn’t realize the true depths of Waller’s disregard for human life. When she did, she left Argus and never looked back.” Dinah explained.

 

_Back in the present, Moira had made her way tiredly back to the Manor. As she walked in, she heard Walter speaking with someone._

_"It truly is very kind of you to come all the way out here." Walter was saying._

_Moira walked into the sitting room. "Walter? Who are you speaking to—" she stopped cold when Malcolm Merlyn rose from the other couch and smiled._

“How dare he come into my house, talk to Walter as if he was a friend…after what he did.” Thea growled.

 

“He was a true psychopath.” Dinah said darkly.

 

_"Moira. How are you?" he asked pleasantly._

_"Well." The mask came back on with practiced ease. "Thank you."_

_"Actually, you look a little bit out of sorts." Walter noted._

_"Oh, no, no, I'm fine." She said, fixing her hair slightly and smiling at the two men._

_"Malcolm stopped by to check up on his nemesis." Moira looked startled at that. "On the racquetball court." Walter finished with a chuckle._

_"I didn't get a chance to talk to Walter at the hospital." Malcolm said, still smiling. "Like everyone, I'm glad he's back where he belongs. With his family." He said with a meaningful look at Moira._

“You are lying through your teeth.” Tommy sneered.

 

_"Yes." She said evenly._

_"I'll let you get some rest." Malcolm told Walter._

_"Thanks again." He said._

_"Uh, I'll walk you out." Moira said, leading him towards the door. Once out in the hall, she spoke quietly. "Your assassin wasn't too subtle in eliminating those people at Unidac." She noted._

_"Well, now the police are focused on the copycat archer instead of the Undertaking. As for our collateral damage, I had to limit our exposure." Malcolm said easily._

_"I see. And does paying Walter a visit just now fall under the same category? You held him for nearly six months. Surely you had him questioned." she asked harshly._

_"He was." Malcolm said evenly._

_"And I assume that if Walter knew something you'd rather he didn't, agreement be damned, I would be a widow again." She said bitterly. "Am I wrong?"_

_"Rarely." Malcolm said evenly, his face betraying no emotion whatsoever. He let himself out as Moira stood there, horrified._

“You’re right…he is the devil in human form.” Tommy said his disgust of his father reaching a new high.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD, where Lance was interviewing the representative from Merlyn Global. To his annoyance, it was Tommy._

_"Well, we discovered a few phone calls between one of the Unidac victims and someone at the Merlyn Global group." He explained. "Which is why I asked for someone at your company to help me with my investigation. But naturally, they send down the one guy that's been working there 30 seconds and knows nothing." He added sarcastically._

“You know, he’s got a point,” Laurel mused, “Tommy, no offense, but it really wouldn’t surprise me if Malcolm sent you precisely because you didn’t know anything.”

 

“I wouldn’t put it passed him.” Tommy said darkly.

 

_"Detective Lance, if someone from Merlyn Global is involved with those deaths, I want them found as much as you do." Tommy said seriously. "Give me more to go on than some phone calls and I will help you in any way that I can." He promised._

_"Thank you." Lance said. He looked up and saw Laurel walk in. Tommy notes and stood, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable._

“Wow, you can actually feel the awkward.” Thea quipped as Tommy and Laurel avoided looking at each other.

 

_"What are you doing here?" she asked Tommy._

_"Helping your father with an investigation." He said awkwardly. He looked back at Lance. "Uh… call me if you need anything else." He told the detective, handing him his business card._

_"Thank you." Lance said dryly. Tommy stiffly made his way past Laurel and out of the room._

_"One second, sweetie." Lance told his daughter, and then walked over to Kelton. "Ok, someone at Merlyn Global could be connected to the copycat archer, all right? Any chance you can have a little snoop around their computer systems?" he asked._

_"You'll need a warrant." Kelton said._

_"No, we'll need a judge who owes me a favor." Lance said wryly. He turned back to his daughter and smiled. "Hey." Laurel smiled weakly as he walked over to her. "You never did tell me what had you and Merlyn on the outs."_

_"No, I didn't." she said simply._

_"You don't have to tell me." Quentin said kindly. He moved over to the file cabinet to put away some paperwork._

_"Oliver." She blurted out._

_Quentin scoffed. "Come on."_

_"I know, I know. Say it." She said wearily. "You…you think I'm crazy." He glanced at her, but said nothing. I mean, Oliver, he cheated on me, he broke my heart, he led Sara to her death and you would probably rather drink acid than see me with him again." She sighed and looked away. "Dad I am sure you're disappointed in me."_

_Quentin exhaled sharply, then closed the drawer and turned to Laurel. "Since Queen's been back, he's different." He said grudgingly. "I'll deny ever having said that." Laurel smiled slightly. "Hmm. Let's eat." Quentin He went to grab his coat, leaving Laurel standing there waiting for him, lost in thought._

“Did he just give me his blessing to be with Ollie?” Laurel asked surprised.

 

“Closest thing we would have gotten back then.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_The scene changed to the lair, where Felicity was still hard at work trying to hack into Merlyn Global's mainframe- and still failing. The computer beeped at her in warning and she scoffed._

_"Anything?" Oliver asked._

_"Just for the record, I will pump my fist in the air and scream, 'yes!' if I get in." Felicity said crossly._

_"You know, you can just say this isn't working." Dig said tiredly from his seat next to her._

_"This- isn't working." She admitted._

_"All right, there has to be some other way we can find out where he's keeping this device." Diggle said reasonably._

_Felicity got up and began to pace. "Unless I can waltz up to Merlyn's mainframe and plug in my tablet directly, there's no way of getting that location." She said bluntly._

_"Then we waltz."_

_The pair looked at Oliver._

_"Excuse me?" Felicity said tiredly._

_"You need direct access to the mainframe, so we get you direct access to the mainframe, and we figure out where the device is being kept." Oliver stated._

_Felicity sighed. "Oliver, I did mention that the mainframe is located inside Merlyn Global Group's main headquarters, on the 25th floor?" she reminded him. "It's only accessible through a restricted access elevator."_

_"I know." Oliver said. "We're going to have to break in."_

“Wow…is that even possible?” Tommy asked as they all stared at the screen.

 

“One thing I’ve learned over the years is that ‘impossible’ got thrown out the dictionary when Ollie came back.” Dinah told him.

 

_The next morning Oliver, dressed in his good suit, walked into the lobby of Merlyn Global Group. He headed over to the security desk and smiled._

_"Hi. Oliver Queen." He said needlessly. "I have an 11:30 with Tommy Merlyn."_

“Given my current attitude problem, I don’t think I’ll take that well.” Tommy muttered as he winced.

 

“You’re learning.” Dinah told him.

 

_The security guard took his ID to run a check. Suddenly a large bag of food land with a muted thud on the desk._

_"I have a super deluxe big Belly Buster for a Mr. Andrews." Felicity, dressed as a deliver driver for Big Belly Burger said. "I think he's in security." She looked at the guard in bored curiosity. "He a good tipper?" she asked, smacking her gum._

“She’s actually pretty good at playing the high-school dropout.” Roy noted.

 

“Yes and that is the only compliment she will get about her acting.” Dinah told them.

 

_The guard handed Oliver's ID back to him. "You can go on up, Mr. Queen." He told Oliver, and then looked at Felicity. "You can wait a second." He said as he made a call up to security._

_"New guy, you order food?" the guard in the surveillance room asked._

_Diggle smiled. "Yeah, I'm addicted to Big Belly Burger." He said._

“Man, Merlyn Global should really do a better background check.” Laurel mused.

 

“Gee, thanks.” Diggle drawled.

 

“It’s nothing against you John, but if they miss the fact that you’re working for the Queens, then imagine what they could miss on someone else’s record. Can you imagine of a terrorist got in there?” Laurel asked and Diggle nodded as they all paled.

 

“Yeah, they need to do better background checks. I’ll, man, talk to my dad about that.” Tommy said looking like he just swallowed something sour.

 

_"Never had it." The guard noted._

_"I'll split it with you." Dig offered. Moments later Felicity walked up and knocked on the door. Dig handed her some folded bills. "Keep the change." He said. She looked at him in annoyance. It was a lousy tip._

“Bit me.” Diggle deadpanned and everyone snickered.

 

_A minute later, she was standing next to Oliver in the lobby, waiting for the elevator. The car came and the two silently walked inside. "Hold that!" a voice called out. Felicity kept pushing the 'Close Door' button, but a young executive carrying a bunch of folders made it in._

_He leered at Felicity. "Where you heading, sweetie?"_

_"19th  floor." She said._

_"Too bad, I'm going to 13." He said. Annoyed, Oliver hit the executive's folders out into the lobby, spilling papers everywhere. "Damn it!" he swore, stepping out of the elevator to gather the papers. Felicity pushed the 'Close Door' button again, and this time they closed with just the two of them in there alone._

“Good, ditch that sexist dick.” Thea muttered.

 

_"Mr. Andrews got his lunch?" Oliver asked._

_"One belly buster with benzodiazepine." She replied. "Hold the mayo."_

_Up in the security office, Diggle watched his partners on the screen as the other guard slept. He pulled a wire out of the box, disabling the cameras. "Sleep tight." He told the guard, and then made his way back to the control board. He put in his earwig as he typed a few commands into the computer. "Mainframe's on 25, guys." He told them "That's as close as I can get you."_

_The elevator stopped, and Oliver pushed open the access hatch to the room of the car. He climbed out, and then reached down into the car. She handed him his briefcase, which he set aside, and then pulled Felicity up. He opened the case and pulled out a small crossbow pistol with a grappling unit attached._

_"Come on." He urged, helping her up onto the concrete ledge that separated the elevator shafts. "Don't look down." He advised her._

_"Too late." She said nervously. "I should mention I'm afraid of heights, which I just learned."_

_Oliver leaned down, and draped her arm around his shoulders. "Okay, Felicity. Hold on to me tight."_

_"I imagined you saying that under different circumstances." She rambled, and then blushed when he looked at her. "Very platonic circumstances."_

“I think we have other concerns than your infatuation with my best friend.” Tommy deadpanned.

 

_He fired the grapple, and it embedded itself into the far wall. "Ready?" he asked her._

_"Uh-huh." She mumbled._

_The two swung across the shaft, landing on the opposite ledge. Oliver deftly moved to the doors, helping Felicity along with him. Carefully he pried the doors open and, seeing the hallway was clear, motioned for Felicity to follow him out. "Come on." He gently led her into the hall. She looked like she was about to vomit. "You all right?"_

_"I'm fine." She said queasily. "Yeah, this is just my 'about to hack' face. I always…" she swallowed hard. "Oh, look like this right before I, you know, hack."_

“She’s a terrible liar.” Roy noted.

 

“Another reason why it’s best she doesn’t join Ollie’s team.” Thea noted.

 

_"Security patrol's on a ten minute cycle." Oliver told her. "I'll have my meeting with Tommy and be back in nine, ok?"_

_"Ok." She said, and he moved off to the stairs. "Ok." She repeated, heading to the servers._

_Oliver made it up to Tommy's floor. As he headed towards his office, Oliver checked in with Dig._

_"Dig, you got eyes on her?"_

_"Five by five." He replied._

_On the server floor, Felicity approached the door to the computer hub, which was disguised as a sliding wall. She slid her pilfered security card into the card reader, and then entered a code that she had hacked loose. The wall slid to the right, admitting the hacker into the room. She quickly sat down at terminal and plugged her tablet in. "Ok." She whispered to herself as she began to hack from within._

_Upstairs, Oliver walked into Tommy's office. He found him standing at the windows, looking over some paperwork._

_"Sure beats the back of a bar." Oliver said._

_"I saw your name in my schedule; I thought it must be a typo." Tommy turned and threw the folder down onto his desk. "Why so serious? Did someone decide that they didn't want you putting an arrow in them today?" he asked coldly._

“And I’m still an ass.” Tommy sighed.

 

_"I thought it was past time we talked." Oliver replied calmly._

_"About what?" Tommy asked. "Me leaving the club, you being a serial killer? We're not lacking for topics."_

_"Let's start with Laurel, since you're still in love with her." Oliver shot back._

_"So are you." Tommy replied._

_"I can't be with her, Tommy. You know why I can't." he said._

_"So what? I'm her consolation prize?" Tommy scoffed. "I'll pass."_

_"She's not anyone's property." Oliver replied. "Laurel makes her own decisions. And she chose you. Until you couldn't handle it." He said adding a dig of his own. "Lord knows I am guilty of a lot of things between us, but not you and her." He looked down, then back up. "That's all I came to say." He said. He turned and started walking out of the office as Tommy sank into his chair. He paused, and turned back to his friend. "What exactly do you do here?" he asked._

“Did he really think I was a part of this?” Tommy asked hurt.

 

“I don’t think he knew what to think anymore. People he had known his entire life were stabbing him in the back. It wasn’t you, it was everything.” Dinah explained and he nodded.

 

_Tommy glared at him. "I work closely with my father." He replied. Oliver nodded, then turned and walked out, grimacing as he did so. 'Too bad your father's a creep who's going to get an arrow' he thought._

_In the security office, Dig was still monitoring the camera feeds. He looked at one in alarm. "Guys, you got trouble." He said over the radio._

_"What?!" Felicity asked worriedly._

_"Felicity's about to have some head of schedule company." Diggle informed them._

_"I'm not there yet on the download." She warned._

_"Hold tight, I'm on my way." Oliver said. He rounded the corner to the elevators- and ran into Malcolm Merlyn._

“Shit.” Roy swore as everyone tensed.

 

_"Oliver." He said pleasantly, holding out his hand._

_Oliver pasted a smile on his face. "Mr. Merlyn." He replied, shaking it._

_"I must say, I'm surprised to see you here." The older man noted._

_"Tommy and I just had a little unfinished business." He replied._

_"Ahh." Malcolm smiled knowingly. "I know things have been challenging between you two, but I trust you're working things out."_

_Felicity! Diggle said over the coms._

_Just a few more seconds. she replied._

_"Yes." Oliver said distractedly. "I'm sorry, I have to go. There are some investors waiting for me back at the club." He lied, hoping to get away._

_"I'm heading out to a meeting myself. I'll walk you down to the lobby." Malcolm said helpfully, patting him on the shoulder._

“Damn it.” Roy growled.

 

“He ruins everything he touches.” Tommy sneered.

 

“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_She's going to get made, Oliver. Dig said frantically over the coms as He stepped into the elevator with Malcolm. Oliver, did you hear me?!_

“Yes but he can’t answer without letting Malcolm know that he’s got a comms unit in his ear. Which will lead to all kinds of questions.” Laurel said grimly.

 

_In the security room, Diggle saw another guard join the first on the server room floor. "Felicity!" he whispered frantically._

_"What? Just a few more seconds!" she replied, annoyed. Looking at her tablet, she urged it on. "Come on, come on, come on."_

_"You don't have a few more seconds." Dig said seriously._

_Felicity tensely watched the screen. Finally it beeped; the download was complete. "Yes!" she exclaimed, pumping her fist. She looked at it in surprise. "Wow, I really do that." She noted._

_She closed out her tablet and disconnected it, then ran out of the room-_

_Directly into the path of a guard._

“Crap.” Diggle cursed.

 

_Diggle growled in frustration. "Damn it, Oliver, she's in trouble, where are you?" he hissed over the coms._

_"This is a restricted area." The guard said, eyeing the nervous blonde. "Let's see some I.D." he demanded._

_"I.D.?" Felicity stalled, hoping Oliver would show up right about… "Um"_

_"Tell your mother I said hello." Malcolm told Oliver as they reached the lobby._

_"I will." He replied pleasantly, watching the man walk off. "Got held up." He told Diggle over the mic. "Heading back upstairs." He turned to the elevator when…_

_"Ollie?"_

“Seems like showing up at the worst possible time is something I inherited from my…sperm donor.” Thea grumbled.

 

_Oliver spun around and saw- "Thea?" he looked at her in confusion. "What are you doing here?" he asked._

_"I, uh, just saw Tommy." She lied._

_Oliver chose to ignore it. "Yeah, me, too. I'm going to run back up, I don't want to be late." He said, heading back to the elevator._

_"Oh, I thought you just came down." Thea said in confusion, causing him to stop._

_Upstairs, Felicity was making a show of looking through her pockets when Diggle arrived. "There you are!" he said accusingly. He looked at the other guard. "Thanks a lot, man, this one snuck past security. One of Merlyn junior's bimbos." He lied. "She's pissed he never called her back."_

_"Copy that." The guard said with a smirk. "I read the tabloids."_

“Hey!” Tommy said offended.

 

“Is it really that unbelievable?” Thea challenged and Tommy paused.

 

“I hate you.” Tommy growled.

 

“Our first ‘I hate you.’ We’re officially siblings now!” Thea said cheerfully as everyone snickered.

 

_"Yeah." Diggle grabbed her arm. "Thanks again. Let's go, Barbie." He said as he led Felicity off towards the elevators. "Your new last name ain't going to be Merlyn."_

_"But I love him! He's my man!" she exclaimed loudly for show, then began laughing quietly. "You're my knight in shining armor." She told him._

“And you just saved the mission.” Tommy said as they all sighed in relief.

 

“Nice job Dig.” Roy told him and the body guard shrugged.

 

“Just doing my job.” Diggle said modestly.

 

_Down in the lobby, Oliver turned back to the confused Thea. He was about to make something up when he spotted…_

_"Is that your friend Roy?" he asked, his eyes narrowing._

_"No, um…" she said quickly. Too quickly._

_"No?" he said, making it clear he didn't believe her._

_"Yeah, he gave me a ride." She said, telling half the truth._

_"Thea, what are you really doing here?" he asked. "The truth, please." He added._

“Busted.” Tommy sang as Thea and Roy glared at him.

 

_"The truth?" she said nervously._

_"Mm-hmm."_

_"Um…we're trying to find the Vigilante." She admitted._

_Oliver was shocked. "What?"_

_"Roy's been kind of obsessed with him since he saved his life at the subway." She said in a rush. "And I overheard Detective Lance saying that the other archer was connected to Merlyn Global, so—" Oliver grabbed her arm. "Hey!" she exclaimed indignantly as he dragged her over to her boyfriend._

_"Roy." The younger man spun around. "We haven't met. I'm Thea's disapproving older brother." He said in a pleasant tone and a hard look._

_"Yeah, I know." Roy replied. "Good to meet you." He held out his hand. Oliver griped it quickly and squeezed hard._

_"Don't mess around with the Hood." Oliver said without preamble. "He's a psychopath, he's dangerous, and anyone who gets near him winds up dead. That will not be my sister. Do you hear me?"_

_Roy nodded. Oliver looked at the two, then past them to see Felicity walking out of the building. She looked back, giving him a look that told him she was okay. "Ok. Take her home now." He ordered, and then walked out himself._

“So I take it we didn’t get off to a good start then?” Roy asked idly.

 

“You did not make a good first impression on him.” Dinah confirmed.

 

_A short time later, Roy hurriedly ran into his house, followed by Thea. He began frantically looking around, trying to find things he needed._

_"What are you doing?" Thea asked._

_"The Vigilante's not too fond of guys who sell Vertigo." Roy said, not looking at her. "I know a guy who claims he still has a stash to sell. Maybe we could stake him out, hope the Hood shows up for him."_

_"Did you not hear what my brother said?" Thea asked, incredulous._

_"What does your brother know about him?" Roy said in a disinterested tone._

“How naïve you were.” Dinah said wistfully as Tommy snickered.

 

_"Uh, for one thing, the Vigilante once saved his life, so if he's telling us to keep away, that should say something." She said reasonably._

_"No offense, Thea, but your brother's kind of a wimp." Roy said offhandedly._

“Oooh, bad move kid.” Tommy told him as Thea glared at Roy.

 

“Talk to him.” Roy gestured to the screen.

 

_"Don't say that." She shot back, angry now._

_Roy scoffed. "Why not? It's true."_

_"My brother survived five years alone on an island!" she told him hotly. "Five years I thought I had lost him."_

_"Yeah? Well, I lost someone, too." He replied, equally angry. "And they aren't coming back."_

Roy looked down as he remembered…

 

_Starling City, The Glades, 2002_

_Morning_

_Eight year old Roy waved from the window as his father walked towards his car to head to work. As he reached it, a black car rolled up with the window down. Bullets rained down on Roy’s father and Roy cried out in horror as his father fell down on the ground, bleeding profusely._

Roy looked up, a hard look on his face as everyone looked at him sadly. Roy ignored them as he focused on the recording.

 

_"Who?" she asked._

_"It doesn't matter." Roy said, brushing it aside. "That is why I need to find him. So he can teach me to be like him. I'm not losing anyone else ever again."_

_Thea looked at him in disbelief. "I can't do this, Roy." She told him. "If you don't give this up, you're going to lose me."_

_He looked up at her. "Better now than later." He said coldly. Thea shook her head sadly and walked out of the house, leaving Roy alone once more._

“You’re an idiot.” Tommy told Roy, who simply shrugged.

 

“Takes one to know one.” Roy said coolly and Tommy scowled.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Moira was heading up the stairs and ran into Walter as she reached the landing._

_"Oh, good." She said pleasantly. "I was just coming to check on you to see if maybe you'd like some tea, or…" Walter handed her a folded set of papers. "What is this?" she asked, finally noticing that he was wearing his coat. She opened the papers, and then paled. "Walter, please." She said shakily. "Divorce is an extreme reaction."_

“Great, now I really do come from a broken home.” Thea sighed.

 

“Even if Walter does divorce your mom, he’ll still be in your life. He was my timeline.” Dinah assured her.

 

_"Well, considering the circumstances, I find it somewhat reserved." Walter said dryly. He began walking down the stairs to the door. "Or do you think I believe that my abduction on the night you told me that I was getting too close to your conspiracy was a coincidence." He added acidly._

_"You…you were in danger." Moira said emotionally. "This arrangement, it saved your life."_

_Walter scoffed. "Well, that's ironic. Because it feels like you've destroyed it."_

_"Walter—"_

_"You know, I read about people in forced captivity." Walter continued, making his way to the first floor. "Some of them said it was a simple thought that got them through the isolation and fear," he chuckled, "Returning to their loved ones. So I don't know really why I'm still alive, Moira, because I didn't have that."_

_Moira held up her hands to stop him "Walter, please—" she tried to plead, openly crying now._

_"What do you think you can say to me to convince me that everything I knew, my whole life hasn't just evaporated?" he asked harshly. He approached the door just as Thea walked in._

“Mom’s lies destroy our family.” Thea hissed angrily.

 

“Yes, they did. Oliver lies to protect the people closest to him, because he believes that that is the only way to keep the people he cares about safe. Moira, despite what she may tell herself, lies to save her own skin.” Dinah said darkly.

 

_Instantly she was alert. "Where are you going?" she asked shakily._

_"Come here." He whispered. He pulled her into a hug, then pulled back and looked down at her. He gave her a reassuring smile, and then moved past her to walk out. He didn't look at Moira again._

_The scene changed to the SCPD. Kelton rushed over to Lance to give him an update. "Detective?"_

_Lance looked up at the tech weenie. "What'd you find?"_

_"Merlyn Global's cyber security is off the charts." He started. "Firewalls, NSA-grade I.P. Sec protocols …"_

_"What's that, tech speak for 'I struck out, boss'?" he asked._

_"Yeah, but I wasn't the only one." Kelton said, kneeling down next to the detective. "Somebody else tried hacking into Merlyn Global systems. Same pathways I used, same result."_

_"You're saying that someone else was looking for Merlyn's connection to Unidac?" he asked, surprised._

_"Yeah, someone good." He said. "Knew how to reverse engineer her footprints. I almost didn't catch her." He noted._

“Oh crap. Felicity left a fingerprint.” Diggle groaned as everyone tensed.

 

“Felicity is so smart when it comes to computers that she’s come to believe that everyone else is stupid. Granted, a lot of people are in this area, but her hubris caused a lot of problems down the line. This is one of them.” Dinah explained grimly.

 

_"Her?"_

_"Yeah. She works at Queen Consolidated." He said excitedly. "Name's Felicity Smoak."_

_Lance looked at Kelton in confusion. "Who the hell is Felicity Smoak?"_

_Down in the Lair, Felicity was starting to go over the data she stole from Merlyn Global. "In addition to the download, I also took the liberty of uploading a Trojan to Merlyn's system." She told them smugly. "Figured it might come in handy."_

_"That's smart." Dig said. "If Merlyn thinks he's been compromised, it'll help if we know first."_

_"Can you locate the seismic device?" Oliver asked as he paced around, deep in thought._

_"I'm working on it." She told him. "But there's at least a teraflop of data to go through."_

_"You all right?" Dig asked, concerned._

_Oliver walked over his crate and pulled out the notebook. "My father, he told me that he failed the city." He started, holding up the book for them to see. "Asked me to right his wrongs, but I never knew what he meant until now. It's the Undertaking." He turned to face them. "I promised myself that when I crossed all these names off the list, I'd be done, but…" he sighed. "Taking down these people, it doesn't honor him. I was just treating the symptoms while the disease festered. I stop the Undertaking… I wipe out the disease." He said in realization._

_"What are you saying, Oliver?" Dig asked worriedly. "You would hang up the Hood?"_

“Yes, he would’ve. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.” Dinah sighed sadly and everyone wondered what was about to happen.

 

_"Merlyn's plan is what I returned from the island to stop." He said bluntly. Making a decision, he grabbed his coat._

_"Where are you going?" Dig asked._

_"Out." He replied._

_A short while later, Oliver found himself at Laurel's apartment. He knocked, and a few seconds later she answered._

“And of course he went to you.” Thea teased and Laurel flushed.

 

“He didn’t need to think about it. When it comes to each other…we don’t think, we close our eyes and we jump.” Dinah said softly and Laurel couldn’t disagree.

 

_"Hi." He said. "Can we talk?" she stepped aside and let him in. "Thank you."_

_Laurel closed the door and looked at him, her arms crossed over her chest._

_What did you want to talk about?" she asked flatly._

_Oliver chuckled slightly. "Wow, I thought this was going to be easier to say." He started. “But now I'm standing here… looking at you, and it's—"_

_"Just say what you have to say and go, ok?" she told him sharply._

_"Ever since I've been back, we've been doing this dance." He said. “We come together, and then I pull away. Something pulls me away. But I think finally that something might be over."_

“If only. It would’ve saved us both a lot of pain and heartache.” Dinah sighed, discreetly looking over at Tommy.

 

_"What are you trying to say?" she asked hopefully._

_"That you know me better than anyone." He told her. "And that you are more important to me than anyone. I just hope I didn't wait too long to say it."_

_She crashed into him then, their lips meeting frantically. As they kissed she quickly unbuttoned his shirt, then hopped up onto him, her legs wrapping around his waist._

_"You didn't." she said breathlessly between kisses. "You're right on time."_

_Oliver carried her back to her bedroom. He stood next to her bed and held her there for several seconds, enjoying her closeness._

Laurel blushed as Roy wolf whistled and Thea shot her a teasing grin. Tommy, on the other hand, was surprised by how much he was okay with this. He realized that he wanted Oliver and Laurel to both be happy. He made a decision right then and there: If Oliver and Laurel’s fate was to ultimately end up together…he’d be okay with that.

 

_Out in the street, Tommy was walking to Laurel's apartment building. He glanced up at her bedroom window and froze. There, unmistakably, was Oliver and Laurel, together. His face showed arrange of emotions- jealousy, rage- and soul-crushing despair._

“Oh boy, this won’t end well.” Roy noted as Tommy and Laurel looked uncomfortable.

 

“Tommy-”

 

“It’s okay,” Tommy told her, for the first time meaning it, “Really…it’s okay. If you love him and want to be with him…then that’s okay Laurel. Really.”

 

Laurel paused, surprised by Tommy’s maturity. As he shot her a slight smile, she returned, for the first time since learning of Tommy’s feelings for her, feeling like they two of them would be okay.

 

_Later that night, Oliver was lying in bed as Laurel slept, enjoying the feeling of being with her once more, when his phone started to buzz. He kissed her on the forehead and gently moved her off of his shoulder, then sat up and grabbed his phone. "What is it?" he said at once._

_"Felicity found the Markov device." Dig replied from the Lair. "Merlyn's keeping it at a warehouse his company owns in the Glades."_

_"Good. Coordinated attack. You take the device, I'll take Merlyn." Oliver told him. "Got a location?"_

_"Yeah." Dig said, sliding a fresh clip into his gun. "According to Felicity's Trojan, Merlyn's logged on to his computer from his office."_

_"I'm on my way." He said, hanging up, He gave Laurel once last glance, then left._

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Fyers was setting up the camera to record Yao Fei's 'declaration'. The man in question stood stiffly in front of a grey backdrop to mask the operations behind him. On the floor, still bound sat Slade, Oliver and Shado._

_"The uniform suits you, Yao Fei." Fyers complemented. "Any time you're ready."_

_"To the people of China and citizens of the world," Yao Fei began. "I make this statement voluntarily, taking responsibility for the shooting of Ferris Air flight 637 to protest the People's Republic of China's treatment of me; for betraying and abandoning me to the island of Lian Yu." On the floor, Oliver was desperately cutting at the binding on his hands. "Consider this my righteous delivery of powerful vengeance."_

_Fyers shut off the camera. "Thank you." He said politely._

_Then he pulled out his gun and shot him in the head._

“Holy shit!” Tommy shouted, stunned by Fryers brutality.

 

“That son of a bitch.” Roy snarled.

 

“Once Yao-Fei was no longer useful, he was just a loose end. One that Fryers was all too willing to tie up.” Dinah said disgusted as everyone glared at the screen.

 

_"No!" Oliver screamed._

_"Ba! Ba!" Shado sobbed._

_"Sir. Plane is within range." Alan announced. Fyers smirked at Oliver, who stared back in absolute rage._

“Please tell me he gets his.” Thea pleaded.

 

“He gets exactly what he deserves.” Dinah promised.

 

_Back in the present, Diggle cautiously approached the warehouse. He slid open the door and stepped inside, his gun drawn and his flashlight pointing in front of him. He looked around, moving slowly- and then he saw it. A crate marked Unidac Industries. He ran up to it and looked it over. When he saw it, his face fell._

“I have a feeling things didn’t go as planned?” Diggle asked already knowing the answer and Dinah grimaced.

 

“Just keep watching.” She said simply.

 

_The scene changed to Merlyn Global. Malcolm was standing behind his desk, his back to his office talking on the phone to a client._

_"Very well. I'll be in touch. Can I help you?" he asked. He turned around to face The Hood. "No I wasn't talking to you." He said to the phone, and then hung up._

_"Malcolm Merlyn." The Hood growled. "You have failed this city."_

_"And how have I done that?" he asked_

_"The Undertaking." The Hood stated. "It ends now."_

_“Oliver, the device,” Dig said over the coms, “It's gone.”_

“Oh course. If the police could find Felicity’s fingerprint, then it must have been like taking candy from a baby for Malcolm to find it.” Diggle groaned.

 

_Quickly he drew and arrow and held it on the businessman. "Where's the device?" he snarled._

_"Safe." Malcolm said smugly. He held up his hands and slowly made his way around the desk. "I don't know how you got that Trojan onto my system, but it prompted me to take precautions." He explained._

_"There is nothing you can do to stop what is about to happen." Malcolm said. "And you shouldn't. This city needs what is about to happen in order to survive. The people who are destroying it from the inside need to be erased from the map."_

“He actually believes what he’s doing is righteous.” Laurel said disgusted.

 

“Nearly every villain we have encountered was the hero of their own story. Malcolm was no exception.” Dinah explained.

 

_"Fine." The Hood growled. "Let's start with you." He fired the arrow-_

_And Malcolm caught it._

_"Ironic, isn't it?" Malcolm asked as Oliver stood there, stunned. "Last Christmas, I almost killed you. A few months ago, you saved my life." He said, twirling the arrow in his hand. "And now you're here trying to kill me." He stared coldly at the vigilante. "You should make up your mind."_

_"Done." He made to draw another arrow, but Malcolm threw the one had had caught at him, forcing The Hood to dodge. The arrow shattered a glass case behind the vigilante, and then Malcolm leapt at him with a forward dropkick, knocking the Hood back into a table. Oliver bounced back and attacked. They traded furious punches, and Oliver spun, whipping Malcolm across the face with his bow, stunning him. He followed that up with a hard kick to Malcolm's thigh, sending the man down to one knee momentarily. Malcolm ducked another blow from The Hood, which instead sliced the head off of a terracotta soldier statue. Enraged, Malcolm shot off a kick that dented the wall but Oliver ducked. He followed that up with a flurry of punches to The Hood's face that stunned the vigilante. Malcolm grabbed him and slammed his face down on the table, then delivered several hard kicks in a row to Oliver's midsection, winding him. Malcolm spun behind him and grabbed him by the waist, turning them around and German suplexing him onto the table, which collapsed under their weight. The two rolled off the broken table and Oliver kicked him off. Malcolm roared in rage and let loose a punch. Oliver held up his bow to block it- but the bow broke in two. Malcolm kicked Oliver across the face, forcing him to drop the pieces of the bow. Enraged himself now, Oliver grabbed Malcolm around the wait and drove him into the wall behind him. But while Malcolm was older, he was stronger and better trained. He jockeyed for position, and then managed to throw Oliver off of him to the floor. He followed that up with multiple hard kicks to his chest, just like their first encounter back in December. Oliver tried to rise, but Malcolm threw one last devastating punch to his jaw, knocking him out cold._

 

“Crap, he just kicked Ollie’s ass again.” Thea said dismayed.

 

“Can Oliver stop him?” Roy asked and Dinah nodded.

 

“The first time they fought, Ollie lost due to hubris. This time, he lost because he was in shock about learning truth about Malcolm. He can beat him.” Dinah promised.

_Malcolm dropped to his knees and ripped off the hood- to see Oliver's bloodied face. He gasped, both in surprise and for air. "Oh, no." he said._

“He actually feels bad about finding out Ollie is The Hood?” Tommy asked surprised.

 

“In his own twisted way, he loved Ollie the same way he loved you: like a son.” Dinah explained.

 

“He isn’t capable of love.” Tommy spat.

 

“Maybe you’re right.” Dinah conceded as she started the next recording.


	30. Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The viewers learn stunning information about Felicity's past and their own future as the end of year one concludes.

_The memory set opened as Oliver floated in between consciousness and unconsciousness. He thought back to the life raft, and his father's dying wish. {You can survive this. Make it home. Make it better. Right my wrongs.} He had told him. He remembered Robert shooting the steward, then holding the gun up to his own head. "Dad?!" he had cried in shock._

_{Survive.}_

_A blast of cold water brought him back to wakefulness. One of Malcolm's men, who had just thrown a pail of water on his face, walked away, and Oliver assessed his situation. He was in some kind of storage facility; where he didn't know. His com link was gone, and he had been stripped from the waist up, and his arms were chained above his head, leaving his feet barely touching the ground. He heard more footsteps, and looked up as Malcolm walked in._

_"I hope I didn't hurt you." He said honestly. "At least I can properly thank you now for saving my life. If I only knew how you were spending your nights…" he chuckled as he circled Oliver. "My hope is that I can explain everything to you; to help you understand."_

“Does-does he honestly think he can explain it in a way that will make Oliver just let this all go, that he will let this happen?” Tommy asked incredulously.

 

“He’s a psychopath.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

_"You murdered my father!" Oliver spat. "You sentenced me to that island, to five years of hell."_

_"I am truly sorry for what happened to you." Malcolm replied calmly. "You know I have lost people."_

_"Yeah, your wife." Oliver said. "Do you really think that you're honoring Tommy's mother by destroying the Glades?" he asked._

_"As surely as you believe you're honoring your father with this hood." He replied, holding up the green hood._

_"Not a day goes by I don't miss your father." Malcolm continued._

“Well that’s funny, since YOU’RE THE ONE THAT KILLED HIM!” Thea shouted as she glared at the image of her biological father.

 

_"You'll see him soon." Oliver promised._

_Malcolm's face turned cold. He walked up close to Oliver. "You can't beat me, Oliver." He stated bluntly. "Yes, you're younger. You're faster. But you always seem to come up short against me. Want to know why?" he asked rhetorically. "Because you don't know, in your heart, what you're fighting for. What you're willing to sacrifice; and I do."_

‘When I finally stopped Damien Darhk, I had to confront the fact that Malcolm was right’ Oliver’s words from so many years ago floated through Dinah’s mind.

 

_He stepped back. "No one can stop what's about to come. Not even the Vigilante." He tossed the hood to the ground and walked out; the guards closing the heavy metal door behind him._

_The scene flashed back to the Island where thousands of feet above, a Ferris Air Line's commercial jet was flying the course it had been given by Alan- a course that would take it directly over Lian Yu._

_"The plane's holding steady at 33,000 feet." Alan informed Fyers. "That's the range for missile intercept, sir."_

_"Lock missile one on target." Fyers said._

_On the ground, Slade noticed Oliver cutting through his bonds. Oliver looked at him, then over at Shado._

_"Missile one locked on the jet's heat trail." Alan said._

_"Prepare to launch on my mark." Fyers replied._

_"Yes, sir."_

_Oliver broke free, then jumped up and ran at Allan, yelling. He knocked Fyers aside and jammed the knife into Alan's side twice, before turning and cutting Shado loose._

“Karma’s a bitch, aint it?” Roy drawled.

 

_Her loss and rage numbed the pain in her shoulder as she started beating down the guards in the tent. Slade had leapt up as well, ignoring the pain in his leg and launching himself at Fyers. Wounded and angry, Alan punched Oliver in the face and started to choke him with both hands, while Fyers easily dealt with the wounded and still-bound Slade._

_Fyers pulled out his radio as he ran from the tent. "Fire! Fire the missile now!" he ordered. Inside, Shado finished off the last guard and ran over to Oliver. She pulled Alan off of him, grabbing the man in a dragon choke. With a simple movement, she broke his neck. Oliver nodded at her and ran out, just in time to see the missile launcher fire._

“Shit.” Diggle muttered.

 

“No kidding.” Thea agreed.

 

“Well, at least we know Oliver stops it.” Tommy said optimistically.

 

_In the present, Oliver looked around his prison. With a grunt, he lifted himself off of the floor, pulling his legs upwards to wrap around the chains, then started climbing up._

“What’s he doing?” Laurel asked confused.

 

“You’ll see.” Dinah smirked.

 

_When he was about ten feet off of the floor, he stopped- and then let go. He dropped down, and when the chains finally snapped taught, all of the weight suddenly became too much for the pipe the chains were draped over to handle. The pipe broke, crashing to the ground along with the chains and Oliver. He grunted in pain, and then forced himself to get up._

“Nice.” Roy whistled impressed.

 

_A guard came down the stairs from a second floor office, his gun drawn. Oliver threw the chains at him, causing him to drop the gun and slide down the stairs. Oliver knelt down and broke his neck then moved to stand near the doorway that was sliding open. Another guard ran in and Oliver whipped the chains, ensnaring the man's arms and blocking the gun he was carrying. He then wrapped the chain around his throat and spun around, placing them back to back. With a hard tug, the man's neck broke and he fell, dead. Oliver knelt down to search the man for the keys to his chains, but looked up again in surprise as a third guard ran in, gun drawn. Just when he thought he was dead, the guard was shot from behind. He dropped to the ground revealing Diggle._

_"I take back every joke I made about you sticking a tracking device in your boot." He said._

“He puts a tracer in his boot?” Thea asked.

 

“Ollie prepares for things to the point that its almost paranoia.” Dinah explained.

 

“Almost?” Diggle asked.

 

“Batman is the paranoid person on the team.” Dinah explained.

 

_A short time later, Diggle and Oliver hurried back into the Lair. "Felicity's at Queen Consolidated." Diggle told him. "She's still going through the data she pulled off Merlyn's network."_

_"Did she find anything?" he asked._

_"Yeah, the design schematics of the earthquake generator so we can shut it down. Assuming we find it in time." He added grimly._

_His cell phone rang and he answered it at once. "Yeah, Felicity, I got him."_

_"Thank God." Felicity said, exiting Queen Consolidated. "Is he ok?"_

_"Mostly." Dig replied._

_"Ok. I'm on my way." She said, and then hung up._

_"Miss Smoak." Felicity froze and turned to see Detective Lance standing there, illuminated by the flashing police lights in his cruiser. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?" he asked._

“Shit.” Tommy groaned.

 

“The cops had to pick this one time to be good at their job? When people are trying to stop the city from being destroyed?” Roy growled.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD. By the time she was processed, it was morning. Lance led her into the interrogation room._

_"Please." He said, letting her enter first. "Take a seat."_

_"You know, I think I'd rather stand." Felicity said, trying to be brave. Then Lance slammed the door as she sat down._

“Real gutsy there blondie.” Roy drawled and everyone snickered.

 

_"You're not exactly a hardened criminal, are you?" Lance noted dryly walking to the other side of the table._

_"No, I'm not any kind of criminal." She said._

 

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that.” Dinah said dryly.

 

“What’d she do?” Roy asked as they all looked over at her.

 

“Before she started work at Queen Consolidated, back when she was a student at M.I.T., she was basically a cyber-terrorist. She was part of a hacktivist group, even developed a super virus. This virus could allow the user unlimited access to any server infected by it. Ollie’s third year back, Felicity’s ex-boyfriend used it to attack the city. Felicity is not just a hindrance; she is dangerous if left unchecked.” Dinah explained firmly.

 

“Who the hell gave her the right to play god with the internet?” Laurel asked angrily.

 

“She sees the internet as her own personal playground where nothing is off limits to her. Even just this first year, she hacked systems when Ollie didn’t tell her to and he ignored it because it played into his plans. In any case, if you really want to prevent Ollie from bringing her in...You’ll need this.” Dinah took out a small recording device and held it out to Laurel.

 

Cautiously, Laurel took the device as everyone looked on curiously. Looking unsure, Dinah pressed play and Felicity’s voice was heard.

 

 _“This virus, X-axis bi-numeric algorithm…I created it.”_ Felicity’s voice announced.

 

Stunned, Laurel paused it as everyone stared in shock.

 

“An old enemy once bugged the system at the lair. We found his records, he had recordings of every conversation that had taken place since he bugged it,” Dinah explained to the stunned group, “Laurel, I won’t tell you what to do with that, you can even give it back if you want. But I will say this” if I knew what I know about Felicity now back then, the kind of person she was, what she was capable of…I know what I would’ve done. But it’s your choice.”

 

Everyone was silent as Laurel stared down at the recording. Then, Laurel placed it in her jacket pocket. She had not quite decided what to do with the recording, but she figured watching would help her make up her mind. Seeing indecision in Laurel’s eyes, Dinah nodded as she unpaused the recording.

 

_"What do you call computer hacking?" he asked._

_"A hobby?" she tried. "That I do not engage in." she quickly denied, terrified._

_Lance scoffed. "Hey, I got a whole mess of computer gobbedly gook that I don't understand, but it says otherwise. I had my tech guys go through your computer at Queen Consolidated." He told her. She gasped slightly. "You used it to hack into Blackhawk squad security; to research arrows shipped to a company called Sagittarius; and to analyze a water sample to tie back to a Vertigo drug lab. These are all cases involving… The Hood." He looked at her evenly. "Tell me, Felicity. What am I thinking?" he asked. She tried to think of something, anything to say, but she was so scared that she could barely think straight._

“Under other circumstances, she’d need a very good lawyer.” Laurel mused with the others silently nodding in agreement.

 

_Suddenly Lance's phone rang. "Saved by the bell." He said. "Excuse me."_

_"Hello, Detective." The Hood's disguised voice said on the phone._

_"It's funny you should call." Lance said with a smirk to Felicity. "I got your trusty sidekick sitting right in front of me."_

_"I don't have a sidekick. When I need help, I call you." Oliver said from the Lair._

“Don’t call us sidekicks. We’re his partners.” Dinah said affronted.

 

“Agreed.” Diggle said likewise insulted.

 

_He pressed on immediately. "Malcolm Merlyn plans to level the Glades with a manmade earthquake using technology from Unidac Industries."_

_Lance blanched. "What?" he said, rising from his chair. He started to walk around the room. "Now you're just trying to have some fun with me." He said after a moment with a chuckle._

“In his defense, it does sound very unbelievable.” Tommy noted.

 

_"I don't know what Merlyn's timetable is, so you need to evacuate the Glades immediately." Oliver continued. "Get as many people to safety as you can. Whatever you think of me, Detective, please- believe this." He said, and then hung up._

_Lance shakily lowered the phone. Felicity looked up at him. "Sounds like you have bigger problems than me." She noted._

_Lance sighed, and then looked at the hacker. "Don't leave town." He told her, and then gestured towards the door._

“I don’t think she could if she tried.” Roy mused.

 

_Felicity took the hint and bolted from the room. She paused at the door, and turned back to Lance. "You know I used to think the Vigilante was a criminal, too," she admitted, "but it seems to me, whoever he is, he's willing to sacrifice an awful lot to help the people of this city." She said with surprising strength in her voice. "Kind of makes him a hero… doesn't it?" she turned and left, closing the door behind her on a contemplative Lance._

“She just doesn’t get it. Never did, never could.” Dinah sighed.

 

“Yeah…I get it now. He’s a hero, just not one from the fairytales or old cartoons. He’s the kind of hero who will do what needs to be done, even if that means he’ll be hated and hunted.” Tommy mused as Dinah nodded.

 

“Exactly.” She told him.

 

_The scene changed too Verdant. Oliver walked upstairs into the club to see Tommy standing at the bar, a bottle of booze in his hand._

“I have a feeling this won’t go well.” Tommy muttered as everyone tensed.

 

_Tommy saw him and chuckled. "Well, look who it is. My best friend in life." He said sarcastically._

_Oliver paused. "Hey, buddy."_

_"I took your advice, you know." Tommy said, walking slowly towards him. "I went to Laurel's, to fight for her. So imagine my surprise seeing you there, kissing her." He slammed the bottle of booze down on a table._

_"I'm sorry." Oliver said._

_"No, you're not." Tommy replied, glaring at his former friend._

“Great, I’m drunk and won’t listen to anything he has to say.” Tommy sighed.

 

_"Something's happening, and it involves your father." Oliver told him._

_"Keep my father out of this." Tommy warned._

_"Our fathers!" Oliver said sharply. "They aren't the men we thought they were. They made a plan together to destroy the Glades."_

_Tommy gaped at him. "Do you have any idea what you sound like right now?" he asked._

“It does sound pretty crazy.” Thea admitted.

 

“Ollie wouldn’t have believed it either if he hadn’t heard it from Moira’s mouth.” Dinah agreed.

 

_"Your father's going to do it." He pressed on, "Because he thinks it will avenge your mother's death."_

_"Do not talk about my mother!" Tommy snarled. He threw a drunken punch at Oliver, who merely sidestepped him, sending Tommy sprawling to the floor._

_Oliver knelt down in front of him. "The difference between us, Tommy, is that I didn't find out the truth about my father until it was too late." Oliver said. "But you've always known; deep down, you have always known the man he is." He pleaded for him to understand._

“He’s right…I have. The man my father became after my mother’s death…I saw the monster he was right from the start. I just never imagined he was capable of something like this.” Tommy sighed and Diggle put a hand on the younger man’s shoulder.

 

“Who could have ever imagined something like this?” Laurel asked and he nodded slowly.

 

_Tommy leaned closer to Oliver, staring at him with unbridled hatred. "I wish you would have died on that island." He spat._

What the hell Tommy?!” Thea snarled as Tommy looked stricken at his on-screen self’s words.

 

“That was uncalled for.” Laurel said coldly.

 

“I-I don’t know what to say. You’re right, there’s no excuse for what I just said. I-I couldn’t have meant that, right?” Tommy looked at Dinah hopefully.

 

“You were angry and drunk, never a good combination.” Dinah said simply and Tommy sighed in relief.

 

_. Oliver nodded sadly, then stood and walked away._

_The scene changed back to the island as Oliver watched the missile fly off towards the plane. He moved towards the launcher, but fell back as the soldiers opened fire. Shado was already there, knocking out one guard and climbing onto the launcher as it began to move._

_Slade came out of the command bunker, an Ak-47 in his hands and began firing. He looked at Oliver. "Go kid!" he yelled, laying down covering fire as Oliver bolted for the launcher. He jumped on the back just as Shado knocked another solder down. She knelt down and opened up an access port, pulling out the motherboard. She started working, looking up to see Oliver._

_"We need to reprogram the missile!" she said._

_"I don't know how to reprogram a missile launcher!" he exclaimed._

_Shado pulled out the circuit board. "I do." She worked frantically._

“So, she’s a badass archer and fighter, she gives great advice and training, she’s patient and she’s a mechanic? Is there anything she _can’t_ do?” Tommy asked and Dinah paused.

 

“Fly.” Dinah said after a moment.

 

_Suddenly the guard she had knocked down got back up and pulled out his pistol "Watch out!" he cried._

_Shado grabbed his gun arm and yanked him forward, bouncing his face off the launcher and disarming him. She quickly aimed and fired, shooting the driver in the head. The man slumped forward, jamming the control levers forward and the launcher began to roll. The guard Shado disarmed grabbed her from behind, and the two struggled, falling off the launcher in the process._

“Shit.” Diggle cursed.

 

“Crap crap crap.” Roy said alarmed.

 

“I can’t watch.” Tommy put his hands over his eyes, though he still watched through his fingers.

 

“This is so not good.” Thea groaned as Laurel paled.

 

_"Oliver, put the chip in." she yelled as she continued to fight. Oliver rounded the launchers, but was immediately set upon by another soldier. They fought briefly, with Oliver struggling mightily before he managed to throw the other man off. Oliver looked up and saw the missile nearing the plane, then back down at the launcher. He yank open the access panel once more and grabbed the command chip, jamming it home. The small screen noted 'Target Modification Confirmed'. He looked up to see the missile radically change course, now heading for Fyer's camp._

“She set the missile on the camp?!” Thea shrieked as they all watched in horror.

 

“Where else could she insure no innocent people would get killed?” Dinah asked.

 

_He pulled the dead driver off of the stick, stopping the launcher, and then leapt off. He took cover behind the corner of the launcher and watched as the missile slammed into the camp. The explosion was enormous, enhanced by all of the munitions' that were now cooking off. He sat down relieved, exhausted, and fearful- what of Slade? What of Shado?_

_The scene changed to the SCPD. Lance was trailing behind Lieutenant Pike, trying to give him an update._

_"Make it quick, I got a comm stat meeting in five." Pike said irritably. "I don't want to be late for my own funeral."_

_"I've got it under good authority that Malcolm Merlyn is planning on leveling the Glades using some kind of earthquake device made by Unidac Industries." Lance said as they entered the squad room. Pike froze and turned to face the detective._

_"Who's your source in all this?" he demanded._

_Lance sighed. There was no way around it. "The Vigilante."_

“Yeah, ‘cause that’ll go over well.” Roy drawled.

 

_All chatter stopped as every single cop turned to stare at the two. "He called me. Has been for the last few months; he's been helpful on some cases." Lance admitted._

_Pike stare at him, surprised and angry. "You asked for the task force to catch him." Pike pointed out, moving in closer. "You swore to me you'd bring him in."_

_"I know." Lance said. "I swore to uphold the law, because the law is steady, the law is unchanging, the law needed to be protected. But what are laws, rules, if they don't protect people?" he asked passionately. "Now listen, I know I'm throwing away my career by telling you this, but I am willing to sacrifice catching this guy if it means saving people's lives! Please." He pleaded._

“Maybe he’s not as bad as I first thought.” Roy conceded.

 

“My dad is stubborn, over emotional, and at times, a real jerk. But he is, at his core, a good man who just wants to see our city saved, just like the rest of us.” Dinah explained.

 

_Pike stared at him for several seconds. "You're suspended." He said finally. Lance closed his eyes in resignation. "Leave your gun and your badge with the duty sergeant." Pike added, turning to leave._

_"Lieutenant—"_

_"Suspension or incarceration." Pike said harshly. "You choose." Pike turned and left, leaving a defeated Lance standing alone in a crowded squad room._

“Bet he’s gonna look stupid when it turns out Detective Lance was right.” Thea spat as she glared at the screen while Laurel crossed her arms as she huffed angrily.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Moira was in her bedroom, putting Walter's clothes in a mover's box for him to pick up when Oliver slowly walked in._

_"No more lies, Mom." He said softly, catching her attention. "The Undertaking. We need to stop it."_

_"Everything I have ever said or done has been to protect you and your sister." She told him, still hanging the clothes._

“You keep telling yourself that.” Thea sneered angrily.

 

_"What about all those people in the Glades?" he asked._

_She looked at him. "I'm not their mother."_

_Oliver tried a different tact. "I spoke to Malcolm." He said._

_"You what?! He could have killed you." She exclaimed. "He killed your father."_

_Oliver shook his head. "No, he didn't." he took a breath and continued. "After the 'Gambit' went down, dad and I both made it to the life raft." He admitted. "And then we drifted, for days. In the end, there wasn't enough food and water for both of us." Oliver sighed. "So he shot himself in the head."_

_Moira gasped and turned away, horrified. "I don't want to hear this."_

“But you need to.” Laurel said coolly.

 

_"He sacrificed himself," Oliver continued, "so that I could live. Do you really think that I could go on living knowing that you sacrificed thousands more in my name?" he asked as she cried. He moved to her and gently took her by the arms. "Mom, please. You have to help me stop Malcolm. We need to know where the device is." He begged._

_Suddenly her cell phone rang. She pulled away and picked it up then, seeing who it was, answered. "Malcolm." She said, controlling her voice. Oliver spun to stare at her. "How can I help you?" she continued. She listened for a few moments. "I see. Yes, thank you for calling." She said shakily, and then hung up._

_"What is it?" Oliver demanded._

_"Malcolm's accelerated his timetable. The Undertaking is-" she swallowed, "Is happening tonight." Oliver moved past her towards the door. "Where you going?" she asked tearfully._

_Oliver stopped, and then turned to face her. "Somebody in this family needs to put an end to this." He told her. "Whatever the cost."_

“Hear hear.” Thea nodded vigorously.

 

_He walked out into the hall and headed for the stairs. Before he reached them he was stopped by a familiar voice._

_"Hi."_

_He looked down to see Laurel standing in the foyer. "Hey." He said with a smile._

_"I woke up and you were gone." She said._

_"I'm really sorry about that." Oliver replied, heading down the stairs towards her._

_"Oliver, I'm trying not to think that our history's repeating; that you're scared again." She started._

_"No." he shook his head. "That's not it."_

_"Then will you tell me what's going on with you?" she begged._

“Not yet.” Dinah muttered slightly bitter.

 

_They stared at each other for several moments. "There are so many things that I have wanted to tell you for so long." Oliver said finally, coming down the stairs to stand in front of Laurel._

_"I never told you what happened to me on the island."_

_"You didn't have to." She said quickly. "I can see that it changed you."_

_"That's the thing. Laurel, it didn't. Those five years didn't change me." Oliver stated. "They just… they scraped away all the things that I wasn't, and revealed the person I always was, which is the person… that's who you always saw." He said with a smile. "I don't know how you saw it, but you did.”_

“There is some truth to that,” Dinah mused and everyone looked over at her, “those five years away did change him in…unimaginable ways. But it also brought out the man he really was. The man that I always saw that he was deep down, underneath the spoiled, playboy persona.”

 

“Yeah. I sometimes saw it to.” Thea agreed.

 

_“Nobody in my life is who I thought they were," he admitted. "Except you." They kissed. Oliver savored the kiss; he knew it was probably his last. He pulled back and smiled at her. "Laurel, I need you to do something for me. Stay out of the Glades tonight." He asked gently._

_"Why?" she asked._

_He backed away. "You'll know soon." He promised. "One way or the other. I have to go." He said. He took one last look at her, and then turned and walked out of the mansion- in his mind for the last time._

“He thought that was the last time he was going to see me…he didn’t think he’d make it.” Laurel realized and Dinah sighed as she nodded.

 

“He didn’t think he would be able to beat Malcolm. He’s already lost to him twice, he didn’t think he’d win the third time…but he had to try.” Dinah explained softly.

 

_The scene changed to Merlyn Global. Tommy stormed into Malcolm's newly repaired office, his eyes red from crying. He threw his jacket onto a chair and headed straight for his father's best scotch._

_"It's over." He said. "Laurel and me, I mean. She's with Oliver, again. Always." He ranted, pouring himself a rather large drink._

_Malcolm stood there, looking out his window onto the city that he would rebuild. "I'm sorry, Son." He said._

_Tommy snorted. "Yeah, and he said you wanted to nuke the Glades or something." He added, moving over to his father's side. "You know, it's funny, scotch doesn't make it any more believable. Maybe after your jihad, we can grab some steaks." He continued._

_"It's true, Tommy." Malcolm said, turning to face his son. "It's the reason I closed your mother's clinic. I didn't want to see it leveled."_

“I was so not expecting that.” Roy said as they all stared, shocked at Malcolm’s admission.

 

“Why would he admit it to me?” Tommy asked stunned.

 

“He thought he could convince you he was right. Needless to say, he obviously didn’t know you that well.” Dinah told him as she thought of what was to come.

 

_Tommy stared back at him, his father's admission piercing the fog of alcohol. "What?" he asked unsteadily._

_"I have something I'd like you to listen to." Malcolm said, patting him on the shoulder and heading to his desk. There was a small decorative vase sitting on the corner. He pulled off the top and flipped it over, revealing a small cell phone attached to the top. "The night your mother died, she called me. I awoke to a voicemail from her." He told him._

_"Dad—"_

_"Her final gift to me." He pressed play on the voicemail._

_'Malcolm, I'm in trouble.' Rebecca's weak voice said from beyond the grave. 'I told-I told him to take everything. My money…my ring.'_

“Mom.” Tommy said in a broken voice and Diggle put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

 

_Tommy listened, horrified; his mother's dying voice instantly sobering him up. "Turn it off." He pleaded._

_'They shot me.' Rebecca continued shakily. 'I screamed for help, but no one would come.'_

_"No one would come." Malcolm said at the same time. He had the message memorized._

“He’s listened to this recently.” Laurel noted, feeling a bit sorry for Malcolm despite herself.

 

_"She bled out into the pavement while people passed, did nothing." Malcolm said as Rebecca cried on the voicemail. "Your mother built her clinic in the Glades because she wanted to save this city. It can't be saved." He declared. "Because the people there don't want it to be saved."_

_"So you kill them all—" Tommy asked, appalled._

_"THEY DESERVE TO DIE, ALL OF THEM!” Malcolm screamed in a rage, causing Tommy to jump. “THE WAY SHE DID!”_

_Tommy stared at him in shock._

“He’s even crazier than I thought.” Diggle muttered disgusted.

 

“Not crazy, simply deadest on revenge. An insane person has no true grasp on the severity of their crimes. Malcolm understands exactly what he’s doing and fully intends to carry it through.” Dinah said darkly.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver walked in to find Diggle and Felicity already there. "The Undertaking is happening tonight." He announced._

_"Oliver, Felicity may have found something." Diggle said._

_Felicity held up the notebook, showing the symbol on the inside cover. "This symbol is a map of the old subway tunnel system." She stated._

_"That's what got us thinking the Undertaking is connected to the Glades." Oliver noted._

_"What if it's more specific than that?" she asked._

_Oliver looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"_

_"If I had a machine that could trigger an earthquake in an otherwise geologically stable area, where would I position it? She asked._

_Oliver suddenly understood. "Underground." He said._

“He put the device in the subway.” Diggle realized.

 

“Well now they know where it is. Now they just need to figure out how to dismantle it.” Laurel muttered.

 

_"Yeah." She pulled up a geographical map on the screen. "This is a U.S. geological survey of the tectonic plates running underneath Starling City." She explained, and then pointed to the screen. "This red line here is a known fault that runs right below the Glades. About a mile, the fault runs underneath the old Tenth Street subway line. Dollars to donuts, the seismic device is somewhere along there."_

_"I know where it is." Oliver suddenly said. Before he could explain, his phone rang. He stepped away and answered it. "Now is not a good time." He said crossly._

_"Yeah, understate much?" Thea replied, walking through the foyer of the mansion towards the sitting room. "Mom has a whole bunch of reporters here. She's holding a press conference or something." She told him._

“What?” Thea asked confused.

 

_"What channel?" he demanded._

_Thea looked at the packed room. "Ah, it looks like all of them." She said._

_Oliver turned around. "Felicity, pull up the local news, please." He asked, moving back towards her. She did so just as Moira began to speak_

_"My name is Moira Dearden Queen. I am the acting CEO of Queen Consolidated. And God forgive me, I have failed this city." Moira said. Thea watched on as police officers quietly entered the room and stood watch in the back. "For the past five years, under the threat for my life and the lives of my family, I have been complicit in an undertaking with one horrible purpose- to destroy the Glades and everyone in it." Thea's eyes widened in shock and reports gasped and started whispering to each other in surprise. Moira glanced off to the side to see Detective Hilton standing there, ready to take her in. "I realize now that my family's safety will mean nothing if I let this dreadful act occur." Moira continued._

“At last, she sees the light.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

“Too late though.” Roy muttered.

 

_At Merlyn Global, Malcolm and Tommy were watching the broadcast on Malcolm's laptop. 'But you need to know that the architect of this nightmare is Malcolm Merlyn.'_

_"No!" he screamed in rage, slamming the lid of the computer and punching his desk, shattering the glass._

_"Yes, and I have proof that he has killed dozens in pursuit of this madness." Moira continued over the startled whisperings of the press. "Adam Hunt, Frank Chen, and my husband Robert. Please." She looked at Thea, who was shocked beyond measure. She looked back into the camera. "If you reside in the Glades, you need to get out now." Laurel watched the broadcast from CNRI. "Your lives and the lives of your children depend on it." Lance stood next to Pike in the SCPD, watching in stunned silence. "Please." Moira stepped down and hurriedly made her way to Thea as the reporters all began shouting questions at once._

_"I don't understand." Thea said in shock._

_"I'm sorry." Moira said, crying. "I love you."_

_"I love Roy." She said, suddenly terrified._

_"Roy?"_

_"He lives in the Glades." She said, tears in her eyes. "I can't leave him there." She spun and ran out of the room._

“Thanks for thinking of me.” Roy said with a slight smile.

 

“Anytime.” Thea said as she returned the smile and Tommy tried to suppress his irritation.

 

_"Sweetheart-Thea!" Moira called out. She wanted to go after her, but was restrained by a patrol officer as Hilton began reading her her rights. "Moira Queen, you're under arrest for conspiracy. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney."_

_Back at Merlyn Global, Tommy looked at his father in stunned disbelief. "Is it true?" he asked. "Did you kill all those people?"_

_Malcolm glared at his son. "I did what I had to do." He said coldly. He moved to the wall, looking back to see that Tommy was still watching him. He slid a painting to the side, revealing a fingerprint scanner. He placed his thumb on it and it activated; a moment late it beeped and a light turned green. He slid the painting back, and a second later the wall slid to the side, revealing his League of Assassins armor to a stunned Tommy, who gasped. He looked between the costume and his father, and finally realized that Oliver had been right._

_"Freeze!" Tommy looked over to see three S.W.A.T. officers rush in, weapons aimed at his father. "Malcolm Merlyn, you are under arrest." The leader said. Malcolm ducked into his armory, and the cops opened fire, missing him. They moved cautiously to the doorway-_

_But Malcolm came out with a broadsword._

_"Dad, no!" Tommy screamed in shock. Malcolm slit the first officer's throat, and then impaled the second. As he batted away the gun from the third, Tommy reached down and yanked free the dead cop's pistol. He shakily pointed it at his father, backing up towards the wall as approached him. All three cops were now dead. "Please, Dad. Stay back." He raised the gun, pointing it at his father's chest. "I don't want to hurt you."_

_"You can't." Malcolm said. "And you can't stop me." He brought the sword up, forcing the gun away, and then belted him on the temple with the hilt, knocking him out cold._

“Bastard.” Tommy sneered.

 

_The scene changed to the foundry._

_"Oliver, I'm sorry." Felicity said as Oliver stood in front of his crate._

_"Don't be." He said. "She gave those people a chance." He opened the lid._

_"I thought Merlyn broke your bow." Dig said._

_Oliver reached down reverently and rand his hands over the bow- Yao Fei's bow. He picked it up and spun it- it still felt comfortable in his hands. "I have another." He said._

_"I was going over the device schematics." Felicity stated. "The device can be set for a timed detonation or can be remote activated by a mobile transmitter."_

_"Something Merlyn could have on him." Dig noted. "Listen, Oliver, if we can just get our hands on this transmitter, maybe we don't need to track down the device." He suggested._

_"It's too big of an 'if,' Diggle." Oliver replied. "I need you in the subway. Find the device, disarm it."_

_"So you can take on Merlyn by yourself?"_

_"I have to."_

“No, he doesn’t. I think it was easy for him to forget in the early years that he had a team now.” Dinah mused.

 

_"Oliver, he'll kill you." Dig said bluntly._

_"I know." Oliver admitted to their shock. "He's beaten me twice. And I don't know how to stop him."_

_"Ok." Dig said. "Well, how about this time, you bring along something you didn't have the last time you two fought- Me."_

_Oliver shook his head. "I can't let you."_

_"I can't let you do this by yourself, man." Dig stated. "Oliver, you are not alone, not since you brought me into this." He looked back to Felicity. "Us into this." He added. Oliver looked back to Felicity, and she smiled. "Besides, army regulations- a soldier never lets a brother go into battle alone." Diggle held out his hand. After a moment, Oliver took it and they shook firmly._

“Thank you Mr. Diggle. For standing by my brother.” Thea told the bodyguard gratefully.

 

“You never let a fellow soldier go into battle alone.” Diggle said simply.

 

_"I'm out of bows." Oliver said._

_Dig smirked "I got my gun."_

_"I guess it's up to me to do the dismantling." Felicity said._

_"This whole area is ground zero." Oliver told her. "I want you out of here."_

_"If you're not leaving, I'm not leaving." She told him sternly._

_"Besides, if I don't deactivate the device, who will?" she asked._

_A thought occurred to Oliver. He walked over to a work table and picked up the phone._

_In the SCPD, Lance received a call. "You were right." He said as he took the call._

_"I need one more thing from you." Oliver said._

_"Yeah? What do I got left to give?" Lance asked._

_"I know where Merlyn is keeping the device." Oliver said. "It's in an abandoned subway station near Pabst Street."_

_Lance was stunned. "How do you know?" he asked._

_"That's where his wife was murdered." Oliver explained. "I need someone I can trust to deactivate the device." He looked to Felicity, who smiled and nodded in agreement. "We have a mutual friend that I think could talk you through it."_

_Lance considered that. "She says you care about the people of this city, that it needs you." He said._

_"Right now, Detective It needs you." Olive replied._

_Lance hung up and exhaled sharply._

“Well now I’ve seen it all.” Roy drawled.

 

“The first of many times that my dad would work with Ollie.” Dinah mused.

 

“Really?” Laurel asked surprised and Dinah nodded.

 

“Dad became one of Ollie’s greatest allies…for a while.” Dinah said as her expression darkened.

 

“What happened?” Laurel asked wearily and Dinah sighed.

 

“It was my fault. Something happened…something bad. Dad had a right to know about it but he had a heart condition. I was afraid if I told him, his heart would give out. So I didn’t tell him until months later. When I did, he was rightfully anger at me and he was angry at Ollie as The Hood when dad found out he knew. It’s why Ra’s plane worked so well, because of me not telling my dad about what had happened. I guess, in a way, what happened to Arsenal was my fault.” Dinah said solemnly.

 

“There was no way you could have stopped Ra’s plan.” Diggle pointed out and Dinah shrugged.

 

“Maybe. But if I had been straight with my dad from the start, he would not have been so willing to crucify Ollie and Arsenal would never have needed to fake his death to cover up for Ollie. Arsenal would have been part of the team when Talia grabbed him and we would have noticed he was missing. And he would never have become Prometheus and we might have been able to stop Talia before she began her crusade of vengeance.” Dinah said firmly and no one had a response for that.

 

_Down in the Glades, panic ruled. The looting and rioting had already started, and panicked people were running through the streets, carrying anything and everything they could. In his house, Roy watched the news in disbelief._

_'Earlier today, Moira Queen, CEO of Queen Consolidated, admitted to a conspiracy to destroy the Glades. Everyone within a five mile radius is asked to evacuate.' He heard horns honking outside and he opened his door to reveal the chaos. 'Please leave the area immediately. Evacuation centers have been set up in Starling City.' Roy ran out of his house, unsure of what to do. He headed for the heart of the Glades to do what he could to help._

“Do you really have to rush into danger?” Thea groaned.

 

“It may just be a place to you guys, but The Glades are my home. I can’t turn my back on it any more than you guys can turn your back on the city.” Roy said firmly.

 

_Approaching Pabst Street, Lance drove like a madman, his sired and lights blaring. Driving was hard enough with people running all over the place, but it was worse now that a rainstorm had started up. He skidded to a stop in the middle of the street, and then jumped out, heading the rest of the way on foot. He pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and shined it at the boarded up entrance to the subway station. He kicked at the boards, breaking them loose, the squeezed in and headed down._

_The scene changed to Merlyn Global. Oliver and Diggle cautiously entered Malcolm's office, and the first thing they spotted were the three dead officers._

_"Looks like we missed him." Diggle said._

_The scene flashed back to the island. Night had fallen, and Oliver finally made his way into the burned out ruins of the camp. "Shado! Slade!" he called out, searching for his friends. He spotted a case lying in the middle of the road. Curious, he toed the lid off, and then kneeled down to pick up Yao Fei's recurve bow. He looked at it, felt the weight of it in his hand, then picked up an arrow and nocked it. Suddenly he heard laughing, and he stood up and saw Slade, sitting with his back to some crates._

_"Boy, I should have figured." He laughed and pulled himself to his feet. "You couldn't save the day without making a mess."_

_"Where's Shado?" Oliver asked._

_"I thought she was with you." Slade said._

_"Actually, she's with me." They both looked to see Fyers moving towards them, dragging Shado with him._

“Oh great, he survived.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

“Yay.” Tommy said in the same tone.

 

“I don’t know how I didn’t figure out you two were related.” Laurel mused.

 

_He held his gun to her head._

_"Let her go!" Slade yelled. He limped forward, but fell to his knees. "It's over, Fyers!"_

_Oliver calmly lifted the bow and drew back the string. "Let her go." He said calmly._

_"Amazing." Fyers said. "A two year operation undone because a young playboy happened to wash up on the shore, and now here you are- a killer." He chuckled. "You wanted nothing more than to leave this island, and now you can. I can call in a rescue ship, you can go home!" He yanked Shado closer. "Tell me, Mr. Queen. Are you prepared to sacrifice your freedom?" he pushed Shado forward slightly. "For her?"_

_Oliver looked to Shado. She nodded imperceptibly. So he breathed, aimed-_

_And fired._

_Fyers lurched back, releasing Shado. He gurgled slightly, then fell over, dead, with and arrow sticking out the center of his throat._

“Whoa.” Tommy said as everyone stared at the screen, those who had known Oliver stunned at his selfless act.

 

“He just sacrificed his chance to go home…for someone he barely knew.” Thea muttered, remembering Oliver before the island and being able to imagine he’d do something like that in just six months away.

 

“That is definitely not something Ollie would have done when he first ended up on the island, even if he’d had the skills.” Laurel said, impressed and proud of Oliver’s growth.

 

_Oliver tilted his head slightly, staring at his work. "Guess so." He said coldly. Slade looked at him in disbelief, but Shado looked at him and grinned slightly. She nodded, and then looked back at Fyer's corpse. Her father had been avenged._

_In Merlyn Global, Oliver was still looking around when he suddenly heard coughing. He looked towards the windows and saw Tommy lying there, groaning._

“Thank god you’re alive.” Thea sighed in relief, no one noticing Dinah’s wince.

 

_"Tommy." He said worriedly, throwing back his hood and kneeling down besides his friend. He helped him up. "Tommy. Tommy!"_

_His eyes cleared. He had a gash under his left eye, but was otherwise unhurt. "Oliver." He finally said, recognizing his friend._

_"Where's your father?" Oliver asked._

_Tommy moved, but the room was still spinning. "Ohh." He blinked a few times, and everything settled down. "I don't know." He said finally. Tommy looked up at his friend. "You were right. You were right about him." He admitted._

_"Oliver." Dig called. Oliver looked back at his partner, who had found a crack in the wall- Merlyn's secret lair._

_"Are you going to kill him?" Tommy asked._

_Oliver stared at him for a few moments. "Get to safety." He finally said, rising and moving over to Diggle. Tommy got to his feet and made his way out._

_"Looks like a false wall." Diggle said his gun at the ready. Oliver nodded and slid the wall open. Inside they found Malcolm, standing ready in his Dark Archer gear, sans the hood._

_"Welcome, gentlemen. I've been waiting for you." Malcolm said "I wanted to see you watch your city die."_

“That’s what you think, you bastard.” Laurel sneered.

 

_"Where's the transmitter?" Oliver demanded._

_Malcolm smirked. "Somewhere I can easily get to it."_

_"I doubt it." Dig said. "You'll be too dead." Oliver drew and fired, but Malcolm was already moving, ducking to the side of the room. Dig followed him with a line of bullets, but he ducked behind a pillar. The two moved to follow, But Malcolm returned fire with his own bow. Oliver bent out of the path of an arrow just in time. Dig round the corner, but Malcolm deftly disarmed him, then kicked him away and threw the gun at Oliver, who ducked to avoid it. Oliver and Diggle both moved in, working in tandem, but Malcolm was highly skilled and managed to hold his own. He kicked Oliver into a work table, then spun and smashed his bow across Dig’s face, sending him staggering back. Malcolm brought the bow down hard on Oliver, who raised his own to block it. Oliver punched him hard across the face, sending the older man staggering away. He moved behind a rack of swords, then pulled out a pair of throwing knives and launched them at Diggle. One hit him in the shoulder, the other in the upper thigh._

“That had to hurt.” Roy noted as Diggle winced, imagining the pain.

 

“Oliver is out of his league, isn’t he?” Diggle asked knowingly.

 

“Not out of his league but he is at a huge disadvantage. Malcolm was trained by the most dangerous man on the planet, Ra’s al Ghul himself. Ollie’s had some good teachers but they don’t compare to Ra’s.” Dinah explained and everyone became worried.

 

_Dig collapsed to the ground and Oliver ran over to him, giving Merlyn a chance to escape out a back entrance._

_"Aaah!" Dig cried out, pulling at the knife in his shoulder. Oliver knelt down at his side, but Dig just gestured to where Merlyn had run. "Stairs. Go, go." He urged._

_Oliver ran up the stairs and threw open the access door to the roof, moving aside instinctually to avoid the arrow the now hooded Merlyn shot at him. He stepped out calmly onto the roof and faced his nemesis._

_"So tell me," Malcolm said from under his hood, "are you ready to die?"_

“Are you?” Tommy spat.

 

_The scene changed to the abandoned subway. Lance was running down the track as Felicity talked to him in his ear from the Lair._

_"You found it yet, Detective?" she asked._

_"Not exactly sure what I'm looking for." He gasped out._

_"Do you want me to describe it to you?" Felicity asked. Lance stopped, staring ahead. Before him was the Markov device._

“Shit that is one huge device.” Tommy muttered.

 

_"No, I've got it." He said, moving cautiously towards it._

_"You should see something that looks like a circuit board." She told him, staring at the schematics on her computer. "Pull it out." He pulled the cover off the device and looked around. "Do you see a timer?" she asked._

_Lance looked around and saw a countdown clock on the devices' base. "Seven minutes." He told her._

_Felicity swallowed. "Ok. Well, the good news is, this is going to be a paperweight in three."_

_In the Glades, Roy was running around, frantically thinking of what he could do. All around him people were running, screaming; some were looting. He heard some shouting closer to him and he looked down an alley to see a man being assaulted._

_"What do you got there, grandpa?" one punk asked. "Hey! Hey!" Roy shouted, running down the alley. He saw two punks dragging an old man while a third one watched. "Hey! Back off!" Roy shouted._

_"Learn how to count, jerk wad." The leader said. "There's three of us."_

_"Oh, is that right?" Roy said, moving towards them. One punk roared and ran at him, his pal close behind, and the old man took off. He dodged the first one and punched the second in the face, then grabbed his head and smashed it through a window near the ground. The other punk grabbed him from behind in a choke, but Roy used his leverage to flip the punk over him and onto the back of the first punk, taking them both out. He stood up and brushed his hands. "'Cause I only count one." He said, moving towards the leader._

“All that with no training…you’re a natural soldier.” Diggle noted and Roy shrugged.

 

“You pick up something in The Glades.” Roy said simply.

 

_"With a gun." The leader said, pulling out a .38 revolver. Roy froze, his life flashing before his eyes-_

_And then, from out of nowhere, a bottle flew and smashed against the back of the leaders head, dropping him like a stone as Roy looked on in shock. He got a bigger shock when he looked up and saw Thea._

“That’s for saving my ass.” Roy said dryly.

 

“Anytime!” Thea said cheerfully and Roy laughed as he shook his head in amusement.

 

_"Where did you learn how to do that?" he asked._

_"I guess I have wicked aim." She said shakily._

_"What?" he walked up to her, still not believing she was there._

_"I went to your house." She said._

_"Yeah, I figured I'd run for my life with everyone else." Roy said. "Did you-did you come to rescue me?" he asked._

_"Yeah." She smiled._

_He smiled back. "Come on." He said, taking her arm and leading her away._

“Smart thinking, getting her out of there.” Laurel noted and Roy simply shrugged.

 

_Back on the roof of Merlyn Global, the two archers were sending arrow after arrow at each other. Both were running low, and then suddenly Malcolm was out. They ran towards each other, and as they came together Malcolm swung his bow at Oliver's head. Oliver dropped to his knees, sliding under the blow, then raised his bow up to block the follow up. They began trading blows furiously, expertly wielding their bows like bo staffs. Oliver spun away and fired another arrow- which Malcolm caught inches from his face- which then exploded, sending him sprawling._

“Take that.” Tommy smirked.

 

_In the foundry, Felicity was talking Lance through disarming the device. "There are three wires- you need a green one, a yellow and one blue." She said. "Cut the blue."_

_"All right, I got it, I got it." Lance said in the subway. He cut the wire- and suddenly the device seemed to come alive. He looked over to the clock and saw it reset itself to two minutes. "Oh, my God." He said, watching in horror as the arm of the device lowered itself into place. "No, no, no, no, no!"_

“Oh no.” Laurel said as everyone tensed.

 

_"There must be some sort of anti-tamper safeguard." Felicity said calmly. "Hold on. I'm going to try to figure out how to override it."_

_Lance stood and backed away from the device. "Not enough time." He muttered. "There's not enough time!" he screamed._

_"Just hold on!" Felicity urged him calmly._

_"Not enough time." Lance pulled out his own phone and dialed a number. "Laurel." He said once she picked up._

_"Dad, don't worry, I got your message, and I did not come into work today." She lied as she frantically boxed up files at CNRI._

“Why the hell are you there?! Oliver specifically told you not to go into work today!” Tommy shouted.

 

“Well how was I supposed to know this would happen!?”  Laurel shouted back.

 

“We should have listened to Ollie.” Dinah said and everyone noticed the dark look on her face.

 

“What happens?” Thea asked not sure she wanted to know.

 

“Keep watching.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"Save it, kiddo, we both know you're there." He said. "But listen-you got to get out of the Glades. You got to get out of the Glades right now!" he said urgently. "Ok, please."_

_"Dad?" Laurel said, concerned._

_"Right now, Laurel! Right now, Laurel!" he screamed over the phone._

_"Daddy, you're scaring me." She said, suddenly very afraid._

_"Sorry, but… I'm not I'm not going to make it." Lance told her._

“Daddy.” Laurel said tears coming to her eyes and Thea took her hand, hoping it offered her some comfort.

 

_"What? What?!" she exclaimed tearfully._

_"You have to promise me one thing, Laurel. You're not going to die along with me. You have to go on with your life. After your sister died, I pushed people away, I became like a ghost." He told her. "I didn't think I had the right to live when my baby girl didn't. Promise me you're not going to make the same mistakes as I did." He asked her._

_"Where are you?" Laurel whispered, crying._

_"Promise me, Laurel." He begged her. "Promise me."_

_"I promise." She said brokenly._

_Lance closed his eyes, and then wiped his tears away. He had to be strong for her right now. "I love you, honey, now and forever." He told her._

_"I love you." Laurel replied. The line went dead. "Dad!" she yelled, and then began sobbing._

As Laurel cried, Tommy and Thea began to forgive Quentin a little. With his actions against Oliver, it had been easy for them to forget that he had lost someone as well. He had lost a daughter that day, someone he loved. They did not forgive him for his actions against Oliver, but they no longer hated him.

 

_Lance hung up, and then took a breath. Suddenly the com link beeped._

_"Detective Lance?" Felicity said. "I need you to listen to me very carefully." She told him._

_In the Glades, Roy had liberated a truck and was driving himself and Thea out of the area. He was typing on his phone as he drove at breakneck speeds._

_"You do know how dangerous it is to text and drive, right?" Thea asked. "It can wait!"_

_"No, it can't. I'm trying to find us another route out of here." He explained._

_Thea grabbed the phone from him. "Let me. It's not worth the risk." She said. She looked out the windshield, and suddenly there was an SUV ahead, blocking the intersection. "Roy!"_

_Roy slammed on the breaks and spun the wheel. He skidded to a stop, barely missing the SUV and stopping just short of a person. He banged on the hood of the car. "Help me out! Help me out!"_

_Roy got out of the truck. In front of him was a bus that a car had smashed into. The car had hit right at the door, pinning everyone inside of the bus._

_"Roy!" Thea screamed, getting out and running around the car to him. "Roy, stop! Roy! The device is about to go off any second!" she exclaimed._

_Roy looked at the people trapped in the bus. "I can't leave anyone behind." He declared softly._

“You know, in a lot of ways…you remind me of Ollie,” Dinah told Roy and he looked at her surprised, “both of you unwilling to let innocent people die, both of you blame yourselves for things that weren’t your fault, both of you are so...passionate about what you do. Ollie really found the perfect student for him when he found you.”

 

“Thanks…I think.” Roy said unsure if that was a compliment or an insult.

 

_"I know you think you have something to prove." She cried. "But you're not the Vigilante!"_

_Roy took her by the shoulders. "Look, I can't do this unless I know you're safe." He told her._

_"Then you better haul ass out of here, too." She said. They kissed, illuminated by the falling sparks of a busted transformer. He broke away and pressed his forehead to hers, staring into her eyes. She nodded, and then ran back to the truck. He watched her climb in and drive off to safety, then turned back to the bus._

_On the rooftop of Merlyn Global, Malcolm had traded his bow for a sword. They were fighting in close, with Oliver blocking the sword with his bow. Finally he kicked it away, then kicked Malcolm, sending him sprawling. He staggered to his feet just as Oliver jumped at him. Oliver wrapped his legs around Malcolm's head and did a huricanrana, landing Malcolm back to the ground on his back as Oliver landed on top. Malcolm slid away and got up jumping at Oliver and spinning from an arm bar to a reverse choke. He reared back, cutting off Oliver's air. He reached back and ripped off Malcolm's hood, trying to find something to hit, but he couldn't. Diggle, who had managed to drag himself up the stairs, looked on in horror._

“Ollie.” Thea breathed in horror as she, Tommy, and Laurel stared intently at the screen, worry and fear for Oliver coursing through their veins.

 

_"Don't struggle. It's over." Malcolm said as the two sank to their knees. Oliver was trying desperately to get air, but Malcolm was just too damn strong. "There was never any doubt in the outcome." Malcolm said. "Don't worry. Your mother and sister will be joining you in death." He snarled._

“That was his mistake.” Dinah said softly as the scene unfolded.

 

_Oliver struggled with all of his might. In his mind, he saw his father, heard his last command._

_‘Survive.'_

_On the ground in front of him lay a black arrow. He reached out for it even as his vision blurred and darkened. His flailing fingers finally grasped the shaft. Without hesitation, he lifted the arrow and jammed it through his own chest and into Malcolm's. Malcolm screamed in pain and finally let go, and Oliver allowed himself to fall forward, letting the arrow go through him all the way. Malcolm fell back, gasping in pain._

“Holy shit.” Roy breathed as they all stared at the screen.

 

“The things that man would do to protect the people he loved.” Dinah said with a slight smile.

 

_"Thank you for teaching me what I'm fighting for." Oliver snarled, pulling himself to his feet. He looked down at his enemy. "But my father taught me how." Malcolm tried to rise, but Oliver punched him solidly in the jaw, knocking him down as Diggle watched in stunned silence._

_Down in the subway, Lance was frantically following Felicity's instructions. "Come on!" he said in frustration, twisting two wires together._

_He pulled a third- and the machine sputtered and died. He sat back, relieved._

“Oh thank god.” Laurel said as the viewers sighed in relief, none of them noticing Dinah’s grim expression.

 

_On the rooftop, Oliver got a message from Felicity._

_Oliver stared down at Malcolm. "It's over." He told him._

_"If I've learned anything as a successful businessman," he said weakly, coughing, "it's…redundancy." Malcolm finally collapsed, unconscious._

“Oh my god.” Laurel breathed as she out it together, Dinah’s nod confirming her suspicions.

 

“What?” Thea asked fearfully.

 

“Just watch.” Dinah ordered grimly.

 

_Oliver stared at him for a moment before the realization hit him. "Felicity, there's another device." He said with dread in his voice. "There's two of them!"_

_On the east side of the Glades, in an abandoned subway station, the second Markov device lowered into place and activated. Almost immediately the shaking began._

_On Pabst Street Lance staggered out of the subway, swaying wildly with the shaking ground. "What the hell's happening?!" he yelled._

_At CNRI, the office started shaking itself apart. Laurel looked around, and then stopped Anastasia. "Ok, that's enough." She said._

_In the Lair, Felicity sat stunned as the lights flickered and the foundry shook around her._

_On the roof of Merlyn Global, Dig and Oliver hobbled to the edge of the roof to take in the devastation._

Roy slowly stood up from the couch, staring in stunned shock as his home was destroyed. The others wore similar expressions, none of them believing that Oliver would fail to stop Malcolm…but he had. Dinah wrapped her arms around herself, trying to repress the sob building in her throat.

 

_On the ground in the Glades, Lance called in to Felicity. "I turned the damn thing off!" he shouted._

_"Merlyn had a second device!" Felicity replied, crying._

_"My daughter! Laurel! She's at CNRI!" Lance cried in horror, and then took off in a run to CNRI._

Thea and Tommy looked at Laurel in concern, even though they knew she would survive. Diggle and Roy both noticed the look on Dinah’s face and realized that something terrible was about to happen.

 

_At the law office, Laurel pushed her coworker forward. "Run!" she told her. Laurel grabbed some files and tried to make her way around to the exit, but the shaking threw her off balance. She looked up just as a support beam came swinging down from the ceiling, hitting her and sending her crashing into the wall. She fell to the ground, stunned, and chunk of the concrete wall fell on top of her. Anastasia made it outside, and spun around, expecting to see her. She didn't. "Laurel!" she yelled, hoping her friend would appear._

_In the foundry, Felicity tearfully called her boss. "Oliver?"_

_"Are you ok?" he asked._

_"Yeah." She gasped as several machines exploded behind her, and dust rained down from an aftershock. She still had power, though, and she pulled up a damage assessment on her computer. "The damage seems to be contained on the east side, past Wells Street." She said._

_Oliver stared in shock. "Laurel." He realized. He looked to Diggle. "Are you going to be ok?"_

“He’s asking me that? He just shoved an arrow through his chest!” Diggle pointed out exasperated.

 

_"Go, go, go." He told him. Oliver ran off to get his bike while Diggle stayed on the roof, watching the city burn._

_At CNRI, Laurel was waking up. She pushed futilely at the concrete that lay across her chest, but it wouldn't move. "Help!" she cried out, sobbing. "Please! Help me!" Suddenly Tommy was there._

As Thea and Laurel looked at Tommy in concern and Tommy was simply surprised that he was there, it clicked for Diggle and Roy. Roy looked over at Dinah but the tears rolling down her face was all the answer he needed to know what was about to happen.

 

_He ran to her and gripped the concrete. "Tommy!" Laurel cried out in surprise. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I kind of figured that you might come back to CNRI." He said, grunting as he tried to move the rubble._

_"You came here for me?" she asked in shock._

_Tommy looked into her eyes. "I love you." He told her. He grunted and heaved mightily, finally lifting the rubble. Laurel crawled out as fast as she could. "Get up! Go!" Tommy yelled. "I'm right behind you!"_

_Laurel bolted out of the collapsing building, making it to the street just as Quentin ran up._

_"Laurel! Laurel!" he shouted in relief._

_"Dad! Dad!" Laurel collapsed into his arms._

_"Oh, thank God." He said. Suddenly there was a terrible sound, and they looked up to see the building collapse upon itself._

As Laurel and Thea looked alarmed and Tommy paled, Dinah had to bite her tongue to prevent from crying out as the tears came in waves.

 

_. Laurel made to run back in, but Quentin stopped her._

_"No! No! Laurel!" he cried out, desperately holding her back. "No, you can't!"_

_"Tommy!" she cried out in terror._

_"You can't! It's too late, it's too late." Quentin said, pulling her close as she sobbed._

_Oliver had sped like a demon to reach the place, but navigating the rubble of the Glades had slowed him down. He finally reached the back of the building, and as he climbed off he could hear Laurel screaming in the street._

_"Tommy! Ah, Tommy." She cried out._

_Oliver ran into the burning building, desperately looking for his friend. He finally found him, partially buried in the rubble._

_"You're going to be fine." Oliver promised him, moving the heavy concrete off of his friend._

_"Another thing… we got to disagree on." Tommy gasped. Oliver removed the last piece to find a grizzly sight- a long piece of rebar, piercing the center of Tommy's chest._

Laurel and Thea gasped, terror and grief hitting them like a train. Tommy looked over at Denial, desperate for confirmation that this wasn’t true, but the broken look on her tear-stained face spoke volumes.

 

“I die.” Tommy said numbly and she nodded.

 

“Yeah…you die.” Dinah said in a voice cracking with grief as her younger self and Thea began crying as well.

 

_He looked at it in despair. "Tommy…"_

_"Is-is Laurel safe?" he asked. "Is Laurel safe? I tried to get her out of here." He asked weakly, his life slipping away._

_"Yeah, yeah, you did." Oliver said, forcing a smile. "You saved her. I'm going to get you out of here." He told him, looking for a way to get him off the rebar without killing him- praying for a way. "You're going to be fine."_

_"Stop." Tommy pleaded softly. Oliver paused, looking at his friend with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry." Tommy said._

_"No. Don't apologize." Oliver told him._

_"I was angry." He continued. "And I was jealous. I- I am my father." He murmured._

“You’re nothing like your father.” Diggle assured the younger man, sadness shooting through him.

 

_Oliver shook his head. "No." he put a hand on Tommy's face. "No, you're not."_

_"Did-did you kill him?" he asked, fading._

_Oliver looked his friend in the eye. "No." he said._

“Thanks for lying.” Tommy smiled weakly.

 

_Tommy smiled. "Thank you." He said softly. He gave one last, shuddering breath, and then he was gone._

_"No, no!" Oliver cried, "Tommy!" tears were falling freely now. "It should have been me. Open your eyes, Tommy!" he sobbed. "Open your eyes."_

_Outside, Lance stood consoling Laurel as Anastasia stood by, while all around them the Glades crumbled to the ground._

 

_As the screen went black, Thea shot out of her seat and launched herself at her brother. Tommy was almost knocked off the couch but steadied himself and hugged her as she cried into his shoulder. As Tommy tried to comfort her as words failed him, Diggle stood up and let Laurel take his seat. Tommy wrapped his spare arm around Laurel as she cried into his other shoulder. At the look from Dinah, who managed to gain control over herself and her emotions, Diggle and Roy followed her out of the viewing room, allowing the three to grieve together.  
_


	31. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secrets are revealed about Oliver's time in Russia that give new depths to Talia's wickedness.

Tommy, Thea, and Laurel had all fallen into an uneasy sleep after the two women had cried for a while. Tommy himself had gotten very little sleep but had not moved, so as to not wake the girls. He had just been sitting there, thinking. He had just watched himself die. That was a sentence he’d never thought he’d say.

 

Tommy sighed quietly as the events of yesterday caught up with him. But not quietly enough, as the sound caused Thea and Laurel to stir. The two opened their eyes, at first confused until the past few days’ events came back to them. Laurel and Thea sat up, all of them silent for a moment.

 

“I think we need to talk about what we say last night.” Tommy said and the other two nodded.

 

“You died.” Thea said quietly.

 

“In that timeline. We’re here to change things. That’s only one possible outcome if we can’t stop my father.” Tommy pointed out and Laurel nodded.

 

“He’s right, god I never thought I’d say that,” Laurel muttered and Tommy mock glared at her as Thea laughed, “This was Dinah’s past but it doesn’t have to be our future. They are giving us the knowledge to change things; we just have to use this knowledge to make a better future.”

 

“The future isn’t set in stone Speedy, not yet. If we stop my father, none of this will happen.” Tommy pointed out and Thea nodded as she sighed.

 

“I just…I can’t believe this has happened.” Thea admitted.

 

“Before this…I don’t think any of us could’ve have.” Laurel admitted.

 

“Yeah and I have a feeling the worst is yet to come.” Tommy noted grimly and they all sighed.

 

 

“Well, I imagine we have another day of viewing the future. So, who’s up for breakfast?” Laurel asked although none of them had much of an appetite.

 

“Might as well.” Tommy muttered.

 

The three stood up and exited the viewing room. As they walked out, they nearly ran into Diggle and Roy.

 

“Hey, Dinah sent us to check on you when we found out you weren’t in your rooms.” Roy greeted them.

 

“We fell asleep on the couch.” Tommy explained and the other males nodded.

 

“So, let’s get some breakfast and continue the recordings…if you’re up for it, that is?” Diggle said carefully.

 

“I think we’re as ready as we’ll ever be.” Laurel said as she exchanged glances with her friends.

 

“Um, do you guys know where the closest bathroom is?” Thea asked.

 

“I asked Dinah earlier. I think that’s it.” Roy pointed to a door on the other side of the hall.

 

Nodding her thanks, Thea walked over and pushed the door open before gasping as she stilled. Worried the others hurried over and also stopped still as they saw the inside of the room.

 

It was clearly not a bathroom. It was a room that had blue walls that looked they made of machinery. In the center of the room was a machine that looked like something out of Star Wars or Stat Trek. It was dark blue and looked like some weird hybrid between a car and a projector.

 

Curiously, Tommy entered the room with Roy following and Thea not far behind. Exchanging uncertain glances, Laurel and Diggle followed the trio.

 

“Wow, cool.” Roy said as they all crowded around the machine.

 

“This is lightyears ahead of anything we have back home, whatever this is.” Diggle noted.

 

“A lot can happen in sixteen years.” Laurel pointed out.

 

Tommy ran his fingers along the side of the machine and suddenly, without warning, it seemed to come alive. The group all jumped back as it hummed t life and lit up.

 

“Tommy, what did you do?” Laurel demanded.

 

“I barely touched it!” Tommy protested.

 

The room around them disappeared, save for the machine itself. They suddenly found themselves in a dark room that reminded them heavily a prison cell. A woman with Middle-eastern skin tones that heavily resembled Nyssa stood before a man chained to the wall. They couldn’t see his face, but he was obviously Caucasian with dark hair that hadn’t been washed in a while. He was dressed in clothes that had holes in them, e it her from torture or something else, they didn’t know.

 

“What is your mission?” the woman asked him.

 

“To destroy Oliver Queen and everything he holds dear.”

 

Those watching this stiffened. They knew that voice. It was hoarse, from either screaming or lack of use, and had a blank, dull tone to it. But still, it was easily recognizable.

 

“And what is your name?” The woman-Talia, they realized-asked with a smirk.

 

“My name…is Prometheus.” Prometheus said he lifted his head to reveal the face of Roy Harper.

 

“Turn it off.” Roy barked, looking away from the scene.

 

“We don’t know how.” Tommy told him.

 

“Well figure it out! I just…I don’t want to hear or see anymore.” Roy said desperately, not looking at the scene.

 

Feeling great sympathy for Roy, Laurel walked over and randomly pushed a button. The scene changed to some sort of lair. Oliver and a much younger Dinah were in some sort of lair, arguing.

 

“When were you planning on telling me this?!” Dinah barked.

 

“You were the first one I was going to tell but I couldn’t.” Oliver said calmly.

 

“Really. And why is that?” Dinah sneered.

 

“She told me if I told anyone, _anyone_ , and she would take him somewhere where I could never find him. Excuse me if I didn’t want to take that chance!” Oliver snapped.

 

Sneering, Dinah slapped him.

 

“Go to hell.” She snarled before storming off.

 

“Well, something clearly went down there.” Roy said as he watched the scene amused.

 

“Let’s try and figure out how to turn this off.” Laurel said embarrassed that they had seen her and Oliver fighting about…something.

 

Laurel pushed another button and the scene changed once more. Oliver was in a room, sitting in a chair. His face was beaten and bloody as a man aimed a gun at his face while two others stood guard.

 

“I’m done asking. Follow me or die.” The man said in a Russian accent.

 

There was the sound of fighting outside the room. The man said something to his guards and they went out to check it out. The man turned back to Oliver but there was the sound of more fighting and the sound of wires being drawn. The man grabbed Oliver by his shoulder and forced him up, leading him over to the stairs, using him as a human shield. Then an arrow flew out and hit him in the shoulder, sending the man flying back into the wall, where he was pinned. Oliver’s savior stepped into view.

 

It was a woman dressed in black with the hood drawn up. She had a bow in her hand and a quiver full of arrows on her back. The only thing visible was her face. For a mad moment, it looked like Laurel. Everyone turned to Laurel but she seemed just as shocked as the others. When they turned back, they saw the face had changed to a different one, but one that was recognizable. Although not one that was truly welcome.

 

“Hello Mr. Queen. I’ve been looking for you. My name is Talia.” Talia said as she walked down the steps.

 

They so stunned they didn’t hear someone approach until they pushed the button and the scene faded, the room returning to normal. The group turned, expecting Dinah or another member of the League. It wasn’t.

 

Before them stood a young man around Thea’s age with a striking recumbence to Oliver. The only physical difference between the young man and Oliver at that age was the fact that this young man had brown eyes and had a darker skin tone than Oliver. He was dressed in a version of Oliver’s suit in the recordings, a bow in his hand and a quiver on his back.

 

“This room is off limits to anyone not a member of the League.” He told them.

 

“Sorry, we thought this was a bathroom.” Thea said and his eyes trained n on her.

 

“I see. I’ll show you the nearest one.” He offered.

 

“Hey, what’s your name?” Tommy called out as he began leading them out of the room.

 

“Conner.” He said simply.

 

Conner led them down to the dining hall, Thea stopping at the real bathroom on the way. They walked into the dining hall to see Dinah already there with two children, both girls. One had a head of black hair while the other was a blonde. The blonde looked up and squealed.

 

“Conner!” She shouted as she ran to him, latching herself onto his legs.

 

“Hey there little birdie.” Conner quipped as he picked her up and wrapped her little arms around his neck.

 

“Conner, when did you get back?” Dinah asked as she and the other girl walked over to him.

 

“Just now.” He told her and Dinah nodded.

 

“Any luck?” She asked but he shook his head.

 

“She’s long gone by now. I don’t know where she is.” Conner said and she nodded.

 

“Is ee you’ve met our guests.” She noted and he flashed a dry smile.

 

“I found them in the memory room. They activated Cerebro by mistake.” He said and Dinah nodded in understanding.

 

“I see. Well, could you watch the girls for me today? Kara had to go on a mission a galaxy away.” Dinah said and he nodded.

 

“I’d be delighted.” Conner said as he set Conner down and she and the other girl dragged him back to the table they were sitting at.

 

“He’s Ollie’s son, isn’t he?” Thea asked and Dinah nodded.

 

“Yes. What did you see in the memory room?” Dinah demanded.

 

“We saw the moment Arsenal became Prometheus. Me and Ollie were fighting about…something. And Talia saved Ollie in Russia.” Laurel said and Dinah sighed.

 

“This plan was originally Ollie’s. He came up with it to change the past so we could make a better future. He downloaded his memories along with Arsenal’s and mine to make these recordings. Olie died shortly after we downloaded our memories, so we couldn’t uuse hiss plan to the fullest extent. He wanted to download a friend of ours as well. But they died with Ollie.” Dinah explained and they all nodded.

 

“So…who’s Conner’s mother?” Tommy asked and Dinah scowled.

 

“You don’t want to know, trust me.” Dinah assured him.

 

“I think we all do now.” Thea said, warning bells set off by Dinah’s reaction.

 

“…Talia.” Dinah said and they gapped at her.

 

“He slept with Talia?” Laurel asked sounding disgusted.

 

“Not exactly,” Dinah said and they became confused, “Talia sought him out, claimed she was a mentor to Yao-Fei, although we have no evidence to support that. She was, in all actuality, the person who gave him his final steps into becoming The Hood. He thought she was helping him…but she had another agenda.”

 

“What agenda?” Diggle asked as they listen to Dinah’s story.

 

“Ra’s had sent her out into the world to find am an suitable to produce an heir to his legacy with. She found Batman first and considered him but she considered his unwillingness to take a life problematic if her child inherited it. So she went to Oliver instead. Once she gained his trust, she offered him a drink. The next thing he remembered was waking up naked and Talia was gone.” Dinah said everyone stiffened as they realized what she was saying.

 

“Are you saying that…” Tommy trailed off.

 

“Yes, Conner is the product of Talia basically raping Ollie.” Dinah said the anger still clear in her voice.

 

“I’m gonna kill her.” Thea snarled.

 

“You can’t.” Dinah said as everyone seethed.

 

“So, how did Conner end up here?” Roy asked curiously.

 

“During her plan to take down Ollie, Talia approached him as a friend, or ally at least. She gave him Conner under the guise of wanting her son to get to know his father. In reality, the plan was for Conner to dismantle Oliver’s team and support system from the inside.” Dinah explained.

 

“I take it it didn’t happen that way.” Thea noted and Dinah.

 

“Talia became so consumed by her thirst for vengeance that she couldn’t see that Conner wasn’t set on avenging her father’s death, he just wanted to know his dad. When Conner threw his lot in with Ollie, Talia disowned him.” Dinah explained.

 

“God, Talia’s even worse than I thought.” Tommy muttered disgusted.

 

“Look…I know you all had quite a shock last night. If you guys don’t feel up to continuing…we can put it off for today.” Dinah offered.

 

“No. What you’re showing us…it’s Important. We need to know if we’re going to change the future.” Tommy said firmly with the others nodding their agreement.

 

“Alright then,” Dinah smiled, “let’s eat some breakfast and then we’ll continue.”


	32. City of heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the second year recordings begin, Dinah reveals upsetting information as Tommy learns what caused Oliver to stop killing.

“I thought you only had one kid.” Roy mentioned to Dinah as Conner led the two little girls out of the dining hall.

 

“I do. The one with black hair is Arsenal’s.” Dinah said and everyone looked at her sharply.

 

“What?” Roy asked stunned and Dinah grinned.

 

“Her name is Lian; she’s six and the apple of her father’s eye.” Dinah explained.

 

“Am I…” Thea trailed off and Dinah scowled.

 

“No, you’re not the mother. She’s not in the picture and it’s better that way. Trust me. Now, I think it’s time we continue.” Dinah ordered.

 

The others simply nodded before trailing behind Dinah. They entered the viewing room and took their seats, although it was different from before. Tommy took his original seat with Laurel and Thea while Roy sat next to Diggle and Dinah retook her seat. Dinah picked up the remote and started the next recording.

 

_The memory set opened on a man running through dense foliage. The figure stopped and looked up as a plane flew over the island, revealing him to be Oliver._

_25,000 feet up, Felicity sat with her eyes clenched shut and her fingers dug into the seat of an ancient Lockheed Electra that dated back to the time of Amelia Earhart- and she wasn't sure that this wasn't Earhart's missing plane._

“Man, that doesn’t look safe at all.” Tommy noted uneasily.

 

_The pilot, and aged Chinese man, said something in Mandarin that she couldn't understand as Dig came up behind her._

_"Felicity, if you're so scared, why did you insist on sitting up front?" he asked the frightened hacker._

_"This is the only seat with a seatbelt." She said in a tremulous voice._

_“Which will come in handy when we hit the watch at 180 miles an hour.” He noted dryly._

Tommy and Roy snickered while Thea and Laurel rolled their eyes at their antics.

 

_"What?" she asked, whipping her head around to look at him._

_"Which will not happen." He hastily added. The pilot said something else, and a sight outside the cockpit window caught Dig's attention. "I think that means we're here."_

_Felicity looked out as the island appeared through the mists. "Lian Yu." She said softly._

_She looked back to Dig, and her eyes widened in alarm as she saw him putting on a parachute. "But you said the parachutes were just in case!" she exclaimed fearfully._

_"Yeah, just in case we made it here." Dig replied. "Come on."_

_"No!"_

“Oh stop whining.” Laurel rolled her eyes.

 

_A few minutes later, Dig opened the side door of the plane, and he and Felicity squeezed out of the narrow doorway. Felicity was attached to Diggle, with their gear strapped to her chest._

_"All right, Felicity, on 3!" Diggle shouted over the rush of air._

_Felicity shook her head. "I can't, I'm scared! I can't—"_

“Does she think Oliver was never scared? I’m sure there have been times when he was absolutely terrified but he still did what he had to do.” Diggle noted.

 

 “Felicity was not a field person.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_"One!" Dig shouted, and then jumped._

_Felicity screamed the entire way down. They floated over the edge of the island, past a half-sunken ship until they landed on the beach. Felicity managed to hold onto her vomit until Diggle unhooked her. He set about gathering up the parachute as she lost her lunch into the ocean._

“Ew.” Thea said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

 

_"Thanks for waiting until we touched down." He told her with a smile._

_"My pleasure." She replied._

_Dig hoisted the pack onto his back. "Let's move." He said. They started walking up the beach with Dig taking point. Felicity looked around curiously, her eyes lingering on a post set into the beach. On it was a mask- half black, half orange, with an arrow sticking out of the left eye hole._

Dinah scowled at the screen, Unnoticed by the rest of the viewers.

 

_They moved into the forest, with Dig quickly identifying a path to follow. He walked quickly but cautiously, his gun drawn but pointed down as he took in his surroundings. Felicity half walked, half ran behind him, struggling to keep up. Suddenly Dig froze and held up a closed fist, signaling Felicity to stop._

_"What is it?" she asked as he looked around._

_Diggle frowned. "Thought I heard something." He said, lowering his gun. They started moving again, but had only moved a few feet before Felicity put her foot down and heard a distinctive 'Click'._

“Oh shit.” Tommy groaned.

 

“What were you thinking, bringing her to that place?” Roy asked Diggle.

 

“Ask him that.” Diggle pointed to the screen.

 

_Diggle spun around, then set his pack on the ground before approaching her. "Don't move." He told her. He pulled out a knife and knelt down in front of her, then began gently digging away the earth around her foot. "It's a landmine." He confirmed after a minute. "I'm going to try to disarm it."_

“Bad idea, very bad idea.” Dinah warned him and Diggle paled.

 

_"You can't!" Diggle looked up and Felicity turned her head to look behind her. In a tree behind the pair, Oliver stood on a branch, his bow at the ready. "Diggle! Back away. Felicity, don't move." He ordered. He fired and arrow with a line attached into a tree farther down the path, then took the line in his hand, drew it taught, and jumped. The line caught and he arced in a perfect swing towards the blonde IT girl, who held up her arm instinctively. Oliver caught her around the waist and swung her free of the mine, allowing it to explode harmlessly behind them._

_The blast knocked Diggle to the ground, where he landed with a grunt even as Oliver and Felicity landed a short ways away with Oliver on top of the blonde._

_"God, you're- you're really sweaty." Felicity gasped._

_"You're a hard man to find." Diggle said as he pulled himself up._

_Oliver looked over at Dig, then down at Felicity. "You shouldn't have come here." He said resignedly._

“How long has he been there?” Tommy asked lowly.

 

“Since a few weeks after your funeral.” Dinah said, remembering his goodbye note.

 

_A short time later, Oliver led them to the fuselage of the downed military transport plane._

_"Would have emailed, but this isn't exactly a WiFi hotspot." Diggle told them as they entered. It was more overgrown with vegetation now, in rougher shape, but it was still a good shelter on the island._

_"Is this where you lived when you were here?" Felicity asked. "I mean, the first time you were here."_

_"For some of it." He replied shortly._

_Felicity sighed. "Could you at least pretend like you're glad to see us?" she asked. "Dig and I spent weeks tracking you down. We've traveled halfway across the world. And this morning we flew in a plane so old, I'm pretty sure I was safer once I jumped out of it. You could at least offer us a water. Or," she paused, considering. "A coconut."_

“Does she have to complain about everything? I mean, she’s being totally rude.” Thea snapped.

 

“Trust me, you haven’t seen anything. It got so much worse in year three.” Dinah told them and the teenagers groaned.

 

_Oliver smiled his first genuine smile since Tommy's death at that. He pulled a canteen out of a storage crate, then walked back to Felicity and handed it to her. "Fresh out of coconuts." He said. "I am happy to see you." He added. "But I know why you're here. I'm not coming back to Starling City." He said. "I can't. My mission, my father's list, it was a fool's crusade. And I failed." He added. "Malcolm Merlyn destroyed the Glades. Tommy died. And the Hood couldn't stop it. So don't ask me to put it on again. Ever."_

“He blamed himself for me dying.” Tommy said sadly and Dinah nodded.

 

“Until the day he died.” Dinah told him.

 

_"This isn't about you being the Vigilante." Diggle said after a moment. "This is about you being Oliver Queen. Your mother's in prison, Oliver. Her trial's coming up. Thea's out on her own. Your family needs you."_

_"So does the family business." Felicity added. "All the bad press after the Undertaking left Queen Consolidated ripe for a hostile takeover by Stellmore International. They've gutted every company they've taken over." She explained. "Once they gobble up Queen Consolidated, 30,000 employees are looking to be out of a job. Including one very blond I.T. expert." She added._

“God I hate her.” Dinah muttered.

 

“Wow, and I thought I had issues with Ollie’s exs before.” Laurel said surprised by the venom.

 

“That time, I wasn’t talking about Felicity.” Dinah said darkly as she pictured choking Isabel.

 

_"Listen, I get why you had to leave, Oliver, probably better than anybody else." Dig said. "I've been there. And after what happened, nobody can blame you for leaving. But it's time to come home."_

_The scene flashed back to the fuselage four years prior. Slade and Oliver were sparring with escrima sticks, and it was apparent immediately that Oliver had improved by leaps and bounds since the death of Fyers and the rest of the mercenaries. They fought fast and furiously for several minutes before mutually coming to a stop. A noise drew Oliver's attention, and he looked to the door to see Shado, now wearing her father's hood, walk in with a freshly caught bird in a cage. Slade took advantage and raped him hard across the side of his head with one of the bamboo sticks, sending Oliver to his knees._

“Damn, that had to hurt.” Roy quipped as Tommy winced.

 

“I can attest that it does.” Dinah grimaced as memories of Diggle training her after Oliver left town with Felicity flashed through her mind.

 

_Slade laughed. "You're not the first man to learn the hard way- women are a distraction." He said as he moved off to get a drink of water._

“Hypocrite.” Dinah muttered so softly no one heard.

 

_. Shado came over, lowering her hood as she did so._

_"You've come very far in a few months." She told him as he pulled himself up. "Don't beat yourself up."_

_"Ah, apparently that's his job." Oliver said with a smile._

_"And I love my job." Slade replied. "Not that I wouldn't trade it for a way off this island."_

_"While you two were playing with each other, I was hunting." Shado said._

_"Well, there's nothing more attractive than a woman who can hunt." Slade said, walking past the two towards the cage._

_Oliver smiled at a memory. "When I was marooned here, my first meal was a pheasant." He told her. "Your father cooked it for me."_

_"He was an awful cook." Shado said._

_"Yeah." Oliver agreed. "But a great father. I'm looking at the proof." He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips._

“Oh. He and Shado.” Laurel muttered, not quite jealous but surprised.

 

“He wasn’t sure if he would ever get off the island. And even if he did, he wasn’t sure if he could ever work it out with us. And after seeing his memories…I can see why he fell for her.” Dinah admitted.

 

_Across the way, Slade snapped the neck of the bird. "Let's eat." He said. Before they could even start cooking, a beeping sound caught their attention._

_"What's that?" Oliver asked._

_"That's Fyers' proximity detector." Slade said as the three ran over to the crate it was sitting on. Shado reached it first and lifted it. "We salvaged it from the wreckage of the soldier's camp." Shado said. "Picks up anything moving outside our safe zone." On the screen there was a rough map of their section of the island, along with three dots that seemed to be moving. "It's been five months since we stopped Fyers. He and all of his men were dead." She said in confusion._

_"So maybe it's an animal." Oliver suggested._

_"There's an imaging interface." Shado pushed a button, and a thermal image came up on the screen- unmistakably of three men, probably holding weapons._

_"Those are not animals." Oliver noted._

_"And we're not alone on this island." Slade added._

“No, they weren’t. And then it happened.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“What happened?” Thea asked a little fearfully.

 

“The birth of Ollie’s most dangerous enemy.” Dinah said darkly.

 

_The scene flashed forward to Starling City. Oliver, having retuned with Diggle and Felicity, rode in the back of the Bentley as Dig drove it through the devastation that was the Glades._

_Oliver looked out in stunned silence at the destruction that now surrounded him._

“Good god.” Diggle breathed as the time travelers stared at the screen in stunned.

 

“I hope dad is happy when he looks up at what he’s done.” Tommy growled.

 

_As they passed one fenced off disaster area, he noted a hand painted sign on the fencing that read 'Vote for Blood now!'_

_"Who's Blood?" he asked._

_"An alderman from the Glades trying to save the city." Dig said. "Fill your shoes."_

Dinah scoffed, causing everyone to look at her.

 

“Something you want to share with the rest of the class?” Roy drawled and she flashed him a tight smile.

 

“Later.” Dinah promised.

 

_"Here's everything on Stellmore International." Felicity said, handing over a thin file folder. "The vice president of acquisitions is a woman named Isabel Rochev." Oliver opened the folder and saw picture of the woman in question. She was beautiful, but there was a coldness in her eyes that was off-setting. "She looks angry in every photo."_

“She’s who you were talking about?” Laurel asked as Dinah glared at the screen and her older self nodded.

 

“What’d she do?” Tommy asked.

 

“I’ll tell you when we take a break. Its better you hear it from me then in these.” Dinah sighed.

 

_"So where to?" Dig asked. "Office?"_

_"Home." Oliver said. "I want to check in on Thea."_

_"Uh, she's not at your house, Oliver." Felicity said hesitantly._

_"Where is she?" Oliver asked._

_The scene changed to an office, where Thea and Roy were busy ripping off each other's clothes to have a quickie on the desk._

“Make it stop, make it stop!” Tommy begged as he covered his eyes while Thea blushed and Roy smirked.

 

“Relax, you don’t see anything.” Dinah rolled her eyes and Tommy gingerly uncovered his eyes.

 

_"I only have a second." Thea said with a smile as they kissed hungrily._

_"That's ok; my boss has been all over my ass today." Roy replied as she undid her shirt. "You should hear what she sounds like when- Ow!" Roy hissed in pain, and Thea paused in her ministrations and frowned. She looked down at his side, now exposed as she was pulling up his shirt._

_"You have got to be kidding me!" Thea said angrily, pushing Roy away roughly._

“Someone’s in the dog house.” Tommy said pleased while Roy rolled his eyes.

 

“Try not to sound so happy about it.” Roy said annoyed.

 

_"Come on! I don't want to fight." Roy said, rushing after her as she stalked out of the office._

_"Clearly you do, since you keep on taking every street corner drug dealer that you can get your fists on." Thea said. She exited the office and we see that we are in fact in Verdant._

_Thea stalked down the stairs to the main floor as Roy trailed behind._

_"It's not like that." He said. "The Glades are worse than ever."_

_"I know, but you already saved a busload of people and managed not to get buried alive." She argued. "I mean, how much more of a hero do you need to be? It's like you have a death wish. And guess what- it's going to come true." She said._

“He could no more walk away from it then he could cut off his own arm…sorry, poor choice of words.” Dinah winced.

 

“Yeah.” Roy looked down at the arm that, in this future, would one day be replaced by a cybernetic replica.

_"Yeah, well, someone has to do something." Roy countered. The two came to a stop on the main floor and Thea turned back to look at him. "And stand up for what's right, like he did."_

_"The Vigilante." She said dryly. "Who hasn't been seen since the earthquake, which means he did get buried alive and isn't coming back."_

_"I'm back."_

“Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear.” Roy quipped.

 

_Thea turned around and smiled as Oliver walked into the club. "Ollie!" she exclaimed happily, throwing herself into a hug. They separate, and she saw him looking at Roy. "Ah, you remember my friend Roy."_

_"Still here?" Oliver said with a bit of an edge to his voice._

_"Always." Roy replied evenly, shaking his hand._

“He really did not like me.” Roy noted and Tommy smirked.

 

“He didn’t know you,” Dinah corrected, “all he knew about you was that you were dating his little sister. Which made you public enemy number one in Ollie’s eyes.”

 

_"So how was Europe?" Thea asked, and Roy took the opportunity to get back to work. "You never texted, no postcards. Almost like you're on the island all over again."_

_"Yeah, sorry, I was kind of distracted. With snow skiing, waterskiing. A lot of skiing." He lied as they headed towards the bar._

“Did he have to lie about that.” Thea complained.

 

“Thea, I spent the last five months on the island I was stranded on while I was away. Yeah, I don’t think that comes up in a conversation.” Roy drawled.

 

_. "I hear rumors that my club is under new management."_

_"Ah, actually, it's my club now, and you're not getting it back." Thea said firmly._

_"You're not old enough to drink." Oliver pointed out._

_"But I am old enough to run a bar." Thea countered._

“I run a club? Cool.” Thea grinned.

 

“You were pretty good at it. Until it got shut down.” Dinah mused.

 

“Why’d it get shut down?” Thea asked upset.

 

“Ra’s exposed Ollie.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"Have you made it to Iron Heights?" Oliver asked gently._

_"To visit the woman who dropped a city on 500 innocent people? No, thank you." She said sarcastically._

_"Thea…" Oliver sighed. "That's not what mom did."_

_"Right. She had no choice." Thea said acidly. "But guess what? She did. A choice not to be a mass murderer. And I have a choice, too. So I choose not to be her daughter."_

“That’s kind of harsh.” Roy noted.

 

“I’m not happy with what she did, but Malcolm is the one that killed those people, not your mom Speedy,” Dinah said and Thea huffed, “and life is short Speedy. Remember that.”

 

_She smiled at her brother- a genuine smile- and placed a warm hand on his arm. "But I am so happy you are home." She let go and moved off further down the bar. "Honestly, I need to deal with our liquor distributor who shorted me on yesterday's delivery, and one of my bartenders called in sick, so…" she finally looked up at Oliver and noticed his expression. "What?" she asked._

_"Nothing." He said. "It's- it's nice to see you like this."_

_"Like what?" she asked suspiciously._

_"Together." Oliver smiled. Thea returned it, and then moved off to continue working. The sound of the TV caught his attention and he turned back to the bar._

_'-The representative from Central City says construction on the Star Labs particle accelerator should be completed by Christmas._

“The accelerator.” Dinah said wistfully.

 

“What is it?” Diggle asked curiously.

 

“Something that changed people’s lives. Some for the best, some for the worst.” Dinah said vaguely.

 

_And in local news, billionaire Oliver Queen has returned once again to Starling City. With his mother's upcoming trial and his father's company in freefall, analysts are asking what the Queen family scion has planned next." He frowned at the screen, wondering the same thing._

_The scene changed to City Hall, where a benefit was being thrown to raise money for the Glades. In the main hall, the Mayor was having a discussion with the District Attorney about the usefulness of vigilantes._

_"Wasn't our country founded on a brand of vigilantism, Mr. Donner?" The Mayor asked. "The revolutionaries in the Boston Tea Party were certainly choosing justice over law."_

_"I'd hardly compare our founding fathers to the Hood, Mr. Mayor, or these twisted copycats who have risen in his wake." Donner argued. The Mayor looked past Donner and smiled at the figure walking down the steps . "Ms. Lance. What do you think about vigilantes?" he asked as she joined the pair._

_"I'd be foolish to disagree with my new boss." Laurel replied with a smile._

“Boss?” Laurel perked up.

 

“After The Undertaking, we got promoted to Assistant D.A.” Dinah said with a smile, though Diggle and Roy noted it was twinged with sadness.

 

_"I knew I was smart to hire you." Donner said._

_"I'd heard you joined the district attorney's office." The Mayor said._

_"It was time for a change." Laurel said simply._

_"Still, I'm sorry that you and your colleagues at CNRI won't be opening your doors again." He said. Despite him being a politician, she actually believed he meant it._

_"There were no doors left to be reopened." Laurel replied with a twinge of sadness._

Dinah sighed as Laurel looked crestfallen.

 

_A series of musical chimes sounded. "They're playing my song." The Mayor said, racing off towards the podium as he was introduced._

_"Good evening." He said to polite applause. "It has been a very difficult year for Starling City. Our losses have been incalculable, our grief unimaginable. But with the generous donations you people are making tonight, we will come back from this tragedy."_

_"You have failed this city, Mr. Mayor!" a voice screamed out, causing the Mayor to stop short. "The Glades descended into hell on your watch! You swore to protect all the citizens of Starling, not just the wealthy!"_

“Who is that?” Diggle asked as everyone became uneasy.

 

“The Hoods.” Dinah said simply.

 

_“We're sorry about this, folks." The Mayor said. "We'll have this sorted out in just a minute."_

_Before any action could be taken, though, the Mayor was cut down in a hail of bullets. People started screaming and ducking for cover as four men, armed with automatic weapons and wearing Kevlar and paintball masks came storming down the stairs. They continued firing at the meager police presence in the room, cutting them down even as they tried to return fire. By the time they reached the main floor, the cops were all dead._

“What the hell?” Tommy asked as they all stared in shock.

 

“The Hoods: A group of people who were victims of The Undertaking and took action against the people they saw as being responsible for Malcolm’s actions. They were inspired by Ollie’s actions as The Hood but they didn’t seem to get that Ollie wasn’t looking for vengeance, he was just trying to help people.” Dinah explained.

 

_One of the men came up to Donner, letting his rifle hang on the sling and drawing his pistol. "Mr. District Attorney-" he started, but then Laurel was there; she swiftly grabbed his gun and sent three hard elbows into his face. The mask prevented any major damage, but the impact sent him to the ground. Laurel looked down at cold rage, the man's gun in her hand, but froze as she heard another gun cock behind her. She turned to see another masked man pointing his pistol right in her face. He gestured for her to get to her knees, and Laurel, her face full of rage and fear, complied._

“Oh god.” Thea muttered as she and Tommy gripped Laurel’s hands tightly.

 

“Um, sitting right here.” Dinah pointed out.

 

_"We are the Hoods." He said as she stared at him, unwavering. "And what was taken from us, we will take back." He pulled the trigger, but the gun only clicked- it was empty. She jumped slightly, but otherwise didn't react as the Hoods ran out of the building and into the night._

“Oh thank god.” Tommy said as they all sighed in relief.

 

_Later that night, Quentin rushed in, looking for-_

_"Laurel!" he exclaimed, running up to her and hugging her tightly._

_"Dad, I'm fine." Laurel protested, but returned the hug anyway._

_"You've got one very brave daughter there, sir." Donner told him, walking up to the family._

_"Yeah, one daughter's right, and I can't stand to lose another." Quentin said._

_"Well, I still can't believe this happened." Donner said. "The hoods attacks have strictly been limited to people in the financial sector trying to redistribute wealth in the Glades at gunpoint."_

_"Yeah, well, clearly that's not getting the result they're looking for, is it?" Quentin said, walking off with Laurel. "Did you get a good look at any of them?" he asked, the stress of the situation reverting him to type._

_"It was hard to focus on anything other than the gun barrel pointed at my face." Laurel replied._

_"No tattoos, distinguishing marks?"_

_"What do you think you're doing?" Lance looked up to see a cross Lieutenant Pike stalking towards him. "Interviewing the witness is the job of the Detective. Officer Lance." He said pointedly._

_"This is my daughter." Lance said desperately. "She was nearly killed tonight."_

_"Well, as a parent, you're welcome to stay." Pike said. "But as a beat cop, you're more than free to go." With that, Pike turned and walked off._

“What?!” Laurel demanded shocked.

 

“After the quake, dad was demoted because of his admission to working with Ollie.” Dinah explained.

 

“That is utter bullshit,” Roy snapped angrily, “he saved half of The Glades, he warned them and they didn’t listen. They should be getting on their knees and thanking him, maybe even promoting him, not this bullshit.”

 

“That’s politics for you.” Diggle said unhappily as Laurel seethed.

 

“Don’t worry; he got the recognition he deserved eventually.” Dinah promised.

 

_"You know, that's one of the downsides of being demoted- I don't get to witness his sunny disposition on a daily basis." Quentin joked. Laurel looked up and saw Oliver walking down the stairs._

“Of course he’s there.” Thea teased and Laurel rolled her eyes as she blushed.

 

_"Dad, give me a sec." she said, moving off towards her ex._

_"Yeah." Quentin said with a sigh._

_"I didn't know you were back in town." Laurel said to Oliver as they met at the bottom of the stairs._

_"I just got back a little while ago, and I was going to call, but then I Saw you on TV, so I thought that I would come and make sure you were safe." He said._

_"Just four hooded gunmen." Laurel said off-handedly. "Nothing a few self-defense classes couldn't handle."_

“How arrogant I was.”  Dinah mused and Laurel glared.

 

_Oliver sighed. "Take a walk?" he asked._

_"Yeah." She said. They walked off towards the exit._

_"Sorry I left." He told her._

_"Believe me, I get it." She said. "After the funeral, I think we both needed time to figure things out. On our own."_

_"I didn't get very far on my own." He admitted. "Did you? Figure anything out?"_

_"That I made a mistake when I slept with you." She said, stopping and turning to face him. "I know it wasn't exactly cheating, because Tommy had broken up with me, but he only did that because he thought that you and I should be together. All I know is that I feel like I betrayed him." She took a breath. "And now he's gone. And there's nothing I can do to make it right."_

“You didn’t betray me,” Tommy looked from one Laurel to the other, “And even if you did, I betrayed you first by lying to you and breaking up with you when you really needed me. And you can’t fight fate, right? If you need my forgiveness…then you’re forgiven.”

 

Dinah nodded, not showing any other reaction but inwardly, feeling a great weight lifted from her shoulders.

 

_"I know how that feels." Oliver said. "When I brought your sister on 'The Queen's Gambit,' I betrayed you and your father. There's no forgiveness for what I led Sara into. I would give anything to…"_

_Laurel pulled him into a hug. "To go back." She finished._

_"Yeah."_

_Laurel stepped back. "But we can't go back." She said, and then walked off, leaving him alone._

“One step forward, two steps back.” Laurel noted and Dinah nodded.

 

“The universe was conspiring to keep us apart.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

_Oliver sighed, then turned and walked outside. He found his body man on the sidewalk._

_"Diggle!" he called out. "I don't like being played."_

_"I'm not sure what you mean." Dig replied as they walked towards the car._

_"That's why you came to the island and brought me back to Starling City- these hood copycats." Oliver accused._

_"Well, what if it was?" Dig asked. "They're just doing what you did last year, terrorizing one-percenters into cleaning up their act." He stopped and faced the younger man. "Except they don't have your restraint, Oliver. Or your honor."_

_"I'm done being the Vigilante."_

_"Maybe this town still needs a vigilante."_

_"Now there's four of them." Oliver said hotly. "How's that working?" he glared at Dig. "Please take me home." He said after a moment. "Got a big day at the office tomorrow trying to save my family's company."_

_"Absolutely." Dig said, opening the door for Oliver. "Mr. Queen."_

“You did lie to him,” Tommy pointed out and held his hands up when Diggle looked at him incredulously, “Hear me out. You told Oliver in year one that you are the one person he doesn’t get to lie to. Well, shouldn’t the same thing apply to you and Felicity? How is he supposed to trust his team if the team lies to him and goes behind his back?”

 

“You have a point.” Diggle admitted and Dinah smiled, glad Tommy was standing up for Oliver against Diggle and Felicity. Something she and Thea should have done a long time ago.

 

_Later that night, in an old abandoned church, the four hoods were watching the news to see how their actions were reported. Instead they saw-_

_'And in local news, billionaire Oliver Queen has returned once again to Starling City.'_

_"Unbelievable." One of the men said. "We off the mayor on live TV, and what's the local news keep showing? Oliver Queen. Why?"_

_"Guess he's taking over the family business." Another one said._

_"We've been going about this wrong." The first one said._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"If we want real payback, we got to take the fight to the name that did this to us."_

_"Queen?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"He's some useless brat."_

_"The applied sciences division of Queen Consolidated built the earthquake generator." The first one said. "If we want real justice… then that family has to pay for the suffering it's caused us." He snarled. "In full."_

“And that John is what makes them different from Ollie,” Dinah said as the others stared horrified, “not their honor or lack of as the case may be, but that they involve innocent people in their mission of vengeance.”

 

_The scene changed to Verdant, where Thea was preparing the club for another night. Or would be, if her mind wasn't elsewhere._

_"Hello, earth to Queen." Roy said, getting his girlfriend's attention. "What, did you drop a Vertigo when I wasn't looking?" he joked._

_Thea gave him a tired smile. "I was just distracted." She said as she headed for the DJ booth._

_"About what your brother said, about your mom?" Roy guessed._

_"Eavesdrop much?"_

_"Ah, what I lack in height, I make up for in wicked good hearing." Roy joked._

_"Well, don't keep me in suspense, Harper. What's your take on the matter?" Thea asked. "Though, keep in mind, I do control your paycheck and your sex life." She pointed out._

“Good point.” Roy noted as Thea smirked.

 

_"Well, both my parents weren't worth a damn, either of them." Roy admitted._

“My dad was but after he died, my mom…well, what I said.” Roy shrugged.

_"You never talk about them." She noted._

_"You got nothing nice to say, right?" Roy chuckled. "Still, I- I'd be glad to see them and talk to them if I could. But look, you already lost your dad. Your mom, she's still here, and I'm sure she'd love to see you."_

_"I'm sure she's dying to." Thea said angrily. "Just like a lot of mothers in the Glades who won't ever get to see their kids again. Because my mother helped kill them." She glared at Roy. "I'm not going to that prison. It's the only way I know how to hurt her." She said, moving off._

“Isn’t that the same logic you used to justify going to jail to spite your mom?” Tommy asked curiously.

 

“I guess you haven’t changed as much as I thought.” Roy noted and Thea glared at him.

 

_"You might want to consider how much it's hurting you." Roy called out after her._

_The scene changed to QC the next day. Oliver and Diggle stepped off of the elevator and headed towards the offices, where they were met with Felicity._

_"They're in the conference room." She told them. "Just fyi, no one is eating the bagels."_

“That’s not a good sign.” Tommy said nervously.

 

_Oliver ignored her and walked into the conference room. Isabel, dressed impeccably in a tasteful red dress, stood and extended her hand._

“And there she is.” Dinah growled.

 

_"Isabel Rochev."_

_"Oliver Queen." They shook. "Sorry I'm late."_

_"For this meeting or a career in business?" Isabel jabbed._

“Nice to meet you to bitch.” Thea glared.

 

_Oliver gave her a tight smile. "I didn't realize hostile takeovers were filled with so much hostility." He noted as he took his seat at the end of the table._

_"Not at all." She replied, returning to her seat. "I'm actually in quite a good mood."_

_"Really?" Oliver added. "So destroying companies agrees with you?"_

_"Winning agrees with me."_

_"You haven't won yet."_

_Isabel gave him a cold smile. "Since you majored in dropping out of college, let me put this in terms that are easy for you to understand." She stated, ignoring his offended look. "You control 45% of Queen Consolidated stock. I control 45%, leaving 10% outstanding. But, in two days the board will release the final 10%."_

_"And I'll buy it before you do." Oliver said confidently. His confidence evaporated with her next words._

_"With what money?" she asked. "I doubt your trust fund is that large, and no angel investor will go near the company that built the machine that destroyed half the city. Companies rise and fall, Mr. Queen." Isabel said. "Your company has fallen."_

“She’s got a point. It’ll take a miracle to save the company.” Laurel noted worriedly.

 

_Out in the hall an executive arrives at the bank of elevators. He reaches for the button just as the door opens- revealing the three hoods. The first one belts him across the face, dropping the businessman. The four armed men rush into the boardroom, their weapons drawn._

“Oh shit.” Tommy said as they all tensed, worried for Oliver and the people in the board room.

 

_"Oliver Queen!" the first one calls out as Oliver rises in alarm. "You failed this city." Oliver glances over at Felicity, then back at the men. How can he take them on without reveal his secret to the others in the room?_

_"Get Down!" Diggle shots as he ran into the room, his gun drawn and firing at the three terrorists. Everyone drops to the floor, and Oliver and Isabel look at each other in alarm from under the table_

_"Pull back!" Diggle called out, returning fire while taking cover under the table. "Oliver, go!"_

_Oliver grasped Isabel's arm and pulled her up, then pushed her to the door._

“He had to save her.” Dinah muttered annoyed.

 

_. He turned around, looking for Felicity-_

_And came face-to-mask with a Hood._

_Who was promptly knocked over the head by a debris-wielding Felicity._

“Is that even possible for her to lift?” Tommy wondered.

 

“She’s done a lot of things that seem to be impossible.” Dinah muttered.1

 

_Oliver grabbed his friend and dragged her with him out of the conference room._

_"Quick! They're getting away." The Hood yelled, chasing after them He opened fire with his rifle, but Oliver grabbed onto Felicity tight and took a running leap at the window. Just as he hit and the glass shattered, he grabbed the chain that controlled the blinds. Once again Felicity found herself swinging through the air in Oliver's arms as they dropped a few floors before the chain pulled taught. Oliver brought up his feet and the two smashed through the window of an empty office, tumbling over a desk to the hard floor. Felicity looked up, stunned to see that she was still alive, even as Oliver checked her over for injuries._

“Thank god he got away.” Thea sighed as they all relaxed.

 

_Later that day after the Hoods had escaped, Oliver walked up to Isabel in the destroyed boardroom._

_"Ms. Rochev, I'm sorry about this." He said earnestly._

_"'Cause they were after you?" she asked._

_"Because what happens in this building is my responsibility." Oliver replied._

_"Only for the next 48 hours." Isabel said with as mug grin as she walked off._

“I see why you hate her.” Thea said as she glared at the screen.

 

“Trust me, you haven’t yet.” Dinah promised darkly.

 

_"I still can't get used to you in that uniform, Detective Lance." Felicity said, looking from the broken window to the former detective._

_"It's 'Officer' now." He told her with a smile. "And I'm just glad it still fits. They hurt you?" he asked her in concern._

_"I'm ok." She assured him._

_"You, uh, heard anything from our mutual friend lately?" Quentin asked hopefully._

_"Nope. In fact I keep waiting for him to show up." She said, looking over to Oliver, who was talking with Diggle._

_"You could have stopped those guys." She accused him later, after the cops had gone._

_"Not without giving Isabel Rochev and the Hoods a pretty good idea of what I'm capable of." Oliver pointed out._

“I think that little display where you saved Felicity gave them a pretty good idea.” Roy pointed out.

 

_"I think what Felicity's wondering is whether you avoided taking those Hoods on." Dig said. "And Oliver, she's not the only one wondering."_

_"I told you, I did not come back to Starling City to be the Vigilante." He said hotly._

_"But they came after you, Oliver. You could have taken them out." Dig pointed out._

_"No, I couldn't, Diggle." Oliver sighed. "Look, there's a part of being the Hood that neither one of you are considering." He told them. "The body count."_

_"And excuse me for saying this, but so what?" Felicity shot back. "Since when do you care?"_

_"Since Tommy." Diggle realized._

“When you said that something in his first year back convinced him he shouldn’t kill anymore…Tommy trailed off and Dinah nodded.

 

“I was talking about you dying,” Dinah confirmed, “Tommy, I know you aren’t comfortable with him killing, but him not killing held him back And considering what it cost him and all of us, it wasn’t worth it in the end.”

 

“What exactly did it cost him?” Diggle inquired and Dinah was silent for a moment.

 

“Ollie’s firth year back, we went up against a man named Damien Darhk. He was a former member of The League of Assassins, he was even considered to be the next Ra’s at one point. He was in charge of an organization called Hive and he had magically powers.”

 

“Magic, really?” Thea asked incredulously.

 

“It sounds crazy, but it’s true,” Dinah said before continuing, “We managed to strip him of his powers and lock him up in Iron Heights. But he got them back…and he killed Thea.”

 

“What?!” Tommy asked sharply as Thea paled while Laurel gripped her arm tightly.

 

“He killed her right in front of us and we couldn’t stop it. But thing is…Ollie could have killed Darhk before that night; he had chances but he didn’t because of his no-killing rule. And that is why it is a problem. I know you guys don’t like it, and I agree he shouldn’t kill all his enemies. But men like Malcolm, men like Darhk…if you aren’t prepared to do whatever it takes to stop them, then you won’t be able to defeat them.”

 

Tommy looked at Thea, picturing her dead in his mind. He still didn’t agree with Oliver killing…but if it protected his little sister, he could overlook it. At Tommy’s nod, Dinah unpaused the recording.

 

_"After he found out my secret, you know what Tommy called me?" Oliver asked. "A murderer. He was right. My best friend died thinking that I was a murderer, and anyone that I kill dishonors his memory."_

_"So don't." Felicity said after a moment. "It's not like you've killed every guy you've faced."_

_"I could have." He said. "Because when I put on the hood, it's kill or be killed. That is what kept me alive. That's why I should have stayed on the island." He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door._

_"Is that where you're going now?" she asked._

_"The two of you won't help me save my family's company; I'm going to talk to somebody who will." Oliver said, leaving them alone in the office._

Tommy sighed, his guilt over his reaction once he found out about Oliver’s secret resurfacing.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island. Slade, Oliver and Shado were walking through the woods, with Slade carrying the motion tracker._

_"Well, someone's definitely out there." Slade said. "They're moving closer." He looked up and noted Shado moving off. "Where do you think you're going?" he demanded._

_"Flanking position." She explained. "They get the drop on you; you'll want some back-up." She smiled at Oliver and said something in Mandarin. He replied with a smile, and then watched her move off._

_"She's teaching you Chinese. How sweet." Slade said sarcastically._

_"I'm sure she'd be happy to teach you, too—" suddenly there was the sound of a gunshot, not very far from them. "Shado!" Oliver shouted in alarm, running off towards where she had walked off. Not far away they found her hood lying on the ground. The two looked at each other in concern, then moved off again to search._  
  


“Well this isn’t good.” Thea muttered, coming out of the shock of learning that she was dead in this timeline.

 

“No, it really isn’t.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_Back in the present, Oliver was waiting in Iron Height's visitor's area as Moira was led in._

“Mom.” Thea breathed and Laurel gripped her hands tighter, reminding herself that Thea was still alive.

 

_It was a shock to see his mother in gray prison jumpsuit and no makeup. She smiled at him as she sat down at the table._

_"Hey." She said._

_"Hey." He replied. "I'm sorry I didn't make it here sooner."_

_"Oh, no, no, no." Moira said, shaking her head." Please, Oliver. There are going to be enough apologies with me apologizing to you for the rest of my life."_

_"You don't have to." Oliver said. "You saved hundreds of lives."_

_"And killed hundreds more." She looked down. "Including Tommy."_

“You didn’t kill me, my father did.” Tommy muttered grimly.

 

_"That was Malcolm." Oliver argued._

_Moira gave him a pained smile. "Your sister doesn't see it that way." She said. "And, you know, my attorney is thrilled. If my own daughter can't forgive me, she's not too optimistic about twelve strangers in a jury box." She sighed. "All right, enough of that. How has it been going at Queen Consolidated?" she asked, then smiled at his surprised expression. "Yes, we do get the news in here, Oliver." She said._

_"Right."_

_"You know, if I'd known the key to you taking your rightful place at the company was its demise, I would have declared bankruptcy a year ago." She said wryly._

_"I don't know if I'll get to run it for long." Oliver admitted. "Stellmoor. Their VP is coming after us hard."_

_"Isabel Rochev." Moira said with a sigh._

_"Yes."_

_"Do not trust that woman, Oliver. She is dangerous." Moira warned._

“My mom hates her to?” Thea asked surprised.

 

“I’ll tell you later.” Dinah promised.

 

_"Well, mom, everywhere I look, there are no good options. I don't know what to do." He admitted._

_"You don't have to do it yourself. This is a family business." She pointed out._

_Oliver chuckled. "I love Thea, but I don't think that she wants anything to do with it."_

_"I wasn't talking about Thea." Moira said significantly._

“What?” Tommy asked confused as they all looked confused.

 

“You’ll see.” Dinah smiled mysteriously.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. The club was hopping, and Thea was on the floor serving drinks to keep up with demand. She headed back to the bar and placed her empty tray down. "Table seven needs bottle service, and I need a round of Martinis on the three top." She told the bartender._

_"You go see your mom yet?"_

_Thea looked over at Roy, who came to stand next to her at the bar._

_"I thought about what you said." She said._

_"And?"_

_"And…I'll go see her when you stop going out at night looking to clean up the streets."_

_Roy looked at her in confusion. "What does one thing have to do with the other?" he asked._

_"I guess they're both things that are never going to happen." She said, moving back onto the floor and leaving a frustrated Roy behind._

_Out in the club, no one noticed as three men dressed in black body armor, hoodies, and carrying assault weapons moved through the club._

“Oh no.” Laurel said as she, Thea, and Tommy paled.

 

“This isn’t good.” Roy muttered uneasily.

 

_The first Hood stopped near the DJ booth, cocked his shotgun, and fired a shot into the air, causing all of the people to drop to the ground in fear. His second shot blew away the DJ booth, turning off the music._

_"We're looking for Oliver Queen!" he shouted as his friends circled around. "He's back in town. He owns this dump. Where can we find him?" On the ground near the bar, Roy and Thea exchanged looks. " Ok, then plan 'B'," the first hood grabbed a girl from the stairs and threw he off onto the ground. "I'm going to start shooting people until Mr. Queen Grows a pair." He pointed the shotgun in the girls face._

“And they think they are better than Malcolm Merlyn.” Diggle said disgusted.

 

“No one who is evil thinks they are evil.” Dinah explained and Diggle nodded.

 

_Having seen enough, Roy leapt into action, even as Thea shouted for him to stop. Roy charged the first Hood, taking him down with a devastating tackle. He then turned and sprang up towards the second, forcing the Hood's M-16 up and away. He pushed him back against the stair, then used the rifle to flip the man over his shoulder and onto the ground. The man hit hard, and a prosthetic piece that had been attached to his hand fell off. Roy looked down in surprise at the man, whose gun hand was missing all of his fingers except the thumb. Shaking it off, Roy brought the rifle to his shoulder and aimed it at the third Hood-_

_Just as the first Hood recovered, grabbing Thea and pulling her up. He hid his body behind hers as Roy swung the rifle around to him and held his gun to her head as she whimpered in terror._

_"Roy!" she screamed._

_"Drop it, hero." The first Hood growled, holding tight to Thea as she thrashed around. "I'm just as happy to kill this Queen as her brother. Let's go!" the three backed out of the club, taking Thea with them as Roy watched, helpless._

“Why didn’t you take the shot?!” Tommy snapped angrily.

 

“Can you guarantee that I wouldn’t hit Thea?” Roy snapped and Tommy was silent.

 

“I’m sorry. It’s not you, I just…”Tommy looked over at Thea, who Laurel had her arm around tightly and Roy simply nodded in understanding.

 

_Later that night, Oliver walked into the club as Roy was giving his statement to Officer Lance._

“You mean he wasn’t even in the club? These guys are either incompetent, stupid, are just plain evil.” Diggle muttered

 

“How about all of the above.” Roy said angrily.

_"One of the guys was missing a hand." He was saying. "Mostly, anyway. He still had sutures."_

_"Excuse me. What's going on here?" he demanded._

_Quentin sighed. "It was the hoods, again." He told Oliver. "They came here looking for you, they took Thea instead."_

_"Where?" Oliver demanded._

_"I'm sorry." Roy said. "I really tried to stop them, but I—" he didn't get to finish as Oliver stalked off._

_"Queen." Quentin said. "Oliver!" he said louder, causing the younger man to turn and face him. "We'll get your sister back." He promised._

_Oliver nodded to the man. "I was going to check something downstairs." He said, moving off towards the basement door. Felicity and Diggle, who had arrived with him, saw and moved to follow._

_"I've made a few improvements down here." Felicity was saying as they headed down the long stairs into the basement of the club. She moved swiftly to the junction box and flipped the power switch on. "Just in case, you know… you decided to come back."_

_The basement lit up. What had been an ad-hoc collection of tables, computers, and work-out equipment was now an organized, professional set-up. There were several glass cases set up under a new central lighting grid. Several held equipment, one held an assortment of pre-made arrows. One case was dedicated to his uniform, displayed on a dummy for all to see. There were several tables holding scientific equipment and tools that Oliver could use to build more arrows. And set up in front of the salmon ladder was Felicity's workstation. Felicity had a brand new computer with triple screens hooked up for maximum efficiency set before an absurdly comfortable chair. Oliver looked around in stunned amazement._

“Wow, the lair got teched out.” Tommy breathed as the time travelers stared in amazement while Dinah smiled in amusement.

 

_"We need to find these guys." He said finally._

_"I've been trying, ever since you got back." She replied, heading towards her station as Oliver looked over his uniform. "I figured you'd come around eventually." His eyes turned to the salmon ladder, now upgraded with lights. "I kept that. I liked watching you do that." She admitted._

_Any other time he would enjoy that remark. Instead he pressed on. "Thea's boyfriend said one of them was missing part of his hand." Oliver said. "Maybe a veteran? Check hospital records, any males that have had surgical amputations on their extremities." He ordered._

_Felicity sat down and started typing. "Cross-checking by race and age." In seconds, she got a hit. "Got one-Jeff Deveau. Caucasian, late thirties."_

“Man, they got it that fast? The SCPD really need to work on their detective work.” Tommy muttered.

 

_"What else can you get on him?" Oliver asked._

_"Ex-Marine."_

_"Would explain how he can handle himself." Dig noted. "Did he lose his hand overseas?"_

_Felicity looked deeper, then stopped. "No. In the earthquake." She replied. "Says here he and his wife were trying to make it across the 52nd Street Bridge when it collapsed. She didn't make it."_

“So it really is about revenge.” Diggle noted.

 

_Oliver sighed. "Phone records, please." Oliver said. "I want to know he's in contact with."_

_"He's made a lot of calls to a church in the Glades." She said after a moment of checking. "Something called Standing Strong. It's a support group for those who lost loved ones in the quake." She explained as Oliver looked over the arrows in their case._

_"Great place to meet three other guys as angry as you, looking for a little payback." Dig noted._

_"Get me an address, please." Oliver said tiredly._

_Felicity looked to Diggle, who nodded. "You're going to need this." She said as she rose from her station. She walked over to a table and opened the case that was sitting on it. "I had it custom made." Oliver looked down at the brand new compound bow. "How'd I do?" she asked._

_He picked it up and felt its weight. He moved it slightly to feel it's' balance. He sighed tiredly. "It's perfect." He admitted._

_"You were right." Felicity said after a moment. "Once I signed on, I stopped thinking about all the bodies you dropped. Because I knew that being the Hood meant occasionally being a killer." She watched as Oliver moved to the main case and stared at his uniform. "Maybe there's another way." She offered._

_"They have my sister." Oliver said quietly. "What other way is there?"_

“If only he had stuck to that mindset.” Laurel muttered as she looked over at Thea.

 

“I think we forget this because of him jumping off rooftops so much, but he’s only human. Ollie isn’t a god, he has no special powers. He does the best he can, but he’s flawed, he makes mistakes.” Dinah told them and they all nodded.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island. Night had fallen, but Slade and Oliver had finally managed to track Shado. She sat on a log; her hands bound in front of her, surrounded by thee rough looking men. Oliver made to rush them, but Slade held him back._

_"What are you doing?" he whispered._

_"We need to save her." Oliver whispered back angrily._

_"Listen, kid. You are not the only one who cares for her." He admitted. "But there's a lot of them. Wait for my signal." He ordered. Oliver nodded in agreement._

_"Where are the graves?" one of the men demanded, holding a knife to her face. "Where are the graves?" he demanded again._

“What graves?” Diggle narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

 

“You’ll see soon enough.” Dinah promised.

 

 _"I don't know what you're talking about." Shado said. The man slapped her hard across the face, causing her to grunt in pain._ _Oliver's eye's flared in rage._

“Bastard.” Roy sneered as they all glared at the screen.

 

_"Tell me." The man demanded, yanking her up by her hair and pulling her head back, exposing her long neck._

_Enraged, Oliver sprinted out of the bushes and tackled the man. Slade growled in anger, but followed, taking down the other two pirates as Oliver straddled the first man and rained punches down on his face. Not satisfied, he reached over and picked up a large rock._

_"Oliver, no!" Shado cried._

_He hoisted it over his head and brought it down once, twice, smashing the man's head._

_"Oliver!" Slade shouted, breaking through the young man's haze of rage. Oliver moved off the man and sat back on the ground, spent._

“My god.” Laurel breathed as everyone but Dinah and Diggle stared at the screen in horror.

 

“War changes you, forces you to confront the darkest parts of your soul,” Diggle explained and the other time travelers looked over at him, “everyone has darkness inside them, what matters is how you deal with that darkness.”

 

They nodded, not completely satisfied but still understanding.

 

_The scene moved back to Starling City. Thea was bound to a chair in the church, trying her best to remain calm as the four Hoods moved around in agitation._

Thea closed her eyes in fear as Laurel and Tommy each took one of her hands.

 

_"So… what do you want to do with her?" one of them asked._

_"We could knock her out, drop her off somewhere." Another suggested._

_"Come on." The fourth Hood snarled. "Why don't you just buy her a new pair of Prada's while you're at it?"_

_"She's seen our faces." The first hood pointed out._

_"Look, offing Oliver Queen's one thing, but his sister?" the third man said. "She's not much older than my sister was when she was killed in the earthquake."_

_"Your sister wasn't killed, she was murdered." The first hood interjected. "By her mother. What we're doing here is justice, which makes us the heroes."_

“You are murdering people who have nothing to do with what happened, kidnapped a teenager girl and are talking about killing her over something her mom did. If that’s your definition of heroes, I’d hate to see what you think a villain is.” Roy sneered.

 

_"She didn't kill anybody." Thea said angrily. They all looked at her in surprise, but her focus was on the first Hood. "My mother didn't kill anyone." She repeated. "Malcolm Merlyn destroyed the Glades."_

_"With mommy's help." He shot back._

_"Merlyn killed my father." She pointed out. "She thought he'd kill my brother, too. She was afraid of him. She must have been so afraid." She said, finally realizing what her mother must have been going though._

_The first hood wasn't impressed. "Just like my wife when our house collapsed on top of her." He said, pulling his sidearm and cocking it. She stared in fear, then closed her eyes as he brought the gun up to her head-_

“You touch her; I’ll kill you you bastard.” Tommy snarled.

 

_But then the gun was gone, struck away by an arrow._

_"Get away from her!" The Hood roared._

“Just in time Ollie.” Tommy breathed a sigh of relief as Thea sagged into Laurel’s shoulder as the older woman clutched Thea to her in relief.

 

_Jeff opened fire, and the Hood ducked away, dropping to the floor behind a pillar. The hoods started spreading out, looking for the vigilante. The second hood rounded a corner- but THE Hood was there. He grabbed the terrorists arm and twisted it back, bending the man over. Then four quick hits with his bow to the temple put the man down for the night. He moved off, quickly disarming number four with an arrow even as Jeff opened fire. The gun clicked empty, and enraged the former marine charged at the Hood, swinging his rifle like a club. The Hood ducked it, trapped his arm and flipped them over, sending them to the ground. A quick hit to the head put him out, and The Hood stood and spun, swinging his bow and catching number our across the face, sending him down to the floor. The Hood looked around, and spotted the first man pushing Thea in front of him on the second level._

“Coward.” Roy said disgusted.

 

_Oliver ran to the stairs and made it up to the second level, coming out onto the balcony in front of the terrorist, who once again shielded himself behind Thea._

_"Let. Her. Go." He demanded._

_"You want to save her?" the man spat. "There was no justice for people like the Queens till you showed us how to get it. You showed us."_

“Oliver and Thea are not my father. And you aren’t god.” Tommy growled.

 

_Oliver frowned, and then fired. The arrow struck the man's shoulder and sent him spinning away from Thea, over the railing towards the ground two stories below-_

_But then the Hood was there, grabbing his hand and arresting his fall._

“Seriously, you’re gonna save him after what he just did to our sister?” Tommy asked incredulously.

 

“You’re the one that got him on this ‘no killing’ kick.” Roy pointed out.

 

“I need to evaluate some things.” Tommy muttered after a moment.

 

_"You'll drop me anyway." He replied. "I know you. You're a killer." Oliver snarled, then grabbed the man's hand with his other hand and yanked him up._

“No...he’s more than that.” Tommy muttered softly, finally admitting it to himself.

 

_Several minutes and not too far away, Lance was giving a speeding ticket to a motorist like a good beat cop should._

_"Keep it under 40 next time." He said, handing the man the ticket and putting away his book. "Have a good evening." He watched as the car drove off, then turned and headed back to his squad car- and was stunned to see the four hoods handcuffed to the chain link fence. He drew his gun in surprise as the real Hood stepped out from behind the fence._

_"Do you know who they are?" The vigilante asked._

_"I think the hoods gives me a pretty good idea." Lance replied, keeping the archer in his sights._

_"Bring them in." he told the cop._

_"Where you been?" Lance asked, lowering his weapon. "Typically when I bring in guys that you've gone after, they're a little more dead."_

_"I'm trying another way." The Hood replied softly, turning away._

“Different approach, not so good results.” Diggle noted.

 

_Then he drew and arrow and fired it, then rode the line up and away from the police officer to his stunned surprise._

“Wow, cool.” Roy muttered as the time travelers stared in stunned shock.

 

_The scene changed to the next day. Oliver was kneeling in front of Tommy's grave, paying his respects. He looked back and stood suddenly when Laurel came up behind him._

_"I didn't mean to disturb you." She said as he rose. "I didn't know that you were here. I was just… I come here a lot." She sighed, then turned to leave. "I can go."_

_"No, it's…" Oliver sighed. "You don't have to. It's, uh Laurel, I understand." He said. "After everything that's happened, I… understand why we can't be together. But I still need you in my life."_

_She smiled sadly and walked up to him, taking his hand as they turned and looked down at the grave. "We've been through too much for it to be any other way."_

_"I feel like I betrayed him, too." Oliver admitted._

_"Before the Hood, we didn't have things like earthquake machines or copycat vigilantes—" she spat._

_"Laurel." Oliver interrupted. "Malcolm killed Tommy."_

_"He was killed in the crossfire between two archers." Laurel said. "And now that Malcolm's dead, there's only one archer left. And I'm going to help my boss catch him." Oliver looked at her sadly, and wondered just how complicated his life had just become._

“Oh boy.” Tommy muttered as Thea glared at Laurel, snatching her hand back from the stunned Laurel.

 

“I can’t seriously blame Ollie for The Undertaking.” She said as she looked over at Dinah, who sighed.

 

“I didn’t…I blamed myself for Tommy dying,” She admitted and they all stared at her in shock, the only reason you there that night was because I didn’t listen to Ollie. But it was easier to pour all my grief and guilt into anger at The Hood then face it myself. But I didn’t face it well. You’ll see.”

 

_The scene changed to Iron Heights. Moira sat in the waiting area, watching a mother hold her baby sadly, and sighed._

_"That outfit, with your coloring- isn't that cruel and unusual punishment or something?"_

_Moira turned and couldn't avoid the look of surprise that crossed her face as Thea walked up to the table. "I've done my best to avoid mirrors in here." She said as her daughter sat down._

_"So, I—"_

_"How have you been?" they both started to say, and then both laughed lightly. "Don't worry about me." Moira said. "I want to hear about you. How are you doing? Are you still seeing, uh- Roy was his name, wasn't it?" she asked. "Sweetheart, I'm fine, really." She assured her._

_"It's not that." Thea said. "I… I almost died last night." She started._

_"What? Thea, what happened?" Moira asked in alarm._

“She knows about Queen Consolidated but doesn’t hear about me getting kidnapped?” Thea asked confused.

 

“The news in Iron Heights is very inconsistent.” Dinah explained.

 

_"It doesn't matter." Thea said tearfully. "But when I thought it was over, I kept thinking that if… if I died, you would spend the rest of your life thinking that I hated you. And I want to hate you." She admitted. "I really tried to. But I can't. I can't, Mom."_

_"However long I am in this place, you have freed me." Moira said smiling despite tears of her own._

_"If I hug you, are they going to shoot us?" Thea asked suddenly._

_Moira chuckled. "I'm willing to risk it if you are." She said. The two women rose and embraced. "Oh, shh, shh." She whispered as her daughter cried in her arms._

Thea smiled slightly at the scene. Perhaps Roy and Dinah were right. Maybe, in time, she could forgive her mother for everything she had done.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. A very smug Isabel Rochev sat in the boardroom, speaking to Oliver who stood with his back to her. "You can't win this. I now own 50% of the stock. By tomorrow, I'll have the outstanding five percent and I will control your company." She explained. "Any attempt to fight me will lead to litigation and leave you penniless. And trust me, poverty isn't as glamorous as Charles Dickens made it look." She added with a smirk._

_"What if I found someone to invest new equity capital?" Oliver said suddenly, turning to face her._

_Isabel scoffed. "A White Night? With all due respect, your last name is now associated with mass murder. Even you don't have that good a friend."_

_"You're right." He admitted. "I have family."_

_The door at other end of the room opened, and a confused Isabel turned to face the newcomer. Confusion turned to alarm when she saw who it was._

_"Mr. Steel." Isabel said, rising from her chair as Walter Steel was escorted in by Felicity. "It was my understanding that you had resigned as CEO."_

_"I did." He said in his cultured voice. "I'm now Chief Financial Officer of Starling National Bank. And my institution has committed rescue financing to Mr. Queen." He explained, walking past the woman to stand next to Oliver. "We bought up the remaining shares of Queen Consolidated when they were released this morning."_

_Oliver smiled. "Now I know I majored in dropping out," he said, walking up to his new partner, "but I'm pretty sure that makes us partners going forward. So I guess… we will be seeing a lot of each other."_

“Nice Ollie. And thank god for Walter.” Tommy smirked at the look on Isabel’s face.

 

“Amen brother.” Thea said brightly as everyone else snickered at the look on Isobel’s face.

 

_Isabel scoffed in surprise. "You aren't at all what people say about you." She stated._

_"Most people fail to see the real me." He replied. She gave him a cool look as she walked past him to exit the room. Olive looked over to Felicity, who was smiling at him._

_"Thank you, Walter." Oliver said, turning to his ex-stepfather and taking his hand. They shook firmly, but warmly._

_"Thank you, for reaching out to me." Walter replied. "Whatever's happened between your mother and me, I'm gratified that you know you can still count on me." He smiled at Oliver. "Your father would have been very proud of you, Oliver." Walter made his way to the door, nodding in respect at Felicity as he passed. "Ms. Smoak."_

_"Mr. Steel." She replied warmly. She watched as he exited, then turned back to Olive, who had dropped into his chair at the table. "You did it. Not bad for someone who got a "D" in tenth grade Algebra." He looked up at her in surprise. "If it's online, I can find it." She said conspiratorially._

“Doesn’t’ that break some kind of law?” Tommy asked as he looked over at Laurel.

 

“Not sure but I think it definitely violates a few regulations.” Laurel narrowed her eyes, disturbed by Felicity’s disregard for boundaries concerning the internet.

 

_Oliver laughed lightly. "Yeah. Well, it was just like a good friend once told me I had to find another way." He smiled at Felicity, who smiled back._

_The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver pulled himself to his feet, staring down at the man he had just brutally killed. Suddenly a radio went off, and Slade bent down to pick it up. He and Shado listened for several moments._

_"We're not alone." He said. "The question is, where did they come from?" he wondered. Out in the bay, a ship hugged the coast, its search light playing over the coast._

“Who are they?” Thea asked worriedly.

 

“A group of psychopaths…and a victim.” Dinah said as she thought of Sara.

 

_Back in the present, Roy answered his phone as he walked through the Glades. "Hey, what's up?"_

_"Just came back from visiting my mom." Thea said from the club._

_"Really? Good for you."_

_"So what do you say? You ready to start spending your nights safe with me?" Thea asked teasingly._

_Roy stopped walking, alerted by the sounds of a woman screaming. He looked up to see a waitress being pushed around between three street thugs. "Absolutely." He lied. "Hey, I'm going to pick us up some big belly burger right now. I'll see you later."_

“Would it have killed you to tell me the truth?” Thea rolled her eyes.

 

“Would you have taken it well?” Roy asked and she was silent. “Didn’t think so.”

 

_"Ok." Thea said, then hung up._

_Roy put his phone in his pocket and moved quickly towards the punks._

_"We just want to be friendly." One of them said._

_"What, we scare you or something?" another added._

_"Yeah." They all looked up to see Roy standing there. "I think you do." He continued. "Me, though, not so much." The three thugs backed off from the girl to turn their attention to him. He glanced at the girl. "Run." He told her, and she did just that. The three punks moved to attack, and Roy fended them off. He ducked the first to hit the second, then lashed out at the third before turning back to the leader. He was too slow though, and got belted on the chin. He staggered back, wiping the blood from his lip. The leader pulled a wicked looking knife from his jacket and sneered at Roy._

“Why do I get myself into these situations?” Roy groaned.

 

“You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.” Dinah told him fondly.

 

_"That all you got, man?"_

_Then suddenly SHE was there- all black leather and blond hair, wielding a metal bo-staff that separated into a pair of escrima sticks. She beat the punks down brutally in less than thirty seconds, much to Roy's astonishment._

_"Where the hell did you come from?" he asked. She jumped up onto a ledge, looked back at him briefly, and then jumped down, disappearing into the darkness. In the distance, Roy could swear he heard a canary cry._

_“_ Whoa, who was that?” Tommy asked as the time travelers stared in shock.

 

“A friend.” Dinah said simply with a bright smile.

 

_The scene changed to the lair. Diggle was reading a news article about the Hood gang being arrested on the large monitor table as Oliver and Felicity walked in._

_"Well, it looks like Starling is back down to only one man in a hood." Diggle said._

_"And the three of us are back in the archery business?" Felicity said, though it came out more as a question than a statement._

_"No." Oliver said to their surprise. He moved to lean against a table. "I spent the past year trying to avenge my father. If we're going to do…this," he gestured around the foundry, "it has to be about honoring Tommy. I need to become the man he hoped I could be. You two have helped me take the first step." He said, looking at his friends._

_"So what's step two?" Felicity asked. "I'm game for anything as long as it doesn't involve skydiving. And I'm pretty down on landmines now, too."_

_He smiled at her. "The city still needs saving." He said, pushing himself off of the table and moving to the case that now held his bow, along with his arrows. He picked one up and held it in his hands. "But not by the Hood. And not by some vigilante who's just crossing names off a list. It needs," he thought for a moment. "Something more."_

“He’s right. He needs to be…more than just someone crossing names off that list,” Dinah said and the time travelers looked over at her, “you guys can help him become the hero he’s meant to be. A silent guardian, watching over the city. But don’t forget about the lsit completely. You can do more from the city, but as long as the list exists, the people on it will continue to poison the city. Ollie can’t save the city if he lets that happen.”

 

“Okay…thanks for the tip.” Diggle said as he nodded.

 

_"It needs a hero, Oliver." Diggle said._

_"It's too bad the hoods kind of ruined your nickname." Felicity added._

_"No, it's good." Oliver said. "I never… I don't want to be called the Hood anymore." He decided._

_"Ok. So what do you want to be called?" Diggle asked._

_Arrow looked at his friends, then back down at the arrow, considering._

“And that is how The Hood became The Arrow.” Dinah said as the screen went black.

 

“The Arrow…I like it.” Tommy declared.

 

“Next one.” Thea ordered and Dinah smiled slightly as she started the next recording.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Have you noticed since season two, that Felicity does unrealistic things that she should not be able to do. I mean, just off the top of my head, punching out Black Siren, taking out the Bee related villain from Flash whose name I can’t remember, and hacking the drone Darhk attacked the city with in 4x09 in all of five seconds. I’m sure there are more but has anyone else noticed that or it just me?


	33. Identity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Oliver goes up against China White and her new boyfriend, Diggle gives Tommy a piece of his mind for an insensitive comment.

_The memory set opened on Oliver working out in the redesigned lair, doing reps of pull-ups and pushups hanging off the gear over the Salmon ladder, before leaping off and taking out an arm on the training dummy with an elbow._

_The scene shifted to a dark road as a FEMA truck drove through the remains of the Glades. It was soon joined by a pair of bikers on dirt bikes who began harassing the truck._

“Well this isn’t good.” Tommy noted uneasily.

 

“Thank you Captain Obvious.” Roy drawled.

 

_"Faster!" the man in the passenger seat told the driver._

_"Foot's on the floor, man." The driver replied. "Call it in."_

_"This is FEMA truck 52. We're being pursued by two armed bikers. We're heading south on Third Street, requesting immediate assistance."_

_A short distance away, Roy sat in a mustang, a police scanner sitting between the seats. He listened to the message, then popped the clutch and took off, racing to help._

“And of course you’re there.” Thea rolled her eyes in annoyance.

 

“Would you expect anything less?” Roy quipped.

 

_In the truck, the two bikers pulled up alongside the cab. "Come on, get us out of here." The passenger urged his partner. "Get us out of here!"_

_"I'm trying!" he replied._

_Ahead of the truck, Roy drove straight at them with his lights off. Seeing the situation, he pulled to the left and gunned his engine. At the last moment he turned his lights on, and the biker swerved to avoid being hit by him. He did not, however, avoided plowing in to the back of a parked car, the impact of which sent him skidding across the tops of the parked cars and to the ground hard. Roy grinned in victory._

“For an amateur with no training, that wasn’t bad.” Dinah noted and Roy grinned, taking the compliment as it was intended.

 

_In the truck, the passenger looked back in amazement. "Who the hell was that?" he wondered._

_The other biker peeled off and turned around, heading towards Roy. Roy spun the mustang around and gunned it, heading towards the biker. It looked to be a repeat, until the biker pulled out a Mac-10 and opened fire, spraying the hood of the car with bullets. The sparks it kicked up momentarily blinded Roy, and when his vision cleared it was too late to avoid the large pile of debris on the road. The mustang hit the debris and flipped over completely, slamming down to the ground and skidding on blown tires and a busted frame for several feet._

“But you were still an amateur.” Dinah noted as Roy scowled.

 

_Meanwhile, the men in the FEMA truck thought they had gotten away- until the two men spotted a figure in the road up ahead. As they got closer, they saw she was an Asian woman with stark white hair, twirling a pair of knives…_

“Are you kidding me, this bitch again?” Tommy growled.

 

“China White everyone, the assassin that keeps coming back.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_China white threw the knives at the truck. They smashed through the windshield and hit both men in the neck, killing them. As the dead drivers foot fell of the gas, the truck slowly came to a stop. A moment later, the second biker pulled up next to her and got off of his bike._

_"Take the truck. Leave nothing behind." She told him. He nodded and jumped into the cab as she climbed onto the bike._

_A short distance away, three cop cars surrounded the totaled Mustang as Roy crawled out of it. They approached him with guns drawn._

_"Just so you know, the real bad guys are getting away!" he spat at them angrily as he collapsed against the side of the wrecked vehicle._

“And of course they go after me while the real criminals get away.” Roy growled angrily.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant, where the night was just getting started. Diggle stood watching the crowd of writhing patrons as Oliver, now dressed in a suit, came up to him._

_"We're going to need more sparring dummies." He told his friend with a smile._

_"I'll start ordering them in bulk." Diggle replied. "This mean you're ready to launch crusade 2.0?"_

_"I'm ready, I just don't know where to begin." Oliver admitted. "Last year, I had the list. Getting justice was as simple as crossing names out of a book."_

_"This is Starling City. You never have to look far to find someone engaged in illegal activity." Dig noted._

“Isn’t that the truth?” Diggle said dryly.

_"Yesterday Big Belly Burger got robbed."_

_"Was Carly there? She ok?" Oliver asked at once in concern._

_Dig took a moment to answer. "Yeah, she was, um, it was her day off." He answered awkwardly._

_"Good. Well, the three of us should get dinner." Oliver suggested. "I haven't seen her since I got back."_

_"Why the sudden interest in my love life?" Dig asked._

“Why am I being awkward and defensive?” Diggle asked with a sinking feeling.

 

“Just watch.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"If it's important to you, it's important to me." Oliver replied._

_"Hey!" Thea said happily, running up to the pair. "I didn't see you come in."_

_"I had a secret entrance installed when I ran the club." Oliver said, actually telling the truth. She gave him a look and he smiled. "Kidding." He lied._

“Sometimes the truth is the hardest to believe.” Diggle said amused. As everyone else snickered and Thea looked annoyed.

 

_Thea thought about pressing, but then her phone rang. "Hello?" she said, moving behind the two to shield herself from some of the sound as she held the phone tightly to her ear. "Yes, yeah, this is Thea Queen." She listened, and her expression turned from puzzlement to concern to annoyed anger. "Of course that's where he is."_

“How often was I in jail? During this time?” Roy wondered.

 

“At least once every other day.” Dinah told him.

 

_The scene changed to the police station, where Roy was sitting cuffed in the interview room. He stared ahead stoically as Laurel circled around behind him._

_"Who is he, Roy?" she asked._

_"I already told you, I don't know." Roy replied impassively._

_"So you just happen to have one of his arrows." She said, tossing down the flechette that Roy had kept in his pocket ever since he had been saved. He had painted it red, though- a fact he used against his interrogator._

_"I hear he likes green ones." He noted._

_"Do you think this is funny?" Laurel demanded. "Because I can charge you with obstruction right now!"_

“Yeah, charge a kid barely out of high school for doing what no one else will.” Roy said sarcastically as Thea glared at Laurel.

 

“Hey, I haven’t done this yet. Look at her.” Laurel pointed at Dinah, who sighed.

 

“I’m not proud of a lot of my actions during this year. So, in advance, before you get md at me, just know that I deeply regret the way I treat Oliver and the others.” Dinah told them.

 

_Roy said nothing, so she decided to take another approach. She sat down across from him. "Look I used to feel the same way as you." She admitted. "He has this way of seducing you."_

_" Making you feel like he's some kind of guardian angel. But he's not. He causes chaos and death. And you trying to emulate him just makes the situation worse."_

“Wow, you really were determined to see him as the villain, huh?” Thea said tightly and Dinah sighed.

 

“I had convinced myself that it was his fault, what happened to Tommy. I couldn’t face my own guilt. So, like I told you earlier, I turned into anger and focused it all on him.” Dinah explained tiredly.

 

_"Half the city fell into a hole." Roy noted. "I'd say the situation's already worse. Look, some of us are just trying to make it better."_

_Laurel scoffed. "Who, like you and the Hood?"_

_"Look, there—" he paused, then leaned forward. "There are others. Others out there who are willing to do what's right. I've seen them. I've seen her." He told her._

_"I'm not interested in anyone else." Laurel said. "Just him."_

“No Kidding.” Tommy said brightly, trying to lighten the mood.

 

It worked.

 

Laurel blushed while Thea and Roy snickered and Diggle smiled in amusement. Dinah smiled, flashing Tommy a grateful smile.

 

_A short time later, Roy finally exited the room to find Thea and Oliver waiting for him._

_"What happened?" Thea asked, and then took in his appearance. "Are you hurt?"_

_"Fender bender." Roy said dismissively._

_"He totaled his car playing hood junior." Laurel said._

_"At least it wasn't my car." Roy shot back._

_"Don't say anything!" Thea said in annoyance. "I already called you an attorney."_

_"That won't be necessary, we're not pressing charges." Laurel told them. "So long as he gives up looking for trouble."_

_Thea rolled her eyes. "Might as well tell him to give up breathing."_

_"I'll talk to him." Oliver told Laurel quietly._

_"Ask him if he knows anything about the Vigilante." Laurel said, watching as Roy and Thea had a quiet argument. "Roy has obviously forged some sort of connection to him. Maybe it goes both ways."_

_"Doesn't sound like the Vigilante to have a groupie." Oliver said._

_"That's just it- we don't know anything about the Vigilante." Laurel said. "Except for every time that he shows up, all hell breaks loose. It has to stop, Ollie. He has to be stopped." Laurel walked away, leaving a very frustrated Oliver behind._

“Um, have you forgotten all the lives he’s saved? Including ours!” At this point, even Laurel was angry at her future self.

 

“Yes, I had,” Dinah announced and they looked at her surprised, “I more or less blocked out all the good he had done. It was only after I finally accepted my own guilt that I could remember it.”

 

_Oliver looked at Roy with narrowed eyes._

_"Thea." He called out as he walked towards the pair. His eyes were fixed on Roy. "Can you ask Mr. Diggle to bring the car around, please?"_

_Thea sighed, and then put a hand on Roy's shoulder. "I'll always think of you fondly." She told him wryly, and then moved off to find Diggle leaving Roy and Oliver alone._

“Your first official conversation. This one needs to go in the family scrapbook.” Dinah teased and Roy glared at her as Tommy and Thea snickered.

 

_"I used to be a lot like you, Roy." Oliver started._

_Roy scoffed. "I doubt that. I spend more time in the back of cop cars than limos, so…" he moved to walk past him, but was stopped suddenly as Oliver grabbed his injured arm in an iron grip._

_"The world doesn't work anymore." Oliver began as Roy gasped in pain. "It broke a long time ago, but it was like you were the only one who noticed. That makes you angry." Oliver let go. "And you're afraid that that anger is going to burn you up inside if you have to live in the world one second longer knowing that you could do something to fix it." He stared at Roy hard. "That anger's going to put you in the hospital, kid. Or worse."_

_"Well, I'll take worse." Roy said. "It's better to be dead than in a hospital these days, right?"_

_Oliver looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"_

_"Been to the Glades Memorial, lately?"_

_Oliver blinked. "No, but I didn't read that it was damaged by the quake."_

_"It wasn't." Roy said. "The medicine that FEMA's been sending the hospital is being hijacked. So, if they don't re-supply, they'll be forced to close."_

“That’s what White was stealing at the beginning.” Diggle realized and Dinah nodded.

 

“Stealing from hospitals? And I thought she couldn’t get any worse.” Thea said darkly.

 

_"By who?" Oliver demanded._

_"I don't know!" Roy exclaimed angrily. "The doctors and nurses are already bailing on the place. And the cops?" he asked sarcastically. "The cops rarely venture that deep into the Glades, so I guess that leaves only me! What's it take to make you angry?" he asked Oliver hotly. When he didn't reply, he scoffed and walked off, leaving Oliver to think._

“Did it really get that bad in The Glades?” Laurel asked and Dinah nodded.

 

“Does it really surprise you? The cops didn’t exactly make The Glades a priority before Ollie came back, this just gave them an excuse to abandon it without actually say they were abandoning it.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_The scene flashed back to the Island. Oliver was staring at his hands, hands he had just used to bash another man's skull in. He looked past his hand to the body. He looked up at his companions, who looked back worriedly, then turned away and sat down heavily._

_"Others will come." Shado said. "They won't be happy we killed their men."_

_"All the more reason to figure out why they're here." Slade said, kneeling down to begin rifling through the men's pockets. He pulled a folded up piece of paper out of the first one's shirt and opened it up. "It's a map. Of the island chain, containing Lian Yu. This is similar to the recon shots that A.S.I.S. gave me before I came here to rescue your father." He said. "Whatever they're looking for, it must be here, on this island." He looked up at Oliver sadly. "I've seen men in war with that look in their eyes."_

_"What look?" Shado asked._

_"The one that says he's split into someone else." He explained. "Someone he doesn't even recognize. If someone doesn't talk to him, it'll tear him up."_

“The price of war,” Diggle mused and everyone looked over at him, “for soldiers, it’s not the lives we take or the injuries that we receive in battle, but our very souls that we lose in war.”

 

_Shado looked at him, then back at Oliver. She walked over to him as Slade watched sadly. Shado moved in front of him and leaned over, taking his hands in hers "Come on. Let's get away from this place." She told him, giving him a reassuring smile._

_The scene changed to Glades Memorial. Oliver and Diggle walked through the halls, taking in the signs of desperation all around them._

_"They survived the quake and ended up here. From one hell to the next." Diggle said._

_"Yeah, whoever's stealing from here, they won't be for much longer." Oliver vowed. The two ducked into a stairwell and headed down to the ground floor. Out front Oliver saw a man talking to both protesters and the media._

_"This city is failing on all accounts." He was saying._

_Oliver looked on curiously. "Who's that in the spotlight?"_

_"Sebastian Blood, the local alderman that I told you about." Dig said. "Not too shy about sharing his opinions."_

_"Which are?"_

_"Which are that the Glades have been abandoned. And no one gives a damn about these people." Dig replied._

“He’s not wrong.” Roy noted, not noticing as Dinah glared at the man on the screen.

 

_"He hasn't met us yet." Oliver said, opening the door and stepping outside._

_"We cannot stand by while the doctors on the other side of those doors are working with the bare minimum of resources because the police department already sees us as a lost cause." Blood was saying. "Meanwhile, thieves are seeking to make a quick buck off the misery of the Glades." He paused as he finally spotted Oliver. "Oliver Queen, isn't it?" he asked, drawing attention to him._

_"Alderman." Oliver said in reply._

_"What brings you to Glades Memorial, Mr. Queen? I assume someone of your means can afford the best medical treatment money can buy." Blood said sarcastically. "And I can assure you, you're not going to find that here."_

_"That's wrong, sir." Oliver said. "The people of the Glades have suffered too much not to have access to basic medical services."_

_"Well, that's very compassionate of you to say." Blood replied. "Although I wonder where your family's concern for its fellow citizens was when they ordered the construction of the earthquake machine that killed 503 people."_

“You can’t blame the actions of one person on everyone in their family.” Tommy said stiffly as everyone joined Dinah in glaring at Blood.

 

_Oliver grimaced as he walked past the Alderman. He stopped, knowing that he couldn't leave it there._

_"Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, please! I will be doing everything in my power to atone for my family's culpability in this tragedy." Oliver promised._

_"Well, I'm sure the people of the Glades that I represent will sleep better knowing that- if they still had a place to sleep." Blood said, fire in his voice. "If their homes hadn't crumbled around them. If their stores and their businesses hadn't been condemned."_

_"You did this to us!"_

_"Go back to your mansion, rich boy!"_

_"Spare us your mercy visits, Queen!" Blood shouted as Oliver walked towards his car. "You've done enough for this city already." Oliver and Diggle managed to get into the car, and were driving out when someone shattered the rear passenger window, sending glass flying all over Oliver._

“The ins of the father-or mother, in this case-are not the sins of the son.” Diggle said as Laurel, Thea, and Tommy snarled at the screen.

 

“Well someone needs to tell that asshole Blood that!” Tommy snarled.

 

“If you think he’s bad now…well, just wait.” Dinah said darkly.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated later that day. Oliver and Diggle exited the elevator onto the executive level, only to be greeted by an irate Felicity._

_"I quit." She said._

_"No, you don't." Oliver replied, walking past her and towards his office._

_"Yes, I do." Felicity insisted. "Not my old job in the I.T. Department, but my new job as your executive assistant, which you think I'm going to accept. Your thinking could not be more wrong in this matter."_

_Oliver stopped outside his office and spun to face her. "I need a girl Wednesday." He said._

_"It's…Friday," she seethed, "and the answer is no!"_

_Oliver took a deep breath. "These computers have been upgraded." He tried, gesturing to the computers at the desk. Her new desk. "Far more processing power than your typical secretary." He turned and walked into his office. Undeterred, Felicity followed as Diggle watched on in amusement._

_"Did you know I went to M.I.T.?" she asked. "Guess what I majored in. Hint- not the secretarial arts."_

_Felicity!" he shouted, causing her to go quiet. "We all need to have secret identities now." He explained. "If I'm going to be Oliver Queen CEO, then I can't very well travel down 18 floors every time you and I need to discuss how we spend our nights."_

_"And I love spending the night with you." She froze, then closed her eyes at the unintended innuendo._

_"3..2..1…" Oliver looked up at Diggle, who merely smirked in reply. "I worked very hard to get where I am, and it wasn't so I could fetch you coffee!" Felicity exclaimed as Oliver took a seat behind his desk._

“So, did she expect that she would not have to sacrifice anything when she joined up with Oliver? Were he and I the only ones who had to sacrifice things.” Diggle said annoyed.

 

“That’s exactly what she thought,” Dinah said and Diggle scoffed, “in her time on Oliver’s team, this is the one and only thing she sacrificed. And Oliver more or less had to force her to do it, because he would have fired her if she didn’t and she knew that.”1

 

_"Well, it could be worse." Dig said as he pulled out a piece of gum. "My secret identity is his black driver." He popped the gum into his mouth._

_"Right now, I need you to figure out how the hijackers are getting a line on the goods earmarked for Glades Memorial." Oliver ordered. "If we know how they're picking their targets-"_

_"We will know when and where to stop them." Diggle finished._

_Felicity exhaled sharply. "Fine." She said after a moment. She turned to go back to her desk, but then turned back to Oliver. "Oh! May I get you a cup of coffee?" she asked sweetly._

_Oliver stared at her in surprise, then trepidation. He exhaled slowly. "You're not actually offering to get me a cup of coffee, are you?" he guessed._

_"Yeah, no." Felicity snarled, spinning back around and stomping back to her desk. "That won't be happening. Ever!"_

“Fuck you to.” Thea glared harder, angry on her brother’s be half.

 

_"Well, if you can bring yourself to do it, can you please make reservations for Dig, Carly and I Saturday night at Table Salt?" he called out._

_Felicity looked up at Diggle in surprise. Then she pulled out the rubber keyboard and her tablet. She waved the tablet at Oliver so that he could see it. "Sure! I'll get right on that. Using the Internet, which you also happen to have access to." She said bitingly. She attached the tablet to the keyboard and opened up her browser. "Still haven't told him?" she asked Diggle quietly._

_"He has enough on his plate." Dig replied, going into Oliver's office._

“Carly and I broke up.” Diggle realized sadly and Dinah nodded.

 

“Keep watching.” She said simply.

 

_Sitting at his desk, Oliver pulled up the local news feed on his computer screen. 'Last year when Oliver Queen returned to Starling City, he was met with flowers and well-wishes. However, today down at Glades Memorial, he was met with a far less cordial homecoming. The question is no longer, where have you been, Oliver Queen. Now it's, but what have you done for me lately? Mr. Queen was not available for comment.' Oliver sat back, deep in thought._

_The scene flashed back to the island. Shado helped Oliver wash the blood off of his hands in the river._

_"You saved my life." She told him._

_He smiled humorlessly. "That's what I keep telling myself. That I killed that guy because he was going to kill you." He looked at her, pain in his eyes. "But what if that's not the reason? I just feel like this island is… it's turning me into something terrible."_

_Shado dipped her hand into the river, cupping her hand. She raised it up and let the water flow over his forehead. "No island, no place can make you something you're not." She told him._

_"So I've always been a killer?" he asked._

_"Everyone has a demon inside of them." She replied. "The 'dao de jing' recognizes the yin and the yang. Opposing forces inside all of us. The darkness. And the light. The killer… and the hero."_

“I’m glad Ollie had someone like her to help him through the island.” Thea smiled, not noticing Dinah grimace.

_She pulled him down for a gentle kiss. After a moment, both began to slowly undress._

“And welcome to Fantasy Island.” Tommy joked.

 

The temperature seemed to drop as Diggle and Dinah glared at Tommy. Thea and Laurel subtly scooted away as Tommy shifted nervously.

 

“That’s not funny Tommy.” Dinah snapped.

 

“You’re not a soldier, so let me explain this to you:  That Island was not Fantasy Island simply because there was a woman he was in a romantic relationship with there with him. That island was hell. To call it Fantasy Island is insulting and disrespectful not just to Oliver, but to me and to soldiers who have gone through similar stuff to what Oliver has gone through.” Diggle told him angrily.2

 

“I’m sorry.” Tommy said guiltily and Diggle simply nodded in response.

 

_The scene flashed back to the Foundry._

_"Never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually getting more done down in the basement of an abandoned steel factory than in the corner office of a high rise." Felicity was saying as the golden trio entered the lair._

“Good god, would she stop her complaining? We get it, you’re not happy. Grow up and suck it up.” Roy said annoyed.

 

_"What do you have?"_

_"FEMA is shipping 100,000 units of medical grade opiates to Glades Memorial." She said._

_"When?"_

_"Truck is scheduled to leave the FEMA depot in 20 minutes."_

_"Not if this motorcycle gang has anything to say about it." Diggle said._

_"Bad luck for them." Oliver replied. "I have something to say about it."_

_The scene shifted to the FEMA facility. The drugs were being loaded onto the trucks, but in a departure from previous heists, the motorcycle riders stormed the facility. They opened fire, killing everyone they saw before coming to a stop in front of a pair of trucks. They got off and quickly reloaded, advancing on a hapless driver._

_"No, no, no, please, please, don't shoot."_

_"Down!"_

_"Make your delivery!" he ordered the driver, who nodded and jumped into his tuck. Before he could get all the way in, though, a knife pierced his neck, killing him._

Roy’s hands clenched into fists as he gripped his pants legs tightly. Roy felt a torrent of rage fill him as he saw the man who was trying to help the people in his home murdered so needlessly. Something that did not go unnoticed by the others.

 

“Roy, I know how you feel, but this hasn’t happened yet. We can still save this man…by stopping The Undertaking.” Diggle told him and Roy gave a terse nod.

 

_"Emerald archer." The Arrow looked up to see China White standing there. "I feared you had perished in the quake, denying me the opportunity to pay you back in full for your past interference in my business."_

_"Your business is going under- permanently!" He drew and fired, but another figure dropped down between the two trucks, then blocked the arrows with a set of steel claws set into brass knuckles on his hands._

_"I don't think my friend agrees with you." China White said. "Our new partnership was easily cemented. See, I was eager to see you dead, and he was eager to kill you."_

“Great, now she’s got a brass knuckled boyfriend. This just gets better and better.” Laurel said irritably.3

 

_Oliver drew several more arrows and fired them, one after the other, but Bronze Tiger blocked each and every one._

_"No kill shots?" he asked scathingly even as China White jumped into a truck to take it. "I was promised a fight. I hope you haven't lost your nerve."_

_"Find out." The Arrow dared._

_Bronze Tiger rushed him, swinging his claws in powerful arcs that the vigilante deflected with his bow. They fought on as China White pulled away with the FEMA truck, then back towards the building. Oliver directed them between the side of the building and several steam pipes the limit his motion, but it also constrained the archer. Tiger knocked his bow away and the two locked arms, with the Tiger trying to push the claws into the Arrows chest._

_Meanwhile the police had arrived on the scene and deployed around the area._

_"Starling City police!" Pike called out. "You're surrounded." Oliver looked over at the gathering of police- and saw Laurel right there with them. "Put down your weapons or we will open fire."_

“Oh great, and I’m leading the charge to stop Ollie.” Laurel said dryly.

 

“Like I said, not proud of it.” Dinah sighed guiltily.

 

_Angered by the turn of events, the Arrow forced Bronze Tigers claws into a steam pipe, letting a blast of steam out that obscured the two fighters. He ran off, grabbing his bow as he went as the police opened fire all around him. An errant shot grazed the back of his foot, hobbling him, so he withdrew a smoke bomb and threw it down, further obscuring himself. Then he withdrew a grappling arrow and fired it up, launching himself into the gantry above._

“I still don’t get how they are more interested in catching my brother then the people stealing medicine.” Thea said darkly.

 

“Because he’s doing their job better then they are.” Roy quipped and Thea smiled slightly at his joke.

 

_“Cease fire! Cease fire!” Pike yelled. “Fine them, they couldn’t have gotten far.”_

_Up above, Oliver looked down at the cops, wincing in pain._

_The scene changed back to the foundry. Oliver was stitching himself up as Felicity paced._

_"Does it hurt?" she asked._

“No Felicity, stitching myself back up is actually somewhat relaxing.” Roy drawled and Tommy and Thea snickered.

 

_"Not as much as some things." Oliver said as he finished. He sat back and put the needle in the tray._

_"I love that we live in a city where the police are more interested in catching you than the drug-stealing mobsters." She scoffed quietly. "Our tax dollars at work."_

“First thing she’s said that I actually agree with.” Tommy muttered.

 

“Sing it man.” Roy nodded.

 

_"The authorities have always gone after the Vigilante." Oliver said. "This time was different."_

_"Why, because this time it's Laurel leading the charge?" Dig asked with a smirk._

“Really Dig, really?” Tommy asked incredulously as they all looked at him pointedly.

 

“Yeah, that was crude. Sorry.” Diggle winced.

 

_"Because they got in my way." Oliver snarled, forcing himself to his feet. He glowered at Diggle. "I can't make things better as Oliver Queen, and now I can't make things better as the Vigilante. So what if Laurel's involved?"_

_"Hey!" Felicity said sharply. "Go easy on him."_

_"It's all right, Felicity." Dig tried to interject, but she was having none of it._

_"No, it's not." She glared at Oliver. "You don't get to jump down his throat just because you happen to be having a lousy week." She told him. "Ok, you're pissed he invoked the almighty Laurel. Well, you're not the only one whose love life is taking it on the chin!"_

_"Felicity-" Dig tried again._

_"What are you talking about?" Oliver demanded._

_"I'm talking about, you keep bringing up Carly but you're so involved with yourself that you don't even realize the look he gets every time you do." She pointed out._

_Olive turned to Diggle. "What is she talking about?" he asked._

_"Me and Carly pulling the pin." He replied. "It happened when you were gone. Truth is, it's been happening for a while now."_

_"Being the Vigilante's wingman was a strain." Felicity said. She looked to Diggle. "He needs to hear this."_

_"This wasn't just about what we were doing, Oliver." Diggle started. "This isn't just about you, man. I couldn't separate what's going on with me and Carly, and what went on with my brother."_

_"Deadshot." Oliver said in realization._

“Of course.” Diggle sighed in realization.

 

_"He's still out there." Dig said. "My brother's killer. Still breathing. And I, uh, guess I couldn't hate him and love her at the same time. See?" he stood and grabbed his jacket. "You are not the only one having trouble reconciling two sides of himself." He turned and walked out. Felicity wiped away tears and walked off as well, leaving Oliver alone._

“Hey, you two forced him to come back to town, poked and prodded until he suited up again. And now you’re mas at him because he has too much going on to notice what’s going on in your love life?” Tommy asked scathingly and Diggle held up his hands.

 

“Tell him that.” Diggle gestured to the screen.

 

“This one actually wasn’t John’s fault,” Dinah said and the time travelers looked over at her, “He wasn’t gonna say anything. This actually wasn’t about you at all John. This was about Felicity throwing a temper tantrum over Oliver making her be his secretary. She tried to dress it up as being concerned for you but that’s all it was, her complaining about how hard it was for her to be involved in this.”

 

“It’s becoming more and more tempting to use that recording you gave me.” Laurel muttered.

 

_Upstairs in the club, Roy was sweeping the floor after closing. He looked up as Thea walked over._

_"Great crowd tonight." He said._

_She stared at him with arms crossed. "Now that we're closed, are you going to be starting your second shift?" she asked sarcastically. “Suicide by Chinese street thugs."_

_"Do you really want to talk about this again?" he asked, annoyed._

_"We never finished talking about it. I wanted Laurel to arrest you." She admitted._

_Roy stopped sweeping. "You know, you're not the first girlfriend to say that to me." He told her._

_"She said I couldn't change you, so I'm not going to try to." Thea said, handing him two items._

_Roy took them and looked at them in confusion. It was a paycheck, and the Hozen Oliver had given her. "What, so you're giving me money and a rock?"_

_"The check is two weeks' severance from the club." Thea said to his surprise. He looked up at her as she wiped away tears. "Just because I can't change you doesn't mean I have to let you be in my life until you get yourself killed." Roy scoffed. "And my brother gave me that when he came back from the dead." She continued, indicating the rock. "He said it was a Hozen, some Buddhist thing that symbolizes reconnecting. If you want to reconnect with me, keep the Hozen and tear up that check."_

_"I don't do too well with ultimatums." He told her._

_"And I don't do all that great with people I love getting hurt. And worse." She replied, and then walked off, leaving Roy alone to think._

“I just can’t win, can I?” Roy sighed.

 

“You had a higher calling then simply working at that club. Thea wasn’t always very…understanding about that.” Dinah said carefully and Thea shifted as Roy avoided looking at her.

 

_The scene chanted to Queen Consolidated the next day. Oliver was in his office when Felicity walked in._

_"Your 4:00 is here." She told him, no trace of anger from the other day present. She had other reasons to be angry. "Although I'm not entirely sure why you invited him up to your office." She added, looking out to the waiting area where Blood was waiting._

“For once we agree.” Laurel muttered as everyone glared at the screen.

 

_"'Cause I need to fix this situation, and there are no cameras or people to throw things at me in here." He told her. As he rose from his desk, he walked past her and called out to the lobby. "Alderman. Thank you for coming."_

_"Mr. Queen." Blood replied as he walked into the office. Oliver moved to shake his hand, but Blood walked past him and to the windows that looked out onto the city. "This is some view." He remarked. "How small the rest of us must all look from up here."_

“Jerk.” Tommy sneered.

 

_Oliver shrugged it off. "Ms. Smoak." He started, a small smile playing on his lips._

_"Yes?" she asked._

_"Would you get my guest and I some coffee?" he asked brazenly._

“Yes, and put cream in it.” Thea said grinning as they all laughed, amused.

 

_"You know, I would, Mr. Queen, but it seems that someone's broken our coffeemaker." She told him, then added, "Violently." In a whisper as she left the office._

“Isn’t that destruction of private property?” Tommy asked Laurel.

 

“At the very least.” Laurel nodded.

 

_"I was surprised that you wanted to meet." Blood said from the window._

_"As surprised as I was when you turned a frenzied mob on me?" Oliver countered._

_"Oh, that shouldn't have been too surprising." Blood said, taking a seat across the small coffee table in the room. "My constituents have a lot of anger towards your family."_

_"They have a right to." Oliver admitted. "My mother was involved in something Unspeakable. But I'm my own man. And I'm not your enemy."_

_"You're not a friend." Blood replied. "To me or the people of the Glades."_

_"I am hoping to prove otherwise." Oliver said, pulling out his checkbook._

_"Mr. Queen." Blood sat forward. "Not every problem can be solved by money. Real change will never happen until your elitist friends realize that it is morally unacceptable to allow thousands of its fellow citizens to live right down the street but in a third world." He said passionately._

_"Then let's show them." Oliver replied. "I'll host a benefit. Invite some of my 'elitist friends,' and then you and I can help them see what needs to be done."_

_Blood sat back. "People seeing you." He began. "Seeing you stand up, the CEO of Queen Consolidated, taking responsibility and being this cause's public face. That would make a difference." He admitted._

_Oliver stood and held out his hand. "Then let's make a difference."_

_They shook hands. "Listen. I am truly sorry for what happened outside that hospital." He told Oliver. "Sometimes my emotions get the better of me."_

“I let my emotions get the better of me when I found out about Oliver and Laurel. I don’t recall rounding up a group of criminals and leading them to the foundry.” Tommy said angrily.

 

“No, you just wished death on him.” Roy noted and Tommy winced.

 

“Okay, I deserved that.” Tommy admitted.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island. Slade approached the river bank where Oliver and Shado, now mostly clothed again, were lounging._

_"I don't even know how long it's been since I laughed." Oliver was saying. He watched them for a few moments, a sadness playing over his face, before he rose and moved away a small distance._

“I sense a love triangle going on here.” Thea noted.

 

“You’re not as clueless as people think.” Dinah told her.

 

_. He turned his back and then called out, "Hey, kid. Shado."_

_The two jumped up like kids being caught with their hands in the cookie jar and rapidly put on the rest of their clothes. "Yeah, just, um… We were just washing off." Oliver yelled back._

“Washing off, right.” Roy drawled as Tommy and Thea snickered.

 

_"Well, you better prepare to get dirty again." Slade said, walking down towards them. "I think I figured out where those men were headed. It's a couple of clicks northwest of here." The two looked at him, slightly ashamed. "Well, let's go." He said finally, moving off. Olive and Shado moved behind him as he walked._

_"Be careful." Slade advised Oliver as they walked. "Don't fall too hard."_

_"Why not?" he asked. "To make sure there isn't part of this island that doesn't totally suck?"_

_"To survive." Slade said with a grin. "She's a distraction, and in a place like this, a distraction's going to cloud your judgment. And that is what's going to get you killed." Slade looked back at Oliver. "Look at what this island has already done to you, kid."_

“Hypocrite.” Dinah hissed, this time her words heard.

 

“What?” Laurel asked confused as they all looked over at Dinah.

 

“Just keep watching.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_The scene moved back to Starling. Laurel was working late in the D.A.'s office. She was alone, looking over her next case file when the lights suddenly went out._

_"Hello, Laurel." A familiar, distorted voice said._

“Tell me he is not that stupid.” Thea groaned as Laurel shifted uncomfortably.

 

“He always saw the best in me, just like I always saw the best in him. Sometimes, it got us both in trouble.” Dinah sighed.

 

“Yeah, but he knows how I feel about him right now. Does he have a death wish?” Laurel asked exasperated.

 

“I think so, yes,” Dinah said and everyone looked over at her stunned, “I don’t think you really realize just how much he blamed himself for Tommy dying. I don’t think he really felt like he had a right to live while Tommy didn’t. And it only got stronger over the years after losing more and more people he loved.”

 

_"This seems like old times." Laurel said to the vigilante._

_"I figured we should talk."_

_"Fine." Laurel turned to face him. "Turn that thing off and pull back your hood."_

_"I'm not your enemy." He told her. "And I thought we understood each other."_

_"I understand that you're a criminal." She said. "And you think the law doesn't apply to you- it does."_

_"But you didn't always feel that way. You used to think that I was helping the people in this city." He pointed out._

_"And then I saw you."_

_A pause. "I don't understand."_

_"The night of the earthquake. I saw you at CNRI." She told him. "My friend was inside the building when it collapsed. He went there to rescue me. And by the time I managed to climb inside, he was gone. But I saw you. Running away into the night. You didn't save him." She accused as her tears began to fall. "You were too busy… Fighting a meaningless duel with Malcolm Merlyn. And when people- people you told me you would protect needed your help- you weren't there." She sniffled. "I don't think you wear that hood because you're a hero. I think you wear it to hide that you're a coward, and I promise you, I will see you unmasked, prosecuted and sent to prison." She promised, before turning away from him. "Don't ever speak to me again."_

“He couldn’t stop this, he tried.” Laurel pointed out to Dinah, who nodded.

 

“You know that, I know that now, I knew it back then, but I just couldn’t see that then. I was too emotional to see straight in anything regarding The Arrow.” Dinah explained apologetically.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated the next night. The benefit for the Glades was under way on the executive level, and Laurel was walking through the room, a glass of champagne in hand, looking for Oliver._

_"You look like a woman who's looking for someone." Laurel turned to see Sebastian Blood standing behind her, a drink in his hand as well._

_"Friend of mine." Laurel said. "He's throwing this benefit."_

_"Ah. Oliver Queen. Didn't realize you were friends." He remarked._

_"Very old friends." Laurel told him. “So you can imagine how I feel about you putting him in the crosshairs of public opinion, alderman." She added coolly._

“At least someone said it.” Thea said crossly and the others murmured agreement.

 

_"For what it's worth, I've apologized to Oliver for my rhetorical excesses." Blood said apologetically. "In fact, it is that détente which brings us all here tonight."_

_"So where is Oliver?" She asked._

_Blood smiled ruefully. "That's exactly the question I'm asking myself."_

_The scene changed to Oliver and Diggle in the elevator, on their way up to the party._

_Oliver looked at his watch and frowned. "We're late." He noted._

_"The good news is, at least you get to make a dramatic entrance." Dig opined._

_"Oh, I'm just lucky Oliver Queen has a reputation for not showing up on time." Oliver said, looking up at the floor counter and willing it to go faster._

_"You know, I've been meaning to tell you it really weirds me out to no end the way you refer to yourself in the third person like that." Dig told his friend._

“Yeah, it really dies.” Diggle noted as the others snickered.

 

_The elevator dinged, and at the same moment Oliver's phone started vibrating. He pulled it out of his jacket. "It's Felicity." He told Diggle as he stepped off the elevator. He answered the call. "Tell me."_

_"I've got good news and bad news." Felicity said from the Foundry. "I hacked into FEMA's server, yet another federal offense, thank you very much, and was able to find out when the next shipment of pharmaceuticals is taking place."_

_"When?" Oliver asked._

_"That's the bad news. Five minutes ago." She said. At Q.C., Oliver looked over at the fundraiser he was throwing, knowing even before she asked that he would be a no-show there. Still, she asked the question. "I know this is the definition of sucky timing, but which suit are you planning on wearing tonight?"_

“Great, so now people will think he doesn’t care because he has to go save the day.” Thea sighed.

 

“Sometimes saving the city takes priority over running it.” Dinah repeated what Oliver had often told her after he became mayor.

 

_In the party, Blood stared out the window, his ire growing every second the party's host didn't appear. Finally he had enough. " Doesn't seem Mr. Queen is going to honor us with his presence this evening." He told Laurel._

_"So where are you going?" she asked him as he started to move off._

_"To address his guests." He said. "It's time they realize what kind of a man their host is."_

_"You're just going to crucify him in the media again?" she asked incredulously._

_"Crucifixion has such a bad reputation." Blood replied. "The Romans used it to punish people who acted against the public good."_

“So now he thinks of himself as Starling City’s next savior?” Laurel scoffed.

 

“You have no idea.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"Alderman-" Laurel tried, but Blood had already stepped up to the mic at the podium._

_"Ladies and gentlemen." He said, drawing the guest's attention and a polite applause. "Thank you. Thank you." He said. "But you should hold your applause for Oliver Queen. This evening's charity was his brain child." He moved away from the podium, moving to stand closer to the people. “As such, you could be forgiven for wondering why Mr. Queen isn't with us tonight. And the answer, I'm afraid, is painfully apparent." In the foundry, Oliver was rapidly suiting up. "He doesn't care." Blood continued as Laurel looked on, helpless. "I told Mr. Queen that this city's problems cannot be solved with his money; that he needed to stand up and be counted as someone who cares. So where is he now?"_

“Doing your job: Saving the city.” Thea sneered.

 

_At the SCPD, an officer ran up to Lieutenant Pike. "Lieutenant! We got a Hood sighting, heading down Lemire Avenue."_

_"Let's go!" Pike yelled out, and the Anti-Vigilante Task Force raced to their cars._

_"I don't know where Oliver Queen is." Blood continued. "All I know is that he isn't here."_

_The FEMA truck raced through the Glades, with the motorcyclists in pursuit._

_"This city is dying."_

_Nearly a dozen police cruisers raced to take down the vigilante._

_"And it needs someone to stand up and breathe new hope into it."_

“It has someone and that person is certainly not you.” Roy sneered.

 

_The Arrow raced towards the FEMA trucks on his own bike._

_“And tonight, it is painfully obvious that that person is not Oliver Queen."_

“As much as it pains me to say it, he’s right,” Dinah said and everyone looked at her stunned, “the city didn’t need Oliver Queen…it needed The Arrow.”

 

_China White wiped her knife clean on the jacket of the dead driver. " If anyone gets in your way, mow them down." She told her men in Chinese. They nodded, and the two riders moved to the truck. One was climbing in the driver's side when the Arrow rounded the corner on his bike. As he sped past he fired a flash bang arrow into the cab that sent the gang member tumbling out as it exploded. As the Arrow brought his bike to a stop and climbed off to face China White and Bronze Tiger, the Asian assassin turned to the other rider. Go!" she ordered, and the man ran to the truck. She and Tiger then turned their attention to the Arrow, who was stalking towards them. "I told you." She reminded him. "On time to die."_

_“Moving in on the vigilante's location.”_

“Oh great, the cops are going to interfere again.” Roy growled.

 

_The cruisers skidded to a stop in an intersection in the Glades. The cops got out and started looking around, and Pike looked around in confusion._

_"This doesn't make any sense." One of his men said, coming up to him. He showed him the pad he was carrying, which showed a surveillance feed of the Vigilante- supposedly right where they were standing. "This is supposed to be live surveillance."_

_Pike looked down at the video, and then scowled. He pointed to a building on the screen. "What the hell is this building doing here?" he pointed up to the wreckage in front of them. "It was destroyed in the quake."_

_"Who in the hell could be feeding us year-old surveillance?" the other cop wondered._

_In the Foundry, Felicity smiled as she continued her work._

“Well, at least she does something good.” Thea allowed.

 

“Between all her bitching at Ollie, I’m surprised she got anything done.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

_At the truck, Bronze Tiger and China white assaulted the Arrow as one, forcing the vigilante to fend them off. The last gang member had started climbing into the cab of the truck, when suddenly a man in a ski mask came out of nowhere and grabbed him. He hit him several times, and then threw him into a dumpster, slamming the lid on the punks' head for good measure._

_" Healthcare has enough problems without you punks." Dig growled. Then he ran to the truck and climbed in._

“Nice man, nice.” Roy said as Diggle smirked.

 

_Oliver managed to land a hard strike onto China White, sending her crashing into a K-rail. Tiger moved in, grabbing him from behind. Suddenly the lights of the truck flared onto them both._

_"You're not the only one allowed to bring a friend!" Oliver growled, throwing him off and diving to the side as the truck raced past. China White scrambled to her feet and ran to the truck, jumping on the back as it past._

_In the cab, Dig pulled up his mask and checked his mirrors. "I'm clear." He said into his comms._

“Except for the deadly assassin that snuck on board.” Laurel said dryly.

 

_Oliver got up and looked around, searching for Bronze Tiger. "That makes one of us." He said. He moved cautiously around the area, looking for his opponent. All around him, wooden crates were stacked, and were covered with tarps that flapped freely in the breeze, creating a labyrinth. As Oliver moved deeper into the maze, Bronze Tiger came out behind him, slashing into his back with his claws before disappearing behind cover once more. Oliver gasped in pain and tried to draw an arrow- but he had no target. Cautiously, he continued his search._

_In the truck, Dig was continuing to head of the hospital when China White suddenly popped up next to him outside his door._

_"China!" he yelled out in surprise, ducking a swing from he and the two began exchanging blows even as Dig continued to drive._

_In the maze, Tiger once again leapt out, slashing into Oliver's chest and again drawing an anguished gasp before disappearing once more._

“What is this, whack The Arrow day?” Tommy demanded, worried for his best friend.

 

_In the truck, Dig was fending off China White, but as a result of the distraction he crashed into some debris at the side of the road. The impact drove his forehead into the steering wheel; it also threw China White off of the truck. Dig groaned and rubbed his head as he tried to recover his senses._

_In the maze, Oliver paused in his search. Then he spun and fired and arrow, which Bronze Tiger blocked._

_"Go ahead, waste your arrows." He growled, advancing as Oliver drew and fired several more. One hit Tiger in his shoulder, but he still kept coming. He barreled into the Arrow, slamming him back against a dumpster and digging into the wound he had created._

_"That hurt, but it won't stop me." Tiger said with a smirk. The smirk turned into a grimace and the gloating turned into an anguished scream as Oliver hit the activation button for the Taser arrow he had shot into Tiger's shoulder. The man collapsed bonelessly to the ground._

“A Taser arrow. That’s…kind of brilliant.” Roy noted impressed.

 

“Ollie always was smarter than most people gave him credit for.” Dinah said with a proud smile.

 

_"That will." Oliver said to the mans' quivering, unconscious body. He hit his com switch. "Dig? Diggle!" When he didn't answer, Oliver left Bronze Tiger on the ground and took off for his bike._

_At the truck, Diggle got out with his gun drawn, looking for China White. She charged him, knocking his gun away and swiping at him with her knife. She pressed her attack, putting Diggle on the defensive, and finally hitting a lucky blow and sending the bigger man to his knees. He pulled out a switchblade as she rose to drive her knife down-_

_But then the Arrow was there, firing a bola arrow which entrapped her hands and secured her to a utilities pole._

“Thanks for saving my life pal.” Diggle said as he untensed.

 

_Oliver got off his bike and moved to Diggle to check that he was okay._

_"You've changed." China White said. "You would have killed me by now if you hadn't."_

_"The police can take the shipment the rest of the way." He told Diggle. He turned to go back to his bike, but her voice stopped him._

_"They still won't see you as anything more than the enemy." She taunted. He turned back to face her. "You'll never be anything but a criminal to them. Which means you'll never be a hero."_

_Oliver considered her for a long moment. "As long as this city is safe, it doesn't matter." He told her, then walked off._

“That’s what makes a real hero. Someone willing to bear the cross of the villain so long as he can help people.” Diggle noted impressed.

 

_Later, Oliver and Diggle sat in his office watching the news report of the arrest. 'After a prolonged pursuit, police have arrested Chien Na Wei, a high-ranking member of the local Chinese Triad, which was responsible for the recent hijackings of pharmaceuticals bound for Glades Memorial. Representatives praise the efforts of the SCPD in saving the hospital from shutting down, though some sources say the Vigilante may have been involved.' Oliver smiled slightly at that. 'In other news, protests continue…'_

_"You know, I was just about to make my move on her." Diggle said as he leaned against the wall. "I didn't need one of your trick arrows getting in the way."_

“Sure Dig, whatever you say.” Tommy said skeptically and Diggle huffed.

 

_The both chuckled. "Couldn't risk it. Where would I be without my black driver?" Oliver joked. Dig smiled at him as he moved to get his coat. "Diggle!" he called out. "I'm sorry about you and Carly." He said earnestly._

_"Yeah, well, couples break up." Diggle replied. "Not everything that happens in Starling City is your responsibility."_

_"I'm learning that." Oliver said. "What I meant was, I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you, because I should have been. I got wrapped up in my own suffering, and I forgot that some other people might be suffering, too."_

_They both nodded at each other, then were silent. Finally Dig spoke. "You know, we're getting dangerously close to hug territory, so I'm going to fall back." Oliver chuckled. "You need a ride?" Dig asked._

_"It turns that being CEO, I actually have some work to do." Oliver replied. "I'll find my own way."_

_"You always do." Dig said as he turned and walked out._

_Oliver sat back and turned his attention back to the news. 'Oliver Queen's failure to show up to his own benefit shouldn't surprise anyone.' Sebastian Blood was saying. 'He's no different than the rest of the Starling City elite who have failed to show up when it comes to ending the suffering of those left devastated in the Glades. Oliver Queen is not a friend to the people of this city.'_

“I think you have that backwards: He’s a friend to the city, you aren’t.” Dinah sneered.

 

“What do you know about him that we don’t?” Diggle asked curiously.

 

“Just keep watching.” Dinah said with a tight smile.

 

_Olive turned the news off with a frown, then looked down in surprise as a mug of coffee was set on his desk. He looked up to see Felicity. She smiled at him, then turned and walked out as well._

_The scene flashed back to the island. Slade, Oliver and Shado were moving quickly through the forest, following Slade's lead. Suddenly he paused, looked down at the map- and the photo that was attached to it, then looked back up. "To those men, this location could have been on any one of 150 different islands." He said, then turned back to his friends with a smile. "But for somebody who knows this island like he knows his own name…"_

_"So those men were looking for this place." Shado said, looking around. "Why?"_

_"That would be the question." Slade said._

_"Slade." The pair turned to Oliver, who had moved a short distance off. "Over here." He pointed. Slade looked, and saw that there was a cave there, whose entrance was concealed behind thick vines. Slade put the map away and took out his K-Bar, then cautiously entered the cave. Inside he found a small area that had been converted into a rudimentary living area. On the ground, though, he saw skeletons dressed in Japanese uniforms with misshapen skulls._

“Well, I guess we know what corpses those men were talking about.” Roy noted as everyone looked at the scene disturbed.

 

“What happened to them?” Thea asked, freaked out by their deformities.

 

“The Mirakuru,” Dinah spoke the name like it was a curse, “you’ll learn about it soon enough.”

 

_Oliver knelt beside one of the bodies._

_"Their skulls are misshapen." Shado noted._

_"What happened to these people?" Oliver wondered aloud._

_Slade bent over and picked up a samurai sword. "Whatever did happen to them was over 60 years ago." He said, looking at the rusted sword. "These soldiers belong to the Japanese Imperial Army."_

_"They've been here since World War II." Shado said._

_"We're missing something here." Slade said as Oliver examined another of the bodies. Around the neck he found a stone arrowhead with markings carved into it. He pulled it off and looked at it curiously_

“The Hozen.” Thea said surprised.

 

“It’s kind of creepy how he gave you something he found off the body of world war two soldier.” Tommy noted.

 

_"You don't just come here for corpses." Slade finished, looking around for more clues._

_Back in the present, Roy was taking out some trash behind Verdant when he suddenly sensed he wasn't alone. He knelt down, depositing the glass bottles as he subtly reached into his pocket. In one fluid movement, he withdrew the arrow, rose, and spun around, flinging the projectile-_

_Right at The Arrow, who caught it inches from his face._

“So did not see that coming.” Tommy said as Roy straightened up, leaning forward and watching eagerly.

 

_Roy stared, stunned, before he finally found his voice. "I've been looking for you."_

_"You need to stop." The Arrow said forcefully._

_"You saved my life!" Roy said. "Made me realize it wasn't much of a life." He admitted. "But I could do what others couldn't, or too afraid to do. I could help you save the city."_

_"You're untrained." The Arrow said._

_"I can fight." Roy protested._

_"You can take a beating." The vigilante shot back. "There's a difference."_

_"Then teach me! Let me help you." Roy begged._

_The Arrow walked slowly towards him. "Ok." He said after a moment of silence. "You can help me. But not by taking on the Triad or the cops."_

_"Then how?"_

_"To do what I do, I need intel. You can be my eyes and ears in the Glades." He offered. "That's how you can save the city."_

_"How do I contact you?" Roy asked._

_The Arrow tossed back the flechette. "Leave that in the alley wall. Then I'll know to contact you."_

_Roy bent down to retrieve the weapon. "Are you sure it's all right that I keep this?" he asked, looking up- but the Arrow was gone. He grinned in disbelief._

“Well, it’s a start.” Roy said, satisfied for the moment.

 

_"If I want to be with you, do I keep that or give it back?" he asked her. "You were a little unclear."_

_She looked at him hopefully. "You mean it?"_

_"No more fighting." He promised. "If it's a choice between life with you or life without you, life with you will win every single time." She smiled at him. "I'm done trying to be a hero." Thea rose and gently kissed him on the lips before embracing her boyfriend. Roy retuned the hug gratefully, even as he felt the weight of the flechette in his back pocket._

“You liar.” Thea glared at Roy.

 

“Talk to Arsenal, I haven’t done it yet.” Roy said defensively.

 

_Later that night, Laurel was working late again at the D.A.'s office when, once again, the lights went out._

_"I told you to stay away from me." She said, spinning around to see The Arrow standing in the darkened office._

_Oliver activated the voice changer. "I thought you might have changed your mind after I stopped the men terrorizing our city."_

_"This isn't your city." Laurel said sharply. "It's your killing fields."_

_"The copycats are still alive." The Arrow noted._

_"Tommy Merlyn isn't." she shot back._

_Oliver paused for a moment. "I lost a friend that day, too." He told her. "And I would gladly have given my life for his."_

_"Well, don't worry, your life is over." Laurel said, grinning coldly. She held up a small device for him to see- a signaling device. "Your life as a free man."_

_She pressed the button, and instantly the Task Force warmed into the office. They surrounded the vigilante, cutting off all avenues of escape. He drew and arrow and nocked it, turning slowly to face each of the cops- but there were always more at his back. He was well and truly trapped._

_"I told you to stay away." Laurel said smugly. "Somehow I knew you wouldn't listen."_

“Are you kidding me?!” Thea shouted as she glared at Dinah and Laurel shifted uncomfortably.

 

“I told you, I did a lot of things this year that I’m not proud of. This was one of them. But if it counts for anything, it’s not like it worked.” Dinah told her calmly.

 

“Speedy, calm down.” Tommy gently grabbed his sister’s arm and pulled her back to the couch.

 

“He’s right. Now let’s keep some cool heads and keep watching.” Diggle suggested and Dinah nodded in thanks as she started the next recording.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Was anyone else annoyed with how selfish Felicity was in this episode? I mean, it’s like she expected to sit back and watch as Oliver, Diggle, and later Laurel, Thea, and Roy sacrificed things while she never had to give anything up herself. Considering this was literally the only thing she gave up and Oliver basically had to use his position as CEO to force her to do this, I can only conclude this is exactly what she expected.
> 
> 2: Originally, I was gonna wait to do this when Felicity did it, but since I could see Tommy saying something like this, let’s get it out of the way here. Lian Yu was literally hell on earth for Oliver. To call it Fantasy Island simply because there were beautiful women who Oliver had romantic relationships with there is not funny. It is disrespectful not just to Oliver, but to the men and women in our military who have gone through things similar to Oliver while they are out there fighting for our country. 
> 
> 3: Fun fact, China White was in a romantic relationship with Bronze Tiger by the time this episode took place.


	34. Broken Dolls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laurel becomes suspicious about the identity of the masked woman as she sees her emotional break down. Thea learns of the complications of her mother's trial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been pointed out to me that I may have been overly harsh on Felicity. So I’ll lay off her a bit. However, if I see something she should be called out on, I’ll call her out on it, because that is one of the main points of these stories.
> 
> For future reference, unless I refer to the actor or actress by name, I am referring to the characters, not the actors.

_The memory set opened replaying the final few moments of the last. "Well, don't worry, your life is over." Laurel said, grinning coldly. She held up a small device for him to see- a signaling device. "Your life as a free man."_

_She pressed the button, and instantly the Task Force warmed into the office. They surrounded the vigilante, cutting off all avenues of escape. He drew and arrow and nocked it, turning slowly to face each of the cops- but there were always more at his back. He was well and truly trapped._

_"Put your weapon down." Laurel demanded._

_Oliver looked around at the cops, then back to Laurel. "I'm not your enemy." He told her._

_"Then put your weapon down." She said._

“So you can put him in jail for saving the city?” Thea said coldly as she glared at Dinah.

 

“If I could go back and change it, I would. But I can’t, so I brought you here instead.” Dinah snapped, shutting Thea up.

 

_And then suddenly a figure dropped through the skylight. She landed right in front of Oliver- who backed away in surprise- in a crouch, then withdrew a small white device and activated it. A piercing sound emanated from it, sending the cops and Laurel to their knees and shattering every pane of glass in the room. She turned it off and touched Oliver on the arm then turned and ran with him towards the shattered windows. They leapt out into the night as the cops, regaining their senses, opened fire._

_The woman led the Arrow to a side alley, and Oliver finally got a good look at her. She was a little shorter than him, dressed in black leather pants and halter top that enhanced her rather impressive cleavage, topped off with a short leather jacket. Her hair was long and blonde, and most of her face was hidden behind a mask._

“Who the hell is that?” Tommy asked, impressed.

 

“And don’t say a friend again.” Roy cut in.

 

“You’ll see soon enough.” Dinah said vaguely, a slight smile.

 

“That answer is getting really old.” Thea said irritably.

 

“Well, whoever she is, her costume is sexist.” Laurel muttered.1

 

_She moved off on her own, now ignoring the other vigilante._

_"Nice mask." He told her. "Why'd you help me?"_

_The woman looked over her shoulder, but then without saying a word effortlessly leapt up onto a fire escape, disappearing into the night._

_The scene changed to the Lair. As Oliver walked in, Felicity turned and sighed in relief. "Oh, thank God." She said._

_"Police scanner's been blowing up for the past hour." Diggle reported. "Laurel called in half the force with that silent alarm."_

_"Yeah, because going after actual bad guys is so last year." Felicity added._

_"To her, I am the bad guy." Oliver said as he hung up his bow._

_"Since when?_

_"Since I didn't make it to Tommy in time." Oliver said sadly._

“I know, it wasn’t his fault.” Dinah said before anyone could open their mouths.

 

_They were all silent for a moment before Felicity asked the obvious question._

_"How did you get out of there?"_

_"I had help from a masked blonde woman in black." Oliver said as he pulled off his quiver._

_"Another copycat vigilante?" Dig asked._

_"No." Oliver said definitively. "She was different. Trained, and she used a sonic…thing."_

_"Wait, sonic thing?" Felicity asked. "Could you be a bit more specific?"_

_"She turned it on and the glass shattered."_

_She blinked. "Ok, well, who was she and why would she help you? And how did she know to help you?" she continued._

_Oliver put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "All good questions." He told her. "I don't like the idea of another player in town."_

_"I'll see what I can find." Felicity promised._

_"Oliver, what I would like to know is what you're doing at Laurel's office in the first place." Diggle pressed. "She makes you public enemy number one and you figure this is a good time to chat?"_

_"Because I thought that I could talk to her and make her understand that I'm doing things differently this time." Oliver replied. "That I'm not the bad guy." He sighed. "I was wrong."_

Dinah and Laurel both winced and, tactfully, no one made a comment.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island. The boys had dragged one of the skeletal bodies back to the fuselage, and they laid it down on top of a crate so that Shado could examine it._

_"Wonderful." Slade said sarcastically. "Now we have a dead Japanese soldier in our home."_

“Well, that’s something I never thought I’d hear.” Tommy quipped and Roy and Thea snickered.

 

_"Those men on the island were looking for these corpses." Shado said as she examined the bones in better light. "Aren't you the least bit interested in why?"_

_"I'm more interested in how many more there are of them and where they're operating from." Slade replied, gathering some gear together. "They'll be coming for that, which means they'll be coming for us. And as we've already seen, they're not the friendliest bunch."_

_Oliver looked at Shado as she continued to examine the body. "So… it kind of looks like you've done that before." He noted._

_"Back in Xingjian, I was pre-med." She replied absently._

_"She's a woman of many talents." Slade said, throwing a pack to Oliver. "Come on."_

_"'Come on' where?" Oliver asked._

_"To higher ground." Slade replied. "We need to get to a vantage point where we can establish the enemy's position."_

_"What about Shado?" Oliver asked, suddenly worried._

_"I'll be fine here." She told him with a smile._

_"We shouldn't split up." Oliver said, conflicted._

_"Let her play with her corpse." Slade said. "We'll be back before she knows it." Slade moved off. Oliver took one last look at Shado, and then turned to follow Slade._

“Why do I have a feeling that his concern for Shado is going to be a problem?” Tommy noted uneasily.

 

“Because he worries so much about the people he loves that he loses sight of the bigger picture sometimes.” Dinah noted.

 

“You know, you speak like you’ve lived through these flashbacks.” Diggle noted and Dinah laughed.

 

“I wouldn’t say I’ve lived through them. After Ollie died…I would spend hours upon hours in Cerebro, viewing Ollie’s memories. It brought me comfort, made me feel like he was still with me before I discovered I was pregnant. I probably know Ollie better than he knows himself.” Dinah admitted and Diggle nodded as he turned his attention back to the recording.

 

_The scene flashed back to Starling City, where Officer Lance was buying a hotdog from a street vendor._

_"Here you go, Bud." The vendor said, handing him the dog. "On the house, Officer Lance."_

_"Hey, no, no, no," Lance objected, handing him the money for the food. "Here you go, a dog this delicious? I'd have to book myself for robbery." He said with a smile. "Take it."_

_"All right." The vendor said, reluctantly taking the money. "Take care."_

_Lance walked back to his cruiser, hot dog in hand. He heard the radio sound off and he reached in through his opened window and grabbed it off of the dash._

_“All units, 10-78 at Second and Fletcher. Please respond.”_

_Lance threw the hot dog into the trash as he climbed into his cruiser._

“Well that’s too bad, those are some good dogs.” Roy noted wistfully.

 

_"Lance, patrol Delta Charlie 52, 10-60 Officer responding. Over."_

_“Negative, DC-52.” Lance frowned at the radio. “Disregard 10-78 and resume patrol.”_

_"According to whose orders?" Lance demanded._

_“Lieutenant Pike.” Lance put the radio down and let out a sigh._

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Laurel said uneasily.

 

_Ten minutes later Lance had arrived at the crime scene. He hurried towards the tape, looking for a friendly cop. Finally, he found one- Lucas Hilton, his ex-partner._

_"Excuse me." He said, getting Hilton's attention. "Bill, what is going on here, huh? This is my beat. Why did Pike wave me off of this?" he demanded._

“I thought Hilton’s name was Lucas?” Tommy asked confused.2

 

“I think it’s just a nickname.” Laurel shrugged.

 

_"Quentin, it's under control." Hilton said, trying to stop his ex-partner as he stormed past him._

_"Excuse me, what is under control?" he asked, then stopped cold. There was a girl, in her late teens or early twenties, dead. More than that, she was strung up on a steel framework and posed like a porcelain doll, complete with frilly dress and decorative choker._

“The Doll Maker.” Laurel breathed as a chill ran down her spine.

 

“I heard about this guy on the news. But why would they keep your dad away from it?” Diggle asked curiously.

 

“This case was put on Dad’s desk not long after the Gambit went down. He became sort of…obsessed with it. I think he felt like if he stopped this guy, it would feel like he saved Sara.” Laurel sighed.

 

_. "That's Barton Mathis." Lance said in a raspy voice, memories of his previous victims coming back to Lance after years of being locked away in his memory._

_"That seems to be what the M.O. indicates." Hilton said in resignation._

_"He's doing consecutive life sentences in Iron Heights." Lance snarled._

_"Not anymore." Hilton replied. "The quake split open a section of Iron Heights. Mathis was among the escapees. The brass wants to avoid a panic, so they're keeping it quiet." He explained._

“Of course they are, because the public doesn’t need to know that a serial killer targeting teenage girls is at large.” Roy sneered.

 

_"Are they keeping it quiet from me, too?" Lance demanded._

_"Come on, man." Hilton said defensively. "Pike knows what happened to you last time. The man got in your head."_

_"Yeah, and I caught him." Lance shot back. "And no one knows Mathis better."_

_"And I've got all your notes and your files." Hilton replied. "Pike's order. If you go anywhere near this, he's going to have you arrested for obstruction."_

_Lance sighed in frustration, and then stalked off, pausing only to look at the latest victim._

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver and Diggle were sparing on the floor; wrestling on mats that Oliver had laid out in the center of the room while Felicity continued to search for information on the new vigilante._

_"I found a number of police reports from the last few months that may involve our mystery girl." she said finally, drawing the two men's attention. "They describe a masked woman in black attacking attackers." she spun her chair around to face them. "She put five would-be rapists in the hospital so far."_

_"Are you sure it's her?" Oliver asked, coming over to take a look._

_"Broken limbs, ruptured ear drums. Your sonic thing." Felicity pointed out._

_"That's her." Oliver said, studying the data. "She's targeting criminals."_

_"Misogynist criminals." Felicity clarified._

“No woman should ever suffer at the hands of man.” Dinah repeated what Sara and Nyssa  had often told her.

 

_"First the hoods, now her. Looks like you started a movement." Diggle said._

_"I don't want to start a movement, so we catch her." Olive said firmly. "I'm not letting the city get overrun with vigilantes."_

_Felicity's phone started ringing. She looked down at it with a frown, the picked it up and answered it. "Hi, Detective." she began as Diggle and Oliver looked at her in surprise._

_Later that night, Officer Lance walked up onto the roof of the SCPD building. He looked around, and then found who he was looking for._

_Oliver tapped the voice changer on his chest. "So... Miss Smoak gives you a way to call me now."_

_Lance frowned at the vigilante, and then walked briskly towards him. "She vouches for you." he said. "And you told me that you're trying to help the city without dropping bodies. That true?"_

_"What do you think?" The Arrow asked._

_"Let's just say I'm willing to be convinced." Lance said finally. "This city is hurting. And the police?" he sighed. "I always thought we didn't need to go outside of law to find justice. But in light of recent events, I'm not so sure anymore." he lifted the file he was carrying, and then set it down on top of an air duct. "Barton Mathis." he said as The Arrow picked up the file to look through it. "The media calls him the Doll Maker. ‘Cause he suffocates his victims with a flexible polymer that he pours down their throats and then he dresses them up like dolls. I put him away." he said emotionally. "Because of the quake, he's out and he's killing again."_

_Oliver looked at the photos of the previous victims, and then noticed the dates. "These are from six years ago." he said._

_"That's my personal file." Lance replied._

_"Maybe it's not just the file that's personal." Oliver pointed out._

“He’s not wrong.” Laurel sighed.

 

_"Mathis killed eight girls before I got him last time. I don't want any more on my conscience."_

_A pause. "So why don't you let the police do their job?"_

_Lance scoffed. "I could say the same thing to you." Lance shot back. "They're spread so thin, they can't even risk letting the public know that Mathis is out. You said you're trying another way?" he asked rhetorically. "Maybe I am, too."_

“Dad.” Laurel said with a proud smile.

 

_Somewhere downtown, a young woman had just left a boutique. She walked briskly to her car, alone in the dark. She hit her keyfob to unlock the doors, and then paused as she felt someone watching her. She looked around nervously, but saw nothing. Shaking it off, she got into her car and shut the door, never seeing the man who was sitting in her back seat._

_Barton Mathis shot forward, clamping his hand over the woman's mouth. "You have such beautiful skin." He told her._

“And that son of a bitch just snagged his next victim.” Diggle growled as they all tensed.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair, where Felicity was busily scanning in Lances' file to their system._

_Oliver walked back in from a quick patrol and immediately got to work. "Lance's file give you anything?" he asked the room in general._

_"Last time the Doll Maker was active in Starling City, he ramped up to one kill every three days."_

_"That gives us two to catch him." Oliver stated. "Can we connect the victims?"_

_Dig pulled up photos of the victims on the digital board. "Young. Pretty. According to Lance's file, he couldn't figure out how he chose them." Dig replied._

_"As if porcelain dolls weren't creepy enough all on their own." Felicity said, looking at the photos._

_"Barton Mathis doesn't have any family or known acquaintances." Diggle said, coming to stand next to her. Oliver took up position at the third screen. "Lone wolves are harder to catch."_

_"But they do have the right to an attorney." Oliver noted. "Call Lance. Tell him to set up a meeting for tonight." He told Felicity._

_"Where?" she asked._

_"At the office of whoever represented Barton Mathis."_

“Smart, go to the one person that has a connection to Mathis.” Diggle noted.

 

_"So… I'm assuming this takes priority over finding out the identity of your secret admirer." She stated._

_Oliver grabbed his bow. "I got that covered." He said._

_The scene shifted to the back alley behind Verdant. Roy was taking out the glass recyclables. He paused when he felt someone behind him, and turned to see The Arrow standing their silently._

_"Hey." Roy said. "I was wondering when I was going to see you again."_

_"There's someone new in town-a woman." The Arrow said without preamble. "She's targeting men who target women."_

_"I know. I've seen her." He said, surprising Oliver._

_"Find her, but don't engage." He told the younger man. "Leave that to me." Roy nodded, Oliver walked off._

“It’s a good thing he didn’t engage her, he would’ve gotten his ass kicked.” Dinah mused.

 

“She’s really that good?” Roy asked surprised and Dinah nodded.

 

“She was trained by people who make Slade look like a high school football couch.” She said and Roy looked pensive, “don’t go looking for them, you’ll regret it.”

 

_The scene changed to the D.A.'s office. Donner and Laurel were walking in, looking around as workers swept up the shattered glass._

_"The archer makes quite a mess." Donner noted wryly._

_"I'll add that charge to the indictment." Laurel said with a smile._

_"Well, you called it right." Donner admitted. "He showed."_

_"I know him pretty well." Laurel replied, not noticing her father entering behind her. "At least better than others."_

_"This place is a mess." Laurel turned around to see her father, a worried look on his face. "Twice in three weeks, you're ducking bullets."_

_"I'm fine." She told him._

_"You don't look fine. You look tired." Quentin replied._

_"I think I'll give you two a moment." Donner said, walking off and leaving the Lances alone._

_"Did you just come here to tell me how tired I look?" Laurel asked acidly as she stalked back to her desk._

“I should have listened to him.” Dinah sighed.

 

“I have a feeling I was in a dark place.” Laurel noted and Dinah smiled thinly.

 

“You haven’t seen me in a dark place yet.” Dinah said grimly and Laurel started to get worried.

 

_"No, I came here to check up on you and check up on some court records." Lance admitted. "Barton Mathis is out." He told her. "I'm looking for his attorney."_

_"Why?" she asked worriedly. "You're no longer a detective."_

_"Yeah, well, I'm just doing a little digging off the books." Lance said._

_"Dad, this case… it took you to such a dark place last time." Laurel pointed out, even more worried now._

_"Yeah, well, I think we both know that it wasn't Mathis who did that." Lance shot back tiredly. "Look, nobody knows this guy better than me, which means nobody's got a better chance of stopping him, ok? And that means every girl that he kills is like another one on my conscience."_

_"No." Laurel rounded her desk to stand in front of her father. "No, dad, it's not. Whatever guilt you're feeling… You're just using it to justify a vendetta." She told him._

_Lance looked around at the devastated room. "Well, maybe I'm not the only one." He said pointedly, walking off and leaving her to mull that over as she stared at the board filled with all the info she had on the Vigilante._

“He wasn’t wrong.” Dinah sighed sadly.

 

_The scene changed to Iron Heights._

_Thea hugged her mother as she came to visit. "Are you ok?" she asked._

_"Oh, Thea, you have to stop asking me that every time you come to visit." Moira replied, as Thea lead her over to one of the visitor's tables._

_"Ah, don't count on it." Thea replied._

_"Well, then, I'm afraid you'll be asking me that for the next 25 to life." Moira quipped._

_"Please don't talk like that." Thea asked sadly._

_"Thea, there's not a lot of value in the power of positive thinking when you're being put on trial for mass murder." Moira pointed out._

_"Let's just try to take things one step at a time, ok?" Thea said, lifting up the clothes she had laid on the table and showing her mother._

_"Well, I'd have to check with my lawyer, but I don't think retail therapy is a viable legal strategy." Moira noted wryly._

_"Well, I spoke with her, and she said that you can wear regular clothes to your pre-trial hearing." Thea said, laying the clothes back on the table. "So I picked these."_

_"Hmm." Moira sighed. "I wish the fashion police was all I had to worry about." She said._

_"Please don't joke." Thea pleaded._

_"Thea, listen to me." Moira aid, placing her hands on Thea's shoulders. "I need you to understand what's happening here. 503 people are dead and there is a measure of guilt that is owed me. I'm ready to accept my punishment." Moira told her._

_"Even if that means spending the rest of your life in here?" Thea asked._

_"Yes." She said, and then embraced her daughter._

“Well, at least she was ready to face her punishment.” Dinah mused.

 

“Was?” Thea asked her heart racing in panic.

 

“I didn’t mean to worry you; the trial just took a…unexpected turn.” Dinah scowled as she thought of Donner.

 

_The scene changed to the Office of Tony Daniel, defense lawyer. It was late, and Tony had the lights off as he prepared to leave when Lance walked in._

_"Tony Daniel?" Lance asked._

_"Help you with something, Officer?" he replied as he continued to pack up his briefcase._

_"Barton Mathis." Lance announced. "According to the D.A.'s office, you handled his post-trial appeals, and I'd like to know where he is."_

_"So you can give him a parking ticket or something?" Tony said snidely. "If you want to talk to me about one of my clients, come back with a detective shield. Or a court order."_

_He looked up to see Lance chuckling lightly. "What, you find that funny?" he asked hotly._

_"Well, a little bit." Lance admitted, looking past the lawyer._

_The first thing Tony saw was the shadow of a man in a hood. Slowly he turned around to see The Arrow standing there._

_"Where do we find him?" the vigilante demanded._

_"Iron Heights prison." Tony replied._

_"He got out."_

_"What? How?" he was either feigning it, or he was genuinely surprised._

_"You spent hours with him! Where would he run?" The Arrow demanded. "Where?!"_

_"I don't know, I-I swear!"_

“For such a sleazy lawyer, he’s a terrible liar.” Roy noted.

 

_Oliver sighed heavily, then in one fluid motion drew an arrow and shot it into the lawyers shoulder. He screamed in pain, collapsing back into the desk as a startled Lance ran over to him._

_"What the hell are you doing?!" Lance shouted. "I thought you were done killing people!"_

_"He'll live." The Arrow said._

_"Yeah, but he'll report me to my lieutenant!" Lance complained._

_"He won't talk to anyone."_

_"What makes you so sure?"_

_"Because he has another shoulder." The Arrow growled, then leaned down and pushed the arrow in deeper._

“Damn, even I think that’s brutal.” Roy whistled as the others either winced or shifted uncomfortably.

 

_"Aah!" Tony screamed. "Oh, ok, ok, ok!" The Arrow backed off. Tony grasped his shoulder and groaned in pain. "There-there is another place." He said finally. "He was always drawing it. Sketching. His cell walls were covered with the place."_

_"Yeah, well, what's the place?" Lance demanded. "Was it in Starling City?"_

_"Yeah." Tony replied. The Bisque Museum. He said the building reminded him of Germany. Where porcelain dolls were invented." He gasped as The Arrow let go of the arrow in his shoulder and stalked off._

_"I'm sorry. I guess he just gets enthusiastic sometimes." Lance said, before following the vigilante out._

Roy, Thea, and Tommy all snickered, Diggle chuckled, and Laurel just shook her head, amused.

 

_The scene changed to a street down in the Glades that held the Bisque Museum. Just down the road was a two-story brick apartment house, advertising rooms for rent. Inside the building Lance and the Arrow moved cautiously down the hall._

_"The lady at the desk said a guy matching Mathis' description checked in last week, room 52." Lance told his new 'partner'. "And he paid in cash. Now listen," he added, "just so we're clear, when we go through that door, we're here to arrest Mathis, ok, not to torture him."_

_"You asked for my help." The vigilante said._

_"Yeah, and that wasn't easy, and neither is aiding and abetting." Lance said "And I am still a police officer."_

_"Do you want to catch him or not?" The Arrow asked._

_Lance let out a long breath, then drew his sidearm. "Let's go." He said, leading the way. He reached the door and kicked it open, leading the way with his gun. He scanned the room, finding it empty of occupants- save for a small porcelain doll set up in front of a small table. On the front of the doll was an article clipped from an old Starling City Star newspaper with the headline 'Dollmaker Captured' over a photo of a younger Lance bringing Mathis in. On the table was an old style rotary phone- which started ringing a moment later._

“Does anyone else feeling like we’re suddenly watching Scream or something?” Tommy asked uneasily.

 

“Yeah.” Laurel muttered and Thea nodded.

 

“So it’s not just me then.” Tommy muttered.

 

_Lance stared at the phone for several moments before finally picking it up._

_"Detective." Barton's voice said. "It's been too long."_

_Oliver activated his com-link. "Felicity, I need a trace." He said quietly._

_"On it." She said._

_"You sick son of a bitch." Lance said into the receiver._

_"Sick? I've never felt better." Mathis said with a smile in his voice. "Fresh air agrees with me."_

_"Yeah, well, don't get too used to it." Lance said. "I caught you before. It's just a matter of time before I do it again."_

_"Fair enough." He insane man replied. "In the meantime, however, I have someone who'd like to say hello to you. Say hello, dear." Lance heard a girl shrieking and crying over the line, and he grimaced. "She's a little inarticulate." Mathis said by way of an apology._

_"She's done nothing to you. Please, don't hurt her, just let her go." Lance begged._

_"And allow her to wither away in a mediocre and forgettable life." Mathis stated. "No. No, no, no, no, no. She deserves so much better." In the factory where he had set himself up, he walked over to table and picked up a large plastic container of liquefied polymer. "She deserves to see her beauty preserved." He continued as he walked back to the girl. She was strapped upright to a table, her arms held out to her sides. In her mouth was a plastic tube that was attached to a small, empty reservoir at the other end._

“Good god.” Laurel muttered horrified as was everyone else.

 

“How is this guy not on death row?” Diggle muttered.

 

“The judge used a pro-life stance as a platform for reelection.” Dinah explained grimly.

 

“Power over Justice. Sounds about right.” Roy said sarcastically.

 

_"Pristine. Forever. Don't worry. I will turn her into something special." He stepped up on a stool and poured the polymer in to the tank, and it slowly worked its way down the tube towards its inevitable destination. "Pay attention, Detective." Mathis taunted as Lance listened helplessly on the other end. "What comes next is really quite exquisite. The sound of an esophagus slowly hardening." He heard the girl shrieking in the background. "Like a symphony."_

_Olive heard the panicked screeching and activated his com link. "Felicity!" he urged._

_"We're trying, but he's blocked the trace." She told him._

_"Barton, don't do it." Lance pleaded. "I'm begging you, ok? Is that what you want? I am begging you. Please, just stop!"_

_In the factory, Mathis pulled out the tub and moved the stand with the tank away. "It's for the world to enjoy. After all Everyone loves a pretty doll." He said, admiring his work. In the apartment, Lance dropped the receiver, defeated._

“Good god, he’s even more of a monster than my father.” Tommy muttered disgusted.

 

“No kidding.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_Sometime later that night, Lance rolled up to Mathis' new crime scene. He got out of his cruiser and stared at the victim sadly._

_In the Lair, Oliver finally returned and Felicity updated him. "The police found her body an hour ago." She said._

_"Does the new victim give us any forensics we can use?" Oliver asked._

_"CSI did a complete forensics work-up, but they sent everything out to a private lab." Diggle said._

_"Can you get in?" Oliver asked._

_"No." Felicity said, dejected. "They took their system offline. It seems like someone hacked into a lot of police-related systems last year."_

“So because Felicity doesn’t cover her tracks, Ollie’s job just got harder.” Thea groaned.3

 

“Yep.” Dinah sighed.

 

_"Then we do it like we did the Merlyn job." Oliver decided._

_The scene changed to Granger Laboratories. A security guard was making the rounds when suddenly he was hit with a tranq dart. He dropped to the ground within seconds. As soon as he was out, The Arrow rounded the corner with Lance in tow._

_"So glad you invited me to tag along." The cop said, stepping over the guard's body as they entered the main lab._

_"Tranq dart." Oliver told him. "He'll be out for 36 minutes."_

_"Yeah, I remember." Lance said sourly._

“Well Ollie didn’t modify his to punish him.” Dinah said sweetly and everyone snickered at that.

 

_The Arrow plugged a device into the mainframe, then stepped back and activate his com-link. "You're up, Felicity."_

_"So, this is what a typical night's like for you, huh?" Lance asked sarcastically. "Just a little breaking and entering."_

_"All right, I got toxicology first." Felicity said. In the lab, the results also came up on the screens there._

_Lance looked at them in confusion. "What are all these?" he asked._

_"Chemical ingredients of all the make-up found on the victims- skin cream, nail polish, lipstick." She explained._

_Lance spotted something familiar suddenly. "Wait, wait, wait, stop." He ordered. "Scroll back. Scroll back." She did so, and Lance pointed at the screen, despite the fact that she couldn't see. "This one." He said for her benefit. "Ethyl paraben. Sodium laureth sulphate. I've seen this before." He said._

_"It's skin cream." She explained. "Forensics found traces of it on her fingers. Probably something she used before he grabbed her."_

_"Skin cream." Lance racked his brain. "Mermaid something. One of the victims from his last run, she had this in her purse and I had the lab analyze it, and it's the same formula." He said, suddenly remembering._

“Skin cream…the common variable.” Diggle said as it started to fall into place.

_Oliver realized that Lance was on to something. "Felicity." He urged._

_"Already on it." She said, going back to Lance's digitized file. After five seconds, she pulled up the label of the skin cream, and displayed it at the lab. Lance looked at it in stunned amazement._

_"How the hell could she do that?" he wondered._ _Under his hood, Oliver smiled amused._

_"Ethyl paraben and sodium laureth sulphate is Mermaiden's proprietary formula." Felicity explained._

_"Two victims with the same taste in skin cream." The Arrow said. "That can't be a coincidence."_

_"I could never figure out how he chose his victims." Lance said as the realization struck him. It had already stuck the Vigilante._

_"I think you just did." He told the cop._

“He chooses his victims based on skin cream. Good god, I feel so stupid.” Laurel muttered.

 

“No one could have known.” Dinah told her.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver and Slade were still heading for higher ground, but Oliver was still worried about Shado._

_"We shouldn't have left Shado." He said, voicing his well-known opinion._

_"Well, it's her life. It's her choice." Slade replied tiredly as they continued up the hill. "You listen to my advice."_

_"What advice?" Oliver asked._

_"To avoid attachment." Slade reiterated._

_"Yeah. That was bad advice." Oliver replied sarcastically._

_"But it will save your life." Slade said._

 

_"Maybe I don't want to live under those terms." Oliver said._

_"Yeah, well, maybe you're an idiot." Slade opined._

_"Hey, you think that carrying about people gets you killed." Oliver pointed out. "I think it's what keeps people alive."_

“Both of them have good points. Slade’s advice probably will save Oliver’s life, but that’s no way to live.” Diggle noted.

 

_Slade stopped, then turned and walked down to face Oliver directly. "I was wrong about you." He said. "You're definitely an idiot." He finished with a smirk._

_"Then that's who I am." Oliver stated plainly. Slade scoffed and turned to continue climbing. "I'm not changing." He continued._

_Slade took another step, and then slipped on some loose rocks. He let out a surprised "Ohh!" as he slipped over the edge of the very steep, very sheer cliff. Oliver dropped down immediately and grasped the older man's hands, preventing him from falling to his death. "You should be happy I haven't avoided attachment to you." Oliver said, grunting as he strained to pull Slade back up to solid ground. Slowly but surely, he did._

“So many things would be different if he had avoided attachment to Slade.” Dinah sighed, the others growing concerned about what she might be talking about.

 

_The scene flashed to the Glades. Roy, carrying a small crate with a couple of bottles of wine pilfered from Verdant, walked up to a bazar of sorts, where looters and burglars from all over Starling made their way there to fence their stolen goods. The owner, Louis, looked up and smiled as Roy walked over to him._

_"Harper." He said pleasantly. "It's been a while, hoss."_

_"I've been busy." Roy said, hefting the crate slightly._

_"I can see that." Louis looked over the wine. "I'll give you a hundred."_

_"Four." Roy countered._

_"Two-five." Louis said._

_Roy looked at the man. "Done." He said, handing over the liquor. "If you throw in some information." Louis scoffed, but Roy pressed on. "Come on, man, you've got your finger on the pulse." Roy said as Louis put the wine in the back of his van. "I'm looking for someone. A blonde, likes black leather."_

_"Sounds like your type." Louis said._

_"And beats the crap out of guys with a bow staff." Roy finished._

_Louis chuckled. "That still sounds like your type."_

_"But I want to put eyes on her. What do you know?" Roy asked._

_Louis pulled a wad of cash from his pocket and climbed out of the van. "Not much." He admitted. "You know Cindy? Folks call her 'Sin'. She's got short, spiky hair." Roy shook his head. "Yeah, I've seen her a couple times hanging around with your black leather girlfriend."_

_"So where can I find Sin?" he asked._

_"Well, she hangs out over at Fifth and Boyton." Louis said, handing Roy his money. "And that is what I know." Roy smiled in appreciation, and then took off._

“I have a feeling this won’t end well for me.” Roy noted.

 

“Depends on your definition of ‘well.’” Dinah shrugged.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair as the gang was going over what they knew about the Mathis case._

_"So this is it." Diggle said. "Skin cream, that's our lead?"_

_"It's something." Oliver said. "What do we know about the product?"_

_"It's made from crushed mother of pearl and it's super high-end." Felicity said. "Only carried in a handful of boutiques and it's marketed for women with extremely delicate complexions."_

_"He picks his victims for their skin. The cream is how he finds them." Oliver summarized._

_"Only four stores in the city carry it and three have surveillance systems. I've ran facial recognition through all of them looking for Mathis, but come up empty." Felicity informed him. "He must be staking out the stores from the outside."_

_"Fine. So we'll do the same." Dig suggested._

_Oliver shook his head. "That could take days we don't have." He noted. "He's probably out there right now looking for another girl."_

_"So that's what we give him." The two men turned to Felicity. "I'll go to the stores that carry Mermaiden, and buy it in each one to cover our bases." She offered._

“Well, she’s certainly brave, I’ll give her that.” Thea muttered as they stared at the screen, stunned.

 

_"It's too dangerous." Dig said at once. Oliver looked to object next, but Felicity rose from her chair._

_"More dangerous than going undercover in a mob casino or jumping out of a plane?" she asked them, then looked directly at Oliver. "It's my life." She said. "It's my choice."_

“This can only end well.” Roy drawled.

 

“Not as bad as you expect but not very good either.” Dinah told him.

 

_The scene flashed back to the island, where Oliver and Slade had almost reached the highest point._

_"There are only two ways onto this island- by sea, and by air." Slade reminded Oliver._

_"So what, you're going to steal whatever they use to get onto the island?" Oliver quipped._

_"Well, I'm tired of living here, aren't you?" Slade said as he raised his binoculars. Oliver did the same, and they began to sweep the coast of the island. Almost immediately, they spotted it- a ship._

_"Oh, my God." Oliver said._

_"It appears to be two or three clicks offshore." Slade noted with some excitement._

_Suddenly there were a series of explosions that startled the men._

_"What the hell?" Oliver asked as the explosions continued._

_Slade lifted his glasses again and scanned the ship. Though it was too far away to see any detail, he couldn't miss the tell-tale signature smoke trails of missiles being fired from the deck of the ship. "It's firing off its location." He said._

_Oliver's eyes widened in realization. "The plane!" he exclaimed._

_"They must have found it." Slade realized._

“Shado.” Diggle realized.

 

“Not good.” Laurel said worried for the woman.

 

_"Shado!" Oliver exclaimed, and then took off running back to the camp._

_"Kid!" Slade called out helplessly, then cursed and took off after him._

_The scene changed back to Starling City, where Felicity was leaving a boutique with abag of skin cream._

_"Left the last store." She said into her com link. "You're going to reimburse me for these, right? I saved my receipts."_

“I think there are more important things to worry about right now. Like, I don’t know, catching a serial killer.” Roy drawled.

 

_“Go to the rendezvous point.” Oliver's voice said. On a roof above her, he kept his eyes on her as she walked down the street. She walked past a parked car that contained Dig, and continued on. “Stay in public.”_

_Milling around on the street, Lance kept his eyes open. "Just for the record, I'm not a huge fan of dangling helpless girls in front of psychopaths like meat." He said darkly._

_“She volunteered”. Oliver reminded the cop._

_"Well, she must really believe in you." Lance said._

_Oliver sighed. "So did your daughter."_

_Lance exhaled deeply. "She suffered a loss." He explained. "Grief's got a way of shifting a person's beliefs. But then you know all about that." He added. "You've lost people, too, right?"_

_Oliver blinked in surprise. "Why would you say that?" he asked._

_"Why else would you be doing this?" Lance asked rhetorically. "My youngest, she died."_

_"I'm sorry." Oliver said, meaning it in more ways than one._

_"Less than a month after it happened, I-I ended up catching the Doll Maker case." Lance continued. "Threw myself into it. I think on some level, with each girl I was trying to save Sara." He admitted. "And just like with Sara, I couldn't. He killed eight girls Sara's age before I caught him."_

“Dad.” Laurel sighed sadly.

 

_Someone's coming.” Felicity said over the radio. Oliver changed positions to get a better view._

_"I got him." He told her._

_"Ok, I'm going to admit to being seriously wigged out right now." Felicity said._

_A moment later, she breathed a sigh of relief as the man entered a restaurant. "False alarm, but next time I offer to be bait for your serial killer, please turn me down." She said, looking behind to see if anyone was following. Not seeing anything, she looked back ahead-_

_Just as she ran headfirst into Barton Mathis, who grabbed her at once._

“She had to let her guard down.” Diggle groaned.

 

“I really don’t think it would have made a difference. She has absolutely no physical abilities in the field, sending her out backup is suicide. For Felicity.” Dinah clarified.

 

_Mathis dragged Felicity, still struggling with everything she had, into a construction site. Suddenly he was shot in the back with an arrow, and the pain caused him to lessen his grip. Felicity took advantage and elbowed him hard in the gut. Mathis staggered back, but pushed Felicity, who stumbled and fell, hitting her head on a concrete block. He reached around and yanked the arrow out of his shoulder, looking at the approaching vigilante briefly before making his escape._

_Oliver ran in, but stopped and knelt beside Felicity. "You're all right, you're all right." He told her as she groaned, grasping her head. "Don't move." He advised her. Lance raced past them, and then Diggle was there. "She hit her head." He told his partner._

_"Go, go, go." He urged Oliver, who jumped up and took off after the two fleeing men._

_Mathis raced through the construction site, ripping through tarps with Lance right behind him. He ducked behind a scaffold, and then grabbed a piece of wood from the ground. He swung for the fences just as Lance started to run past, sending the cop crashing to the ground. Mathis dropped the wood and picked up Lance's dropped gun, then sauntered over to the former detective, who lay groaning on his back._

“Dad.” Laurel breathed worriedly.

 

“He was alright.” Dinah assured her.

 

_"I thought there'd be more ceremony to this moment." Mathis said as he raised the gun at Lance's head. "I'm a little disappointed, to be honest." Suddenly an arrow knocked the gun out of his hands, and he looked up to see the vigilante standing there. Oliver reached for another arrow, but the approaching sirens suddenly blared loudly right outside. He looked back to see the flashing lights of police cars approaching, and when he looked back, Mathis was gone._

“Trust the cops to let the bad guy get away.” Roy growled.

 

_"Get out of here!" Lance urged The Arrow, who reluctantly departed as the police officer climbed to his feet. He held up his badge as the patrol cars skidded to a stop right in front of him. "Officer Lance, SCPD." He told the cops who jumped out of the cars. "It's Mathis. I almost had him." He sighed in relief as Hilton got out of one of the cars and approached him._

_"Search the area. Whole building." Hilton ordered. He turned to Lance and grimaced. "Sorry."_

_"For what?" Lance asked, then sighed in annoyance as Hilton put him in cuffs._

_"Pike's orders. He wants you collared for obstruction."_

“Are you kidding me?!” Laurel shouted angrily.

 

“To be fair, he was warned. Not saying I agree with it, but dad knew the consequences.” Dinah pointed out and Laurel grumbled under her breath.

 

_"What, he—" Lance sighed, but didn't resist._

_"Quentin Larry Lance, you have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right to remain silent, anything you say can…"_

_The next day, Oliver was walking to the courthouse as Felicity updated him on his phone. "They're charging Lance with obstruction." She was saying. "He's in custody."_

_"Mathis isn't." Oliver noted sourly. "He'll be looking for another target."_

_"I hacked Mermaiden and sent out an email blast from their servers telling stores the product was defective." She told him. "That will slow him down."_

_"Smart." Oliver said._

_"What about Lance?" Felicity asked._

_"One legal problem at a time." He replied._

_A bit later, Oliver entered the courtroom and walked over to his mother, placing his hand on her arm and letting her know he was there._

_"Docket ending 4587, State versus Queen." The bailiff announced as he took his seat next to Thea._

_"All right, I'll hear your motions, ladies first." The judge said, looking at Moira's lawyer, Jean Loring._

_"Your Honor, we would like to be heard once again on the issue of bail." She said. "Ms. Queen has languished in the Iron Heights prison now for five months."_

_"And in those five months, did the 503 people she's charged with killing miraculously return from the dead?" the Judge asked. "If not, I'm a little unclear on how the passage of time is relevant."_

_"Might I remind the court that the defendant is presumed innocent?" Jean asked._

_"No need. I want to law school. It's where I learned that bail, once denied, cannot be set in the absence of change of circumstance." The judge informed her._

“Ass.” Thea muttered angrily.

 

_He looked to the prosecutor's table. "Mr. Donner, what do you have for me?"_

_Donner stood. "Your Honor, the State has no pre-trial motions to make at this time." He said. Then looked over at Jean. "But we would like to serve notice to the defense pursuant to rule of criminal procedure 15."_

“Oh my god.” Laurel breathed stunned.

 

“What?” Thea asked worriedly.

 

“It’s explained.” Dinah said tiredly.

 

_Jean leapt to her feat. "Your Honor, I would like to conference with the district attorney." She said heatedly._

_"There's really no need, nor any obligation." Donner said smugly._

_"What about professional courtesy?" Jean shot back. "I would like to have a conversation with you before you seek the death penalty." The crowd gasped and Thea grasped her brother's arm. Moira felt fear, then resignation as she realized how this trial would go._

“Oh my god.” Thea said faintly as Tommy wrapped an arm around her, looking as stunned as she felt.

 

“Okay, I have as much reason to be angry about The Undertaking as anyone, but isn’t the death penalty a little extreme?” Roy asked stunned.

 

“With Malcolm dead, Moira had become the face of The Undertaking. And people wanted justice. Or revenge, they couldn’t seem to make up their minds.” Dinah explained grimly.

 

_"Your client aided and abetted an act of mass murder." Donner said to Jean. "503 conversations wouldn't convince me that Moira Queen shouldn't be the 504th fatality."_

“I really hate that guy.” Tommy said as he glared at the screen.

 

“You’re not the only one.” Dinah muttered.

 

_The crowd started murmuring loudly, and Oliver leaned forward, placing his hand on Moira's shoulder. "Mom, we are going to fight this." He told her. "No one is going to take you from us. We won't let it happen."_

Dinah winced as the memory of Moira’s funeral flashed through her mind.

 

_Back at the island, Oliver ran into the clearing that housed the downed plane, headless of the missiles as they rained down all around him._

_"Oliver!" Slade called out in vain, but then a missile struck right in front of him, sending the soldier flying._

“Damn.” Roy muttered.

 

_"Shado!" Oliver screamed just as a missile detonated behind him, sending him flying as well. Slowly he regained his senses, siting up and looking at the devastated airplane as his ears rang heavily. He looked up to see Slade, half his body on fire, before he collapsed into unconsciousness._

“And that is why letting your emotions cloud your judgement is dangerous. Ollie learned that the hard way.” Dinah muttered.

 

_The scene flashed back to the SCPD, where Laurel dropped a set of handcuff keys on the table in front of her father. He let out a sigh of relief as he grasped the keys and opened the handcuffs._

_"I had to call in a lot of favors to get those." Laurel told him irritably. "The only problem is that I've been at the D.A.'s office for less than a month, and no one owes me any favors." She said._

_"So how did you get the charges dropped?" he asked as he rose from the seat._

_"Your friend Pike and I have been working together on the anti-vigilante taskforce." Laurel reminded him. "Do you remember?"_

_"Hmm. Last year you were working with the Arrow. What a difference a few months makes." He remarked as he walked out of the interrogation room._

_"The Arrow?" she wondered._

_"Yeah. Seems more appropriate than the Hood." He replied._

_"And now you're working with him." She remarked; a statement more than a question. "Guess I'm not the only one in the Lance family that's done a 180."_

_"This city needs help. I just became less particular about where it comes from." He said tiredly. "What's your excuse? Still Tommy?" he asked._

_Laurel sighed. "What would you tell me if I said it is?"_

_Lance let out a long breath. "That a guy with a bow and arrow can't save a guy who's had a building fall on top of him." He looked at his daughter sympathetically. "What's going on with you is not about the Arrow."_

_"Then what is it, Dad?" she asked sarcastically. "Hmm? I mean, why don't you tell me? You seem to have all the answers. That crack that you made about me feeling guilty about something."_

_"Tommy's death." Lance said simply, cutting her to the quick._

_"Why would I feel guilty about that?" she hedged after a moment's hesitation._

_"I don't know." Lance said. "I wish I did. 'Cause it's eating you up."_

_"Your psychoanalysis would probably have a bit more credibility if it wasn't being offered under police custody." She told him sarcastically._

“Why won’t I listen to him?” Laurel groaned.

 

“To be honest, it was less messy when I was trying to get Ollie arrested.” Dinah mused and Laurel sighed, wondering how much worse it could get.

 

_"Laurel, I'm worried about you—"_

_"I'd stay away from Pike if I were you, and the Doll Maker case." She told him, before turning and walking off._

_The scene changed to the Glades. Roy was walking around trying to spot the girl Louis had mentioned. Finally he spotted her coming out of a building, finishing off a bottle of beer before throwing the glass bottle to the ground._

_"Excuse me." He called out to get her attention._

_"Step off, Abercrombie." Sin replied._

_"Cindy? Sin?" he asked, though he knew it was her._

_"What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?" she asked sarcastically._

_"I'm looking for a friend of yours." Roy said. "Blonde. Black leather, head to toe." Sin looked him over, then gave a small smirk before she took off running. Roy sighed. "So I guess that's a yes." He said to himself before taking off after her._

_Sin took an early lead, running towards a fenced-in parking lot. She jumped up, grabbing the top of the fence and planting her foot in the mesh, then boosted herself over and dropped to the ground. Roy followed a moment later, hoping the fence just as easily. The two dodged in between parked cars, and Sin looked back to see Roy starting to gain on her. She ran out of the lot and into a side alley, and then slid down the railings of a set of short steps. Roy followed close behind, slipping through the railing and dropping the few feet to the ground. Sin ducked into a building- the old Clock tower on the edge of the Glades. Roy ran in right behind her, and trailed behind her as she raced to the top. He saw her scramble through the trapdoor and hurried to follow._

_Roy clambered up through the trap door, and was surprised to see- nothing. He looked around, trying to spot the elusive girl-_

_And then he was hit on the back of the head by a metal rod. Roy fell to the floor, unconscious._

“Ouch.” Roy winced.

 

“Out of the frying pan and into the fire.” Tommy quipped and Roy glared at him.

 

“”Relax, you survived.” Dinah told him.

 

_Back at the SCPD, Lance was wearily walking though the garage towards his car, ready to go home and rest. A sound drew his attention, and he walked towards it. He saw a man in a tattered coat leaning up against the side of one of the SUVs. "He said he would go inside… That's what he said. He said he would go inside." He was muttering to himself._

_Lance walked over. "You all right, pal? Need a doctor or something?" he put a hand on the man's shoulder-_

_Then the man spun around. One hand clamped on the back of his neck, the other planted a taser in his chest. Lance gasped in pain, and then collapsed._

“Dad!” Laurel cried out in worry.

 

“It’ll be alright.” Dinah assured her.

 

_"No." Barton Mathis said. "I'm fine, thanks." Mathis quickly bound his hands with zip ties and threw him into the back of his van. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Laurel, similarly bound next to him._

“Great, so he has Laurel as well.” Tommy muttered worried.

 

“And I’m kidnapped again, yay.” Laurel said sarcastically.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant, where Thea was on the phone with one of her vendors. "I checked the order and you shorted us half a case of champagne." She complained into the phone. "I'm not paying for booze I didn't get." She sighed in annoyance and hung up, tossing her phone down onto the bar. She looked at one of the bottles of booze, half of which she was missing, and picked it up._

_"That won't help." Oliver said as he came into the club._

_Thea sighed and set the bottle back down. "Yeah, well, neither is yelling at my vendors, but I want to yell at someone right now."_

_"Mom's going to be ok." Oliver promised. "Because we are going to help her fight this. As a family."_

_"They want to kill her." Thea reiterated._

_"I won't let them." He replied firmly. He felt a buzzing in his pocket and pulled out his phone. He looked at the screen to see a text from Felicity_

_::News. Now.::_

_"Thea, can you turn to channel 52, please?" he asked his sister. She grabbed the remote and changed the channel on the news. 'Officer Quentin Lance and his daughter Laurel were abducted earlier today.' The broadcaster was saying as Thea and Oliver looked on in alarm. 'No ransom has been demanded. SCPD are urging anyone with information regarding their whereabouts…'_

_Oliver slipped away from Thea and headed downstairs. Felicity and Diggle were already there, and Felicity was pulling up camera images to search for her friend. "How did he get them?" Oliver demanded._

_"I don't know about Laurel. Detective Lance was abducted from the precinct parking lot." She pulled up the video for him to see. "Mathis shot a guard on the way out, which sounded the alarm. I pulled up the department's security camera footage, and a van from Metamorpho Chemical caught my eye."_

_"Metamorpho was condemned after the quake." Diggle informed him. "Perfect place to make some dolls."_

_"Not tonight." Oliver said, moving quickly towards the case with his uniform._

_"Cops will use tracers, Oliver, same as we did." Diggle warned._

_"They won't make it in time." He said._

“Mathis better watch out.” Diggle smirked.

 

_The scene changed to the Clock Tower. Sin leaned over Roy, now bound at the wrists, and slapped his face lightly a few times. "Hey." She said as he started to come around. "Wake up, Abercrombie."_

_Roy shook his head, willing his vision to clear, and saw a smirking Sin standing over him. Then he heard someone else walking around, and turned his head to see a pair of black leather boots come to a stop next to him on the other side. He looked up to see the Canary standing there, half of her bo staff resting on her shoulder._

_"Did they send you?" she asked._

Laurel stiffened. This woman almost sounded like…no, it couldn’t be.

 

_Roy managed to bring himself to a sitting position. "Did who what?" he asked in confusion. She quickly brought the half-staff around, whipping him on the side of his face. He groaned in pain. "Not my face!" he argued weakly. "I have a disapproving girlfriend."_

“I would love to see that hold off these people.” Tommy laughed.

 

“Shut up.” Roy grumbled.

 

_"Are you one of them?" she demanded._

_"One of who?" She brought the staff up again, but he was literally saved by the bell (or buzzer) as his phone vibrated. "That's mine." He said needlessly as the blonde woman reached into his pocket and withdrew the phone. She looked at it, then tossed it into his lap._

_"Let him go." She told Sin, and then took off at a run, jumping up and scaling several pieces of scaffolding as she made her exit to the roof. Confused, Roy fumbled for the phone and looked at it. On the screen was a text from Thea._

_::Where R U? Laurel kidnapped. Need you!::_

Laurel’s suspicions grew stronger. Laurel looked over at Dinah, the unasked question in her eyes. Dinah simply stared at her with a blank look, noting confirmation or denial.

 

“This woman must have some fixation on you or something.” Tommy mused.

 

“Yeah, I guess so.” Laurel mumbled, still suspicious and frustrated that Dinah wouldn’t answer her.

 

“Should we be worried about Laurel?” Thea asked concerned.

 

“All your questions about this woman will be answered next recording…well, most of them.” Dinah mused.

 

_The scene changed to Metamorpho Chemicals. Laurel was strapped onto the table that the last victim had been secured in, the tube already secured in her mouth. She struggled helplessly as her father looked on. Lance was tied to a metal pole not far from her._

_"Isn't this nice?" Mathis said as he prepped the polymer. "All of us here together. It's like Thanksgiving."_

_"Laurel, just stay calm." Lance called out to his daughter. "Stay calm. Barton, I'm sorry." He said to the insane man as he walked past towards Laurel. "I know you hate me. I know you hate me, ok, and I understand that. But you hate me. So please let my daughter go." He begged desperately._

_"Now why would I do that?" Mathis said. "Look at her. She's so lovely. Maybe a little too much melanin in the skin, but it's the imperfections that make art sublime." He said, running a finger over her cheek._

“You stay away from her.” Thea growled as Laurel and Tommy paled.

 

_"I am the one who put you away." Quentin pleaded. "She had nothing to do with it!"_

_"She had everything to do with it!" he roared. "She's your world, she's your very soul." He danced past him and grabbed the container of liquefied polymer. "You know, I could kill you, I could maim you, I could slice you up into a thousand pieces, but if your soul remains intact, what have I wrought? Huh?" he asked rhetorically. "Nothing."_

_"I will kill you, you son of a bitch!" Lance screamed as Mathis poured the liquid into the reservoir. "I will kill you! You son of a bitch!"_

_Laurel groaned, tears streaming down her face as the liquid traveled through the tube. Lance stared at her desperately. "Laurel, sweetheart… Close your eyes." He begged her as she watched the liquid, terrified out of her mind. "I'm here. I'm here, honey."_

_"If you struggle, it will take longer." Mathis said as the liquid reached her mouth._

_Then the Arrow was there. He landed on top of Mathis' workstation and fired an arrow that knocked over the reservoir, allowing the liquid to drain back out._

“Thank god.” Thea sighed, grabbing the dazed Laurel as everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

 

_He drew another arrow, but Mathis ducked behind Laurel. Oliver looked for a shot, but there was none. He fired anyway, the arrow embedding into a shelf behind Mathis, and the man took off, desperate to escape. Oliver jumped down form the table and walked behind Lance, cutting him loose before pausing to look at Laurel to make sure she was okay._

_"Do whatever you need to do, just get him." Quentin ordered the vigilante. "Get him!" The Arrow took off after Mathis._

_Farther into the factory, Mathis was beginning to think he had made a clean getaway. He didn't notice a figure with blonde hair and dressed in black leather drop from the ceiling behind him on aerial silk._

_The Canary landed in a crouch, then withdrew the two halves of her bo staff. She connected them just as Mathis turned and swung it, sweeping his legs and sending the insane man to the ground. He got up, just to get the staff across the face. She swung low, sweeping his legs again, and hit him hard in the back, sending him to the ground once more. Mathis crawled forward, trying to get away. He grabbed a fallen pipe and swung it at her, but she dodged, then blocked his follow up shot and sent him to the ground once again. Mathis looked around wildly, and noticed a chain. He yanked on it hard, releasing several pipes that had been set in a rack above. The pipes dropped onto the Canary, knocking her down and pinning her to the floor._

_Mathis got up and stalked towards the fallen vigilante. "Let's take a better look at this face of yours." He said menacingly. "You have such lovely skin." He started to bend down, but then was thrown back when a pair of arrows pierced both of his shoulders. He fell back against some aluminum pipes. He looked up to see The Arrow drop down in front of him._

_Oliver switched his bow to his other hand and glared at the psychopath. "You're going back to prison."_

_Mathis glared at the vigilante- then gasped as one half of the bo staff flew past the Arrow and pieced his chest. He gurgled for a moment, and then fell still, dead._

_"No, he's not." The Canary said. Oliver turned, but she was already gone._

“Whoa.” Roy breathed as they all stared at the screen.

 

“Who is that?” Diggle wondered.

 

“I have my suspicions.” Laurel muttered as she shot a pointed look at Dinah, who simply shrugged.

 

“You’ve find out in the next recording.” Dinah said simply.

 

_Back in Mathis' workshop, Quentin was helping Laurel away from the scene after freeing her. "It's ok, sweetheart." He told her. "It's ok, he saved us."_

_"I know." Laurel said, dazed. "I know he did, and after I hunted him."_

_"It's ok, it's all right." He told her._

_"No. He came. He came to save me."_

_"Yeah, I know, he saved us both." He told her._

_Laurel shrugged free from her father. "No. Not him. Not the Arrow. Tommy." She told her father._

_Lance looked at him in confusion. "What?"_

_"Oliver, he- he told me to stay out of the Glades," Laurel began, letting the floodgates open for the first time since the Undertaking, "and he-he told me to get out of CNRI, and I didn't. Tommy was only there because I was too stubborn!" she cried. "To stubborn to get out when I had the chance. You were right." She admitted. "I was blaming the Arrow because… Oh, my God." She gasped as fresh tears started to fall. "It's all my fault, Dad. It's all my fault that Tommy died." She broke down in her father's arms._

“What happened to me was not your fault.” Tommy told Dinah, who shrugged.

 

“Maybe not completely, but I played my part. The only reason you were there was because I didn’t listen to Oliver. I’ve made my peace with that. And s part of me will always feel guilty for it, but it doesn’t tear mew up inside anymore.” Dinah told him.4

 

_It's all right, honey." He said as she sobbed. He looked up to see The Arrow watching over them, and nodded in thanks._

_Later that night, Lance put Laurel to bed in the guest room of his apartment. He tucked her in and turned out the lights. He walked out of the room towards the living room, and then heard the telltale sound of a voice changer being turned on. He looked up to see The Arrow standing in the darkened living room, the drapes blowing from the opened window he had climbed through._

_"How is she?" Oliver asked._

_"She'll be all right. In time." Quentin replied. "I might not always agree with your methods, but I can't argue with your results." He admitted. "You saved my daughter. Again."_

_"She needed help." The Arrow said simply._

_"And she wasn't the only one." Lance admitted. He sighed. "Thanks." The vigilante nodded in return, the climbed out of the window and into the night._

“And now I’ve really seen it all.” Laurel said dryly.

 

_The scene changed to Iron Heights, where Jean was visiting with Moira._

_"Moira." Jean said, leading her client to a table. "I know how hard this day has been for you."_

_"Yes. And believe it or not, I've actually been in worse situations." Moira said wryly._

_"Listen to me. Donner knows how strong our defense is. Don't let him scare you with that little death penalty stunt of his." Jean advised._

_"Oh, I'm not afraid of dying, Jean." Moira told her lawyer. "I've made my peace with this world a long time ago."_

_"Then its win the case in the courtroom." Jean continued. "The trial is going to reveal that you were living under Malcolm Merlyn's thumb. It's going to reveal everything."_

_Moira sighed. "Yes. And that's what I'm afraid of." Moira said resignedly._

_Jean sat back in her chair and regarded her client. "Moira, what don't I know?" she asked. "Don't you do this. You need to tell me. I am your lawyer, and I am also your friend."_

_"Thea and Oliver." Moira said simply. "I'm finally in a good place with my children, Jean. I have my family back. But there are some things that must never be spoken of." She told Jean._

“She’s talking about me, isn’t she?” Thea realized and Dinah nodded.

 

“She didn’t want you to know.” Dinah said simply.

 

“Well it’s a little late for that.” Thea snapped.

 

_The scene changed to the Clock Tower. The Canary entered as she had left it, via the roof. She moved down several exposed poles before dropping lightly to the floor. She was about to take her mask off when she sensed a presence behind her. Turning, she saw the Dark Archer standing there._

“What the hell?!” Tommy shouted as the  time travelers stared in shock.

 

“Just watch.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"You shouldn't have come here." She told him._

_"I had no choice." He replied. "Ra's Al Ghul has ordered your return." The Dark Archer removed his black hood to reveal not Malcolm Merlyn, but younger Asian man._

“A member of The League of assassins…so this woman was a former member?” Diggle pieced together.

 

“Yes, she was.” Dinah nodded.

 

_"I'm not going back." The Canary said. "I can't."_

_"That is not your decision." The other assassin said._

_"Tell them that you couldn't find me." The blonde begged, moving in closer. "Tell them I ran."_

_The assassin pulled a knife from his belt. "I won't lie for you." He said._

_"Fine." She said simply. Then she deftly grabbed his hand with the knife, spun the man around, and jammed the knife into his throat. "Don't tell them anything." She finished, allowing the body to drop to the floor._

“Damn.” Roy whistled as Laurel shifted, hoping her suspicions were wrong.

 

_The scene changed to the lair._

_"Something's going on with this woman." Diggle said. "She keeps following you around, helping you out."_

_"We've got to find her." Oliver said._

_"To stop her; or to send her a thank you note?" Felicity asked, only half-joking,_

_"That depends." Oliver replied._

_"On what?" she asked._

_"What side she's on."_

_The scene flashed back to- a prison. Oliver woke up suddenly, and then pulled himself to his feet. He moved to the barred door and looked out at the cellblock, though he could tell by the way the floor was moving that he was on a ship._

_And in the bay of Lian Yu, The Amazo steamed, circling the island once more._

“And he’s a prisoner again.” Thea sighed.

 

_“He was a prisoner a lot during those five years.” Dinah noted as she started the next recording._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: This was something pointed out to me by Arrowman on Fanfiction.net and he has a point. Sara’s Canary costume, with how much cleavage it shows, is very sexist.
> 
> 2: Did I miss something, or was Hilton referred to in Bill only this episode and then called Lucas every other episode? Just me?
> 
> 3: This is just an observation, but it seems to me that she’s been the smartest person in the room for so long that Felicity never considers that their people just as smart as her or even smarter out there. I mean, hacking is what she does, yet she doesn’t even bother to cover her track to the point where the SCPD catches on? That is arrogance at its purest form
> 
> 4: Before any Laurel fans bite my head off, allow me to explain. I would love to say that Laurel cannot be blamed for Tommy’s death. Not just because I like Laurel, but because causing the death of someone you love is one hell of a burden to bear. However, I can’t. Oliver told Laurel directly not to go into The Glades and she ignored him. Now, the argument could be made that Laurel could not have known what was going to happen, but the fact that Oliver told her this should have raised some red flags with her and caused her to realize something was up. And Tommy never would have been there if Laurel hadn’t been there. So while the majority of blame lies at Malcolm’s feet, Laurel has her own share of the blame to carry.


	35. Crucible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laurel learns about Sara's identity as The Canary and sees the beginning of her downward spiral as the veiwers learn the truth about Blood.

_The memory set opened on the Queen Mansion, where a lavish business party was being thrown. Isabel Rochev stood in the foyer to greet guests, while inwardly she seethed over the absence of one person- Oliver. Her eyes narrowed as Felicity walked quickly towards her._

_"Mr. Queen's going to be late." She told Isabel. "He's extremely sorry. It couldn't be helped."_

_"Where is he?" Rochev demanded._

_"Um…"_

_Down at the docks, several gangbangers armed with assault rifles were firing up at the roof where the Arrow stood. The vigilante fired back, taking out one before he was forced to move to seek cover._

“Picking up the SCPD’s slack.” Roy drawled.

 

_"Over there!" one of them said._

_"Where, man?!" another asked as he hosed the roof with bullets._

_"There, man!"_

_Back at the mansion, Felicity smiled nervously. "Just got a little held up." She stammered. "You know, tying up some loose ends."_

_On the docks, Oliver fired a bola arrow at one thug. The wire wrapped around his ankles, allowing Oliver to hoist him up over a gantry. As he swung upside, down, he watched as The Arrow fired another arrow at one of the fleeing gang bangers, also ensnaring his ankles._

“Literally.” Tommy snickered.

 

_"I'm actually in direct contact with him now." Felicity was saying at the party. "Let me-let me check." She walked away from Isabel and activated her Bluetooth, then gave a startled gasp at the sound of automatic gunfire._

_At the docks, Oliver took aim at the last Gang banger, who wisely dropped his gun and took off. "Where are you getting the guns?" he demanded of the one hanging upside down._

_"Are you going to kill me? Get it over with." The boy replied. Oliver knocked him out with a single punch, then activated his com-link. "Dig. Took down two more gangbangers." He told his partner. "They were armed with fully automatic M4A1 assault rifles."_

“Those are military grade weapons,” Diggle said alarmed as he sat forward, “where the hell did gangbangers get military weapons?!”

 

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Dinah promised.

 

_"M4A1s are military grade weapons." Dig replied over the radio. "Stolen, most likely."_

_"Stolen from where?"_

_"Well, we can look into that after your party."_

_Oliver paused, looking confused. "What party?"_

“He forgot?” Thea asked exasperated.

 

“He wasn’t very good at balancing being a CEO and being a vigilante.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_Several minutes later he arrived at his house in his tux. He was greeted first by Felicity, who was standing by with Isabel._

_"He's here." She announced needlessly._

_Oliver smiled at Isabel. "Sorry I'm late." He said._

_"This party is to attract investors for your failing company." Isabel said sternly. "Being fashionably late might do well for the club circuit, but it does not inspire confidence in Wall Street."_

_She looked at his face closely. "Is that blood on your face?" she asked._

_"Hmm?" Oliver felt at the edge of his chin where he had been nicked by a stray round and hadn't even noticed._

_"Don't worry, it's not his blood." Felicity said in a rush, moving to wipe the blood off. "I mean, of course it's his blood. Why would he have somebody else's blood on his face?" she said to Isabel in a rush before turning back to Oliver. "Who taught you to shave? Mister."_

“Gee Felicity, thanks for almost blowing his cover.” Tommy said annoyed.

 

_Oliver smiled at Isabel, then took Felicity by the arm and led her into the party._

_"What kept you?" she asked softly after Isabel left. "Was it our masked blonde that carries that giant staff to beat the sauce out of attackers?"_

_"This time it was guns." Oliver replied._

_"Guns?" they turned to see Sebastian Blood approach them with Laurel in tow. "We were just talking about guns."_

“Oh great, this bastard again.” Thea growled.

_"Hey." Oliver said in greeting._

_"Oliver." Laurel said with a small smile._

_"Hi." He replied with more warmth._

_"What's your interest in guns, Mr. Queen?" Blood asked._

_"Never touched them myself." Oliver replied._

_"The gun epidemic in the Glades has gotten increasingly out of control." Blood noted._

_"Which is why the DEA's office has committed to ending gun violence." Laurel added._

_"Well, I'm sure the police are doing whatever they can to catch whoever's bring the weapons into the city." Oliver said confidently, then frowned as Blood and Laurel laughed lowly. "Did I say something funny?" he asked, annoyed._

_"They know who's been arming the gangs, Oliver." Laurel told him. "The Mayor."_

“…what?” Roy asked as the time travelers stared at the screen in confusion.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah told him.

 

_Oliver looked at her in confusion. "The- I thought the hood copycats killed the mayor."_

_"Well, not the actual mayor." Blood said patronizingly. "A local gang lord calls himself the Mayor. Thinks he's the man to save our city."_

“Okay, no need to be a dick about it.” Laurel snapped.

 

_"But that position has already been filled, hasn't it?" Laurel noted wryly._

“Oh god, please tell me I don’t date this guy.” Laurel groaned.

 

“No, thank god. But we came awful close.” Dinah explained.

 

_Blood chuckled. "Now this mayor has only one goal- to create chaos so he can rule the Glades with the barrel of a gun."_

_The scene changed to an abandoned strip club in the Glades, that wasn't as abandoned as it appeared. Inside, The Mayor was trying out one of the M4's on a display mannequin set up on the stage. He laughed at the carnage, but his smile faded as the last gangbanger from the docks walked in, his head down. "You are noticeably unarmed, son." He noted._

_"Sorry, Mr. Mayor." The thugs said. "Um, we ran into the Vigilante, and, um, he ganked our weapons." He tried._

_"Do you know who I was before the quake?" The Mayor asked rhetorically._

_"I was no one. I had no name. None that mattered, anyway. I was just another weak man waiting to get fired or evicted or killed." He stepped off of the bar and walked up to the boy. "But then the ground shook, and now I matter, because I know the guy with the biggest gun wins, and that's why I will rule the Glades." He lifted the M4 at the thug. "But there's no room at my table for weak ass punks like you."_

_"Mr. Mayor." Another man said from behind the terrified gangbanger. The other man stepped forward. "I want to ask for leniency. The kid's my cousin. I brought him in." he explained._

“Shouldn’t have done that.” Roy muttered as he winced, knowing what was coming.

 

_"Oh, you did?" The Mayor adjusted his aim and let loose with a burst of automatic fire at the other man, killing him instantly. The Mayor then looked back at the gangbanger and thrust the now-empty M4 into his hands. "Now let's hope you do your family prouder than he did." He snarled, then turned and walked out with his protection._

“Great, another psychopath with guns.” Diggle said sarcastically as the other time travelers, save Roy, jumped at the brutality.

 

_The scene shifted back to the party, where Laurel was enjoying yet another glass of wine, to Oliver's concern. "Hey." He said._

“Oh god, please tell me I don’t.” Laurel pleaded while Dinah simply gazed at her sadly.

 

“We are our father’s daughter.” Dinah said simply and Laurel groaned.

 

“What are talking about?” Tommy asked confused.

 

“I’m sure you’ll see.” Laurel sighed.

 

_Laurel paused in her drinking, and then turned around to face Oliver. "Please do not ask me if I'm ok, because I am sick to death of everyone asking me that!" she exclaimed._

_"I would never do that." Oliver assured her._

_"Good." She said, satisfied._

_A beat. "You ok?"_

“He never could listen.” Dinah said with a loving smile gracing her lips.

 

“Nope.” Thea sighed in exasperation and fondness.                

 

_Laurel shot him a look. "The Doll Maker was just your garden variety traumatic experience." She said, moving closer to him. "After the quake and Tommy, I should be used to that by now."_

_"I've had a few of those." Oliver reminded her. "You never get used to them."_

_"Ahem." They looked over to see Felicity standing there. "Excuse me, Oliver, may I talk to you for a second? It's urgent." She said._

_"Yeah." Oliver agreed._

_Felicity paused, waiting for Laurel to leave. When she didn't, she added "You can have him back in a minute."_

“It would be a bit longer than a minute and he would get in a toxic relationship with you but I did get him back.” Dinah said idly as everyone else snockered at her crude joke.

 

_"Excuse us." Oliver said to Laurel, finally getting the message. Laurel gave them a pained smile, but moved off. Oliver shot Felicity a frustrated look that she ignored._

 

“Yeah, she didn’t seem to have much respect for Oliver and Thea’s relationship with our family.” Dinah mused.

 

“Surprise surprise.” Thea sneered at the screen.

 

_"I just realized something. What if our masked friend that keeps showing up everywhere you go-you know, her?" she said in a rush._

_"What about her?" Oliver asked impatiently._

_"What if we've been going about this the wrong way?" Felicity continued. "We thought she was obsessed with you. I mean, she showed up in the D. A.'s office when you were there," Oliver thought back to her dropping through the skylight. "And in the chemical plant where the Doll Maker was holed up." He thought back to the blonde coming in on her aerial silk. "But who else was at both those places?" Felicity finished. With a start, he looked up to see Laurel mingling with the guests. "What if our masked friend isn't following you?"_

_He understood. "She's following Laurel." He said._

“We figured that out already. But why?” Tommy wondered.

 

“I have my suspicions.” Laurel muttered as she shot a look at Dinah.

 

_Later that night, Laurel walked back into her apartment. She tossed her purse onto the end table, then walked to her nightstand and tiredly started to take her earrings out. From across the way, The Canary watched over Laurel. Suddenly, though, she sensed a presence. She turned around and took off running- just as an arrow embedded itself in the wall besides her. She took off over the rooftops, running on the edge of one before jumping down onto another. As she started across the room, she crossed the path of two pre-positioned crossbows, both loaded with bola arrows. The crossbows went off, ensnaring the Canary in their lines and holding her in place. She struggled briefly, and then looked up as the Arrow approached. Scared, she managed to pull out her canary cry device and activated it, then threw it down onto the ground in front of her. It went off with an ear-piercing sound, but the Arrow just kept calmly walking towards her._

_"Can it get any louder?" he asked, tapping the side of his ear._

“How are his ear drums not getting blown out?” Tommy asked curiously.

 

“Special military designed ear plugs, designed to muffle the sounds of explosions so they don’t blow out the soldier’s ears.” Dinah explained.

 

_. She huffed in annoyance, but remotely turned the device off. "Why are you following Laurel Lance?" he demanded._

_"I could ask the same thing of you." She shot back. "I guess some things never change. You and her, always and forever."_

_Oliver stepped back, stunned. "Who are you?" he demanded._

_"Once you know, your life will never be the same."_

_"I could take it."_

_"Not this time." She said, and then added "Ollie."_

“Who the hell is this woman that knows who my brother?” Thea demanded stunned.

 

“And who uses his nickname. I mean, the only people who called him that, aside from the three of us, was…” Tommy trailed off as his eyes widened in realization.

 

“Now you get it.” Dinah said as Laurel looked at her accusingly.

 

Why didn’t you tell me?” Laurel demanded and Dinah shrugged.

 

“Somethings you need to discover for yourself.” Dinah said simply.

 

“What are you talking about?” Roy demanded.

 

“You’ll see in a second.” Dinah said vaguely.

 

_His eyes widened as he realized she knew who he was, and then her voice registered in his memory. Haltingly, he reached up towards her mask, pushing it off her face. Along with the mask came the platinum blonde hair, leaving her dirty blonde hair exposed. Oliver stepped back, stunned, and threw back his own hood as he took in the sight of a very alive Sara Lance._

_The scene flashed back to the Queen's Gambit. Oliver and Sara were on his bed, kissing. "Oh, Laurel's going to kill me." Sara said. Suddenly, without warning, the room seemed to flip and the far wall became the floor. Oliver and Sara were thrown out of the bed, slamming into the wall. Oliver staggered to his knees, pulling himself up on the edge of the bed._

_"Sara?" he called out, looking around. There, across the room near the door lay Sara, a small cut on her head bleeding. She blinked in confusion, then look up and back at Oliver. She reached for him- but was suddenly swept from the room "Sara!"_

_Back in the present, Oliver looked at his ex-lover in shock. "Sara?"_

“Holy crap.” Roy said as the time travelers stared in shock.

 

“I suspected but…” Laurel trailed off as she stared at her sister, alive and well.

 

“But seeing is believing.” Diggle finished and she nodded.

 

_"I'll give you some time to let it sink in." Sara said, and then activated the self-destruct on the canary cry device. It sounded once loudly, then exploded, sending Oliver crashing down to the roof. When he looked up again, she was gone._

“Damn she’s good.” Diggle said impressed.

 

“Wait, how on earth did my sister end up with the League of Assassins?” Laurel said as she remembered that detail.

 

“You’ll see.” Dinah said simply.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair, where Oliver was filling his team in._

_"Sara Lance?" Felicity said. "Laurel's sister? The detective's other daughter, the one that you took on 'The Gambit' with you even though you were dating Laurel at the time, which we never talked about—" she rambled._

“Um, why should he have to talk to you about that?” Thea said annoyed while Laurel grumbled at the reminder.

 

_"Felicity, please." He said quietly._

_"I'm sorry, it's just… isn't she-isn't she dead?" she asked. "You told everyone that she died when 'The Gambit' went down, that she drowned."_

_Oliver raised his head, but he didn't look at them, He was looking past them, back to the Island._

_"You lied." Diggle realized._

“What?” Laurel hissed.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah said patiently.

 

_"When 'The Gambit' capsized, uh Sara was pulled under." Oliver said shakily. "It was so dark and cold. And I thought she drowned." He sighed. "About year later, I saw her."_

_Diggle straightened. "You saw where, on the island?" he asked incredulously. "She drifted to the island, too?"_

_"Not exactly." Oliver said evasively._

_"Why didn't you tell the Lances that she didn't die in that boat?" Felicity asked. "Laurel and Mr. Lance, they blame you."_

_"Yeah, well, it was my fault." Oliver said simply. "What happened was my fault."_

“No it wasn’t,” Dinah sighed, “while I’m not happy what he did…Sara could have said no. And neither of them could possibly have known what Malcolm had done. But still, he should have told us.”

 

“He was doing what Sara asked,” Dinah said and Laurel looked over at her curiously, “you’ll see this, but Sara told Ollie that if she didn’t make it home, to tell us that she died on the Gambit. She wanted us to remember her as she was. And how could Ollie do anything but honor what he believed to be her last wish?”

 

“He couldn’t.” Diggle said as he gave Laurel a pointed look and she sighed, her anger fading away.

 

_"Well, where has she been all these years, Oliver?" Diggle demanded._

_"I don't know!" Oliver shot back. "Diggle, I swear to God. I was sure she was dead."_

_"Do you have any happy stories?" Felicity wondered sadly._

_"All right, so just to make sure I understand this correctly, after not drowning when 'The Gambit' went down, Sara didn't exactly make it to the island with you, where you would see her die yet again. Feel free to fill in the blanks." Dig said sarcastically._

_"Not right now." Oliver said, rubbing his face tiredly._

_"You mean not ever, don't you, Oliver?" Dig said hotly._

“Oh, I’m sorry; do you feel like sharing your time in Afghanistan?” Tommy snapped and Diggle winced.

 

“You’re right, that was uncalled for.” Diggle admitted.

 

_"Don't you think her family had a right to know that she made it to the island, too?" Felicity asked._

_"These were five years!" Oliver shouted, furious. "Five years… where nothing good happened. And they were better off not knowing."_

“And that, everyone, is what happens when you push someone with PTSD.” Dinah explained.

 

_"Do they deserve to know now?" Dig asked after a moment._

_Oliver staggered to his feet. "I need to take care of some business at the office." He said, evading the issue. "Where are we with the Mayor?"_

_Dig sighed. "I'm in contact with some of my military sources." He told him. "Trying to get a line on how he's getting his illegal army weaponry. I'll keep you updated." Oliver walked past him. "You know, Oliver, somebody once told me that secrets have weight." Dig said, stopping the younger man with his words. "The more you keep, the harder it is to keep moving."_

“You have a point there.” Tommy admitted.

 

_Oliver looked back at him, the pain in his eyes evident. "You see how hard I work out."_

_The scene changed to the ''Amazo'', where one of the pirates approached Oliver's cell._

_"You kill two of my crew." The pirate said without preamble. "How many others are with you on the island? What are your weapon capabilities?" Oliver just stared impassively at the man, not saying a word. "Did you find the graves?" Oliver said nothing. "Two things will happen- you will tell me everything I want to know, then I will kill you." The pirate said. "Or I will torture you until you tell me everything I want to know. And then I will kill you."_

_Oliver stared back, then slowly rose to his feet. He walked up to the bars. “Go to hell." He said._

“Why didn’t he just say nothing?” Thea whimpered, worry and fear for her brother filling her heart.

 

“Because he’s Ollie.”  Dinah sighed.

 

_"Can't. We're already there." The pirate said. Then he fired the gun he was holding that Oliver hadn't even noticed. The bullet pierced his side and Oliver collapsed, screaming in pain._

“Ollie.” Thea brokenly as Laurel wrapped her arms around her, holding in her own twars as Tommy growled deep in his throat.

 

“Please tell me they all die painful deaths.” Tommy pleaded.

 

“Not all of them, but that one does.” Dinah promised.

 

“I can live with that.” Tommy said as he leaned back in his seat.

 

_The scene changed back to Starling City. Sara was in the old clock tower, staring at nothing as she thought about her meeting with Oliver earlier. Suddenly she sensed a presence behind her and spun around, her baton telescoping out-_

_And stopping right at the tip of Sin's nose._

_Sin looked down at the point of the staff, then back up at the vigilante. Sara sighed and lowered the weapon. She saw the bag in her friends hand and smirked. "Told you. The Patty Shack on 5th and Brewer, best burgers in town."_

_"Well, Patty Shack's in the Mayor's territory, so I'll take a sub-par breakfast over a bullet." Sin said, sitting Indian style on the floor and pulling out a sandwich. She held it up to Sara, who just looked at it listlessly. "What's wrong?" Sin asked with a worried frown. "Look, I know I'm skinny, but I can eat two of these, and I will."_

“Ah Sin, I sure miss you.” Dinah said wistfully.

 

“What happened to her?” Roy asked and Dinah scowled.

 

“When Arsenal was still Prometheus, Talia ordered him to kill her. It was a way to make Sara not want to save you and, if he was ever saved, a way to punish Arsenal and Oliver.” Dinah explained and Roy paled.

 

“That won’t happen this time Roy.” Diggle said as he placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder.

 

“My future doesn’t have to be yours.” Dinah said and Roy nodded.

 

_Sara leaned against a support pillar, and then slid down to the ground to join Sin. "Just ran into an old boyfriend." She said. "I'm just worried that he might tell my family I'm back."_

_"You have family in Starling?" Sin asked._

_"Yeah." Sara said. "My father, he's a- he's a policeman. And my sister, she's a lawyer."_

_"Well, they must be real proud of their masked delinquent." Sin said, taking a sip of her soda._

_"Yeah, they think I'm dead." Sara admitted._

_Sin paused for a moment, surprised by the revelation. Finally she gave Sara a wry smile. "Oh, cool. My folks think I'm dead, too." She said. "That or they wish I'd never been born. One of those."_

“Poor girl.” Laurel sighed, feeling sorry for the girl.

 

“That pretty much describes Sin’s life.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_." Sara chuckled. Sin took another drink, and then asked "Why don't you want them to know that you're still alive?"_

_"'Cause I'm not what they remember." Sara said sadly._

“Sara.” Laurel sighed sadly.

 

_"Good little daddy's girl?" Sin guessed._

_Sara laughed again. "Actually far from it. I was a lot like you." She admitted._

_Sin nodded. "Is that why you saved me from those guys that night?"_

_Sara looked at her with a serious expression, one bone from pain long past. "No woman should ever suffer at the hands of men."_

_The scene changed to a small park near the bay. Lyla was sitting on a bench, and smiled as Diggle walked up and sat down._

_"We've got to stop meeting like this." She told him as he sat. "What would your girlfriend think, Johnny?"_

_"Lyla, I am checking the box marked 'single' these days." Dig informed her._

_"Sorry to hear it." She said. "What happened?"_

_"Well, another man came between us." Dig admitted. "Deadshot."_

“You know John, you need to get passed this,” Dinah said and Diggle glared at her, “I’m not saying forgive him, god knows I never forgave Malcolm. But you need to stop letting your hatred of Lawton corrupt every aspect of your personal life.”

 

“Yeah…maybe you’re right.” Diggle said after a moment.

 

_"You're getting in the bad habit of letting him ruin your life." She opined._

_"So I've been repeatedly told." Dig said wryly. "Now on to business. Anything on those stolen army weapons?"_

_"A crate of 12 M4A1s went missing from Camp Kirby two months ago." Lyla told him._

_"Yeah, I think I know where they went." Dig muttered._

_"Every crate was fitted with a GPS system so they could be remote tracked. I tried pulling it up but it's not receiving." She handed him a USB drive with the information and codes. "Must have been deactivated."_

_Dig took the drive with a smile. "Thanks, Lyla." He said, rising to his feet._

_"And your interest in this is what?" she asked._

_Dig took a moment to frame his thoughts. "Lyla, you and I went to Afghanistan to try to bring law and order to a country overrun by war lords with weapons, right?" he asked rhetorically. "Should we do any less for our own cities?" he smiled down at her, and then lifted the drive. "Thanks again."_

_"Hey, Johnny." Lyla called out, stopping him before he could walk too far. He turned around and looked at her._

_"Yeah?" he asked._

_"These days, I check the box marked single, too." She told him with a smile._ _He returned it and walked off._

“Seems like she’s still into you.” Roy mentioned as Diggle blinked.

 

“Looks that way.” Diggle muttered.

 

“If I may John,” Dinah began and Diggle looked over at her, “when you get back…you might want to try again with her, see if anything is still there. In my time, it worked out again and you two had a pretty solid marriage until you were killed.”

 

“Yeah…maybe I will.” Diggle decided.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Sebastian Blood was waiting in the QC boardroom with Isabel Rochev as Oliver walked in._

_"Mr. Blood." He said with a smile. "I see you've met Miss Rochev. She's my—"_

_"Superior." She said instantly._

“You wish.” Thea sneered.

 

_"Partner." Oliver corrected._

_"On paper." She shot back coolly._

_"Is that why you asked me to come down here, Mr. Queen, to mediate your job title?" Blood asked sarcastically._

_Oliver chuckled. "You and I have gotten off on the wrong foot repeatedly." He admitted._

_"Seems to be your super power." Blood quipped._

_"I was inspired by what you said the other night about gun violence in the Glades." Oliver continued. "And I had an idea that might help."_

_"Really? Another party at your stately manor?" blood asked dryly._

_Oliver shook his head. "No. I wanted to sponsor a cash-for-guns event." He said. Isabel looked at him, startled. "I give you the money and you get your constituents to lay down their arms. Everybody wins."_

_"Especially you." Blood pointed out acerbically. "Trying to repair your family's tainted name by ridding the Glades of guns."_

_"You just get the money, Mr. Blood. I don't want my family's name involved." Oliver said, surprising the alderman._

_Isabel went from startled to alarmed. "Mr. Queen, may I have a word with you?" she asked quickly._

_"Let me think it over." Blood said, walking out._

_As soon as he was gone, Isabel turned and glowered at Oliver. "We are not sponsoring that event." She said at once._

_"Yes, I know. I am." Oliver replied._

_"With what money?" she asked. "Your investment party cost QC 50 grand, and no one invested a dime. I will not continue to authorize corporate funds just so you can keep pretending that you are the CEO."_

_Oliver glared at the woman. "Fine. I'll pay for it myself."_

_"Maybe you haven't noticed, but your personal trust isn't exactly what it used to be, and this company isn't, either." She pointed out coldly. "As much as I would love to make this city safer, my first obligation is to Queen Consolidated. And yours is, too." She turned and stalked out of the boardroom, leaving Oliver alone with his thoughts._

“You know, as much as I hate to admit it, she’s got a point. If Ollie spreads the company too thin, it’ll completely collapse.” Laurel admitted reluctantly.

 

“Which would be a valid point…if her concern was really for the company.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

“What?” Thea asked confused as they all looked at her.

 

“She had a hidden agenda. I’ll tell you during lunch.” Dinah promised.

 

_The scene changed to the D.A.'s office. Laurel was once again working late, listening to her iPod. She was startled when Donner walked out of his office and called to her, and turned her music down at once._

_"I was going to order some takeout, you want in?" he asked._

_"I appreciate the offer, Adam, but—"_

_“I've eaten takeout every night this week; I need a meal served on an actual plate. So do you."_

_The scene changed to a swank restaurant later that night. Laurel and Donner sat at a table, having enjoyed their meal and wine. Laurel was enjoying her second glass, finishing it off in one long pull, and then smiled at the waitress who brought her a fresh glass._

“Oh, I see.” Tommy said as he realized what Laurel and Dinah had been talking about earlier.

 

“They say alcoholism runs in the family.” Laurel said bitterly.

 

_"I get it." Donner was saying. "It's easy to let the job become your life. I keep having to remind myself to go to the gym, see a movie, eat a good meal."_

_"That sounds dangerously like having a life." Laurel said slyly._

_"What about you? You can't be all about work." Donner hedged._

_"I'm the best me when I am working." Laurel said simply._

“True, but I also use it to escape my problems.” Dinah mused and Laurel sighed, knowing she was right.

 

_"And when you're not?"_

_"You don't want to meet her. She's not good company." She said, sipping her wine._

_"I'd be willing to risk it." Donner offered._

_Laurel choked a bit on her wine. "Excuse me. I have to go." She said suddenly, setting down the glass and grabbing her things._

“Oh, he thought this was a date.” Laurel realized.

 

“Yep. If I wasn’t a recovered alcoholic, I’d pour us some drinks and congratulate us on the bullet we dodged.” Dinah said and Roy and Thea snickered as Laurel smiled, amused.

 

_Donner rose to his feet. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"_

_"No, it's ok." Laurel said with a tight smile. "It's fine. I just have to go."_

_"Good night." He told her as she rushed past._

_"Good night." Laurel said as she left._

_Laurel climbed into her car and began to drive home._

_She was halfway home when a patrol car got behind her, then flashed its lights in warning._

“Oh man.” Laurel groaned.

 

“Trust me, you haven’t seen anything yet.” Dinah said.

 

“How much worse could it possibly get?” Laurel mumbled.

 

“I wasn’t even at the edge of the abyss yet.” Dinah told her and Laurel paled.

 

_Dutifully, Laurel pulled over._

_"Crap." She muttered as the patrol officer got out of his car and walked up to her window, which she rolled down._

_"License and registration?" he asked._

_"Is there a problem, Officer?" Laurel asked, squinting as the officer shined his light into the car._

_"Have you had anything to drink tonight, ma'am?" he asked._

_Crap indeed. "I'm Laurel Lance. I'm an assistant district attorney." She tried._

“And you know you’ve suck low when you use your job to get out of a DUI.” Laurel grumbled.

 

_"I'm sorry, Miss Lance, but I'm going to have to ask you to step out of the car, please." The officer said, not impressed. Laurel sagged slightly, now officially worried._

_The scene changed to the Lair. "I need some good news." Oliver said as he came down the stairs._

“I think we all do.” Tommy mumbled as he and Thea looke at Laurel with concern.

 

_"The bad news first." Dig replied. "Somehow the Mayor did get his hands on a crate of military-grade weapons from Camp Kirby." He told Oliver_

_"The good news?"_

_"If he kept the crate, might be able to find where he's hiding." Felicity said, rising from her chair and moving over to her workstation. On her desk, hooked into her computer, was a white plastic device with a black box inset into the middle of it, encased in a clear plastic cover. The edges of the black box glowed green. "This is the same make and model of a tracking system the army installs on all of its weapons crates. If they lose a crate, they send out a remote signal that activates the beacon." She tapped in a code, and the green light turned red._

_"The Mayor's clever." Diggle continued. "He deactivated his beacon. Send a signal, nothing comes back."_

_"You both need to work on your definition of good news." Oliver ground out._

_"Ok." Felicity grinned. "How's this- guess which company designed the tracking system the army uses? I'll give you a hint- your CEO? Always late."_

_Oliver smiled back. "Nice."_

_"I pulled up the original plans from the QC mainframe." She told him, showing him the schematics. "Turns out there's a design flaw. The beacon is still susceptible to a sub form wave even if it's been deactivated."_

_"The Mayor turned it off, Oliver." Dig said. "We can turn it back on."_

“That is good news.” Laurel said as she perked up.

 

“Yeah, now Oliver can find The Mayor’s hideout.” Diggle smirked.

 

“That’s the best news I’ve heard since I found out about Prometheus.” Roy grinned.

 

_Felicity typed in the code, and suddenly the location popped up on the map." I believe you ordered the crate of stolen military weapons, Mr. Queen." Felicity said smugly. Oliver nodded, then headed over to the case and grabbed his bow._

_Several minutes later at the club, the Mayor noticed the red blinking light in the crate. Hurriedly he jumped off the stage and ran over to the crate._

_"I thought you deactivated the tracker!" he demanded of one of his thugs before smashing the tracking device with the butt of his rifle. Suddenly he heard the whistle of an arrow flying, and saw one of his men topple over with an arrow in the shoulder._

“Too late Mr. Mayor.” Thea said smugly.

 

_They all looked up to see The Arrow standing on the second level, firing another arrow before they returned fire. He moved rapidly, dodging their pray-and-spray firing even as he returned the favor, dropping a new man with each arrow. But there were too many men, and they all bolted for the exit as Oliver dropped down to the floor. He aimed a shot at the Mayor, but he disappeared through the door before he could fire. Frowning, he walked over to the crate of assault rifles, then tapped his com link. "Weapons are secure." He told his team._

_"And the Mayor?" Dig asked._

_Oliver sighed. "Still in office." He said, annoyed._

“Great.” Roy sighed.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's traffic stop, where Quentin was just pulling up. He got out of his patrol car and gave a tired nod to his fellow officer._

_"Thanks for the heads up, Officer Daily." He said._

_"Just fyi- she blew .6 past the legal limit." Daily replied, handing her keys to him._

“And this is only the tip of the iceberg? Man.” Laurel groaned.

 

“As long as you don’t make my mistakes, this won’t happen to you.” Dinah said simply, no one noticing the glare she was shooting Daily.

 

_"Thank you." Quentin replied again. Daily got back into his squad car and pulled off, leaving the Lance's alone._

_"He didn't need to call you." Laurel said sullenly._

_"No. But you're lucky he did." He said. "You could have lost your job. You could have lost your life, and you could have killed somebody!"_

_"I had a few too many glasses of wine at dinner." Laurel protested. "It was an accident!"_

“That’s how it starts. And one is too many.” Dinah told her and Laurel nodded.

 

_"An accident. Well, I guess those happen." Quentin said sarcastically._

_Laurel narrowed her eyes at her father. "Was I not supposed to notice that tone?" she asked._

_"The two of us," Quentin started. "You got a lot from me, Laurel. Maybe you got this, too."_

_"You can hardly compare my one mistake to your drinking problem." Laurel shot back._

“Why don’t I ever listen to him?” Laurel groaned.

 

“Because we’re our father’s daughter.” Dinah said simply and Laurel reluctantly nodded in agreement.

 

_"So long as it is only one mistake." Quentin said._

_"I don't know if you've noticed," she ground out, "But I've had a little bit of a hard time lately. I was kidnapped, nearly murdered by a psychopath, and my boyfriend died. So, I don't know, maybe cut me some slack."_

_"You know, when I started having a hard time, I wish people had cut me slack." Quentin said. "Leave your car here, I'm driving you home."_

_"I'll take a cab." Laurel spat, turning and walking away._

_"Laurel… Laurel!" Quentin called out futilely. Then he sighed in resignation as he watched her walk off into the night._

“Don’t say it, I know.” Laurel said tiredly and Dinah nodded.

 

_The next morning, Oliver pulled up to Verdant on his bike. He left his helmet on the seat and was walking up to the doors when he sensed a presence behind him. He turned around to see Sara standing there in civilian clothes._

 

“Didn’t expect her to show up there.” Laurel muttered.

 

“Neither did he.” Dinah said.

 

_Wordlessly he turned back and opened the door, holding it open for her to walk through first._

_She walked inside and looked around, taking in the club but not really seeing it. Finally, she turned back to Oliver. "Did you tell my family that I'm alive?" she asked._

“That’s the first thing out of her mouth?” Laurel stared incredulously.

 

_"No." Oliver replied at once. She turned away from him. "Sara." He walked around her so that he was facing her once more. "I saw you die." He started._

_"Not the first time that's happened, right?" she said ironically. "And I thought you were dead, too. What happened to Slade?" she asked._

“She knows Slade?” Laurel asked surprised.

 

“Unfortunately.” Dinah muttered grimly.

 

_"Where have you been?" he countered, ignoring her question._

_"Everywhere." She said simply._

_"That's not an answer." Oliver replied._

_"Well, it's the one you're getting." She shot back. She sighed and started pacing aimlessly. "About a year ago, I started hearing tales of the Starling City vigilante." She continued. "The man in the green hood. I knew it was you."_

_"I had never known you as much of a fighter." Oliver stated. "Where did you pick that up?"_

“By my friends the League of Assassins, led by Ra’s Ghul, The Demon.” Tommy said casually.

 

_"I met some rough people." She said cryptically. "Thought I should get rougher, too."_

_"Sara." Oliver moved in closer. "Why did you come back?"_

_"The earthquake." She said simply._

_"Because you wanted to make sure your family was safe." Oliver sussed out. "But now you're still here, watching over them. Protecting them." He looked her in the eyes. "So, did you come here to make sure I didn't tell them? Or because you were hoping I had?" he asked. Before she could answer, there was a knock on the door. Oliver sighed. "I'll get rid of them." Oliver walked past Sara and unlocked the door. He opened in and leaned out- to see Quentin Lance standing there._

“Well I did not see this coming.” Laurel blinked.

 

_"Mr. Lance?" he said loudly so that Sara would know who it was. Sara turned around, shock and terror on her face._

_"Hi." Lance said._

_Oliver slipped out the door and closed it, hiding Sara from the detective. "Something I can help you with?" he asked._

_"I'm here about my daughter." Quentin said. Oliver's breath hitched. "Laurel." Lance continued._

“He must be really worried if he’s gone to Ollie for help.” Laurel sighed.

 

“No kidding.” Tommy muttered.

 

_Oliver let out a small breath. "Is she ok?" he asked at once._

_Inside the club, Sara moved up to the door, staring out the window at her father._

_"Yeah." Quentin started. "Well, no, she's not. She got pulled over for a DUI last night. I tried talking to her about it, but…" he sighed. "She wasn't hearing me."_

_"I…I saw her the other night." Oliver said. "She… didn't seem like herself."_

_"No, I know. She seems like me." Quentin chuckled humorlessly. "I don't know if you know, but when you and Sara disappeared, I hit the bottle pretty hard." He began as Sara watched on tearfully. "I know the two of you are friends. And she needs a friend. Maybe talk to her." He asked of him._

_"Sure." Oliver said at once._

“Somehow, I doubt I’ll listen to him.” Laurel said dryly.

 

" _Anyhow." Quentin turned to leave._

_"Mr. Lance." Oliver called out, stopping the man. In the club, Sara's breath hitched._

“Is he gonna…” Tommy trailed off as they all waited for what would happen next.

 

_"Yeah?" Quentin said._

_"Um…" he thought about telling the man about Sara, but in the end, he couldn't do that. To do that would be to hurt her, and he had already hurt her enough for one lifetime. "I'd be happy to talk to Laurel." He finished lamely._

“Coward.” Laurel spat.

 

_Oliver ran back into the club, but Sara was gone._

_The scene flashed back to the ''Amazo''. Oliver was groaning in pain from the bullet wound. He looked around helplessly, and then he spotted it- a small surgical dish with everything he'd need to remove the bullet and stitch himself back up. Oliver looked at in in confusion "Why'd they do this?" he asked of the man in the cell next to him, then groaned again in pain._

_"They make all of us do this." The man replied with a heavy Russian accent. "Supposed to show prochnost." He lifted his shirt to show the scar from his own bullet wound. The man in the opposite cell did the same. "It's Russian. For strength."_

“These people are sick.” Roy said disgusted.

 

“You have no idea.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"They-they did it to see if I'm strong?!" Oliver asked incredulously._

_"They're doing this to see if you survive." The Russian clarified. "Living is not for the weak."_

“Aint that the truth.” Diggle muttered.

 

_Oliver looked at the man, then reached through the bars and grabbed the tray. Then he proceeded to dig the bullet out, even as he screamed in pain._

“Damn.” Roy said as he winced along with everyone else.

 

_The scene changed to outside Laurel's apartment later that day. She came out to go to work to see Oliver standing on the sidewalk in front of her door._

_"Oliver." She said with a tight smile._

_"Hi." He replied._

_"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Is everything ok?"_

_"I don't know. Is everything ok?" he replied._

_Laurel sighed in exasperation. "You've got to be kidding me. My dad went to you?" she rolled her eyes, and then walked past Oliver down the sidewalk. "He spent the last six years cursing your name, and now you're what, gossip buddies?" she asked sarcastically._

“That should’ve shown me how bad the situation was.” Dinah admitted.

 

_"Laurel. He's worried about you." He said in a calm tone of voice._

_Laurel stopped. "Perfect." She spun around to glare at him. "A recovering alcoholic and recovering party boy trying to tell me how to live my life. Don't you see the hypocrisy there?"_

_"What I see is somebody that both of us care for having a rough go of it." Oliver tried._

_"Do you know how many times I've had to pull my dad out of a bar?" she asked. "Or how many nights I've had to drive him home where he's passed out in my backseat? He's the one with the problem." She said. "Not me. Just because he can't cope with losing Sara doesn't mean I can't handle my life. Feel free to tell him that during the next chit chat." Laurel finished as she turned and walked off._

“Denial’s not just a river in Egypt.” Diggle told Laurel.

 

“I know.” Laurel sighed.

 

_The scene flashed back to the ''Amazo''. Oliver lay on the floor of his cell having stitched up his wound. The Pirate came over and kneeled down, inspecting the work from outside the cage. "Sewing is not your strong suit." He said. Oliver held up the bullet, then let it drop to the floor. The pirate nodded. "Now we can talk." He said. "For two years my crew and I have been looking for grave site. Did you find the graves?" he asked. Oliver pulled himself up, but didn't answer the man. He just stared. "Were the bodies odd? The bones misshapen?" the pirate asked. Oliver said nothing, but his defiance told the pirate what he wanted to know. He stood and pulled out his radio. "This is the right island." He said into the device as he walked off._

“This is not good.” Thea noted worriedly.

 

“No, it isn’t.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_The scene shifted back to the Glades, where the gun buyback was in full swing. Roy was there, dropping off his arsenal._

_"Looks like we got a Colt 1911, Jennings .32, and a K-frame revolver." The attendant said. "Um… We'll give you $250 for the lot."_

_"Keep it." Roy told the man._

_"Do I even want to know where you got those guns?" Roy tuned around to see Thea standing there._

_He sighed, but smiled tightly. "They're from the old days." He told her. "I told you. Look, no more being a criminal. No more being a hero. Just Roy Harper. Bus boy and boyfriend."_

“You’re such a liar.” Thea grumbled.

 

“You knew that already.” Roy pointed out and she shrugged nonchalantly.

 

“Guess I did.” Thea admitted.

 

_They drew close to each other, about to kiss…_

_"Yo, Abercrombie."_

_Roy blinked, the moment ruined. They turned around to see who had spoken, and Roy felt the bottom drop out of his stomach when he saw Sin standing there, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face._

“And now your liars are catching up with you.” Thea said gleefully and Roy rolled his eyes.

 

“Rub it in, why don’t ya?” Roy grumbled good-naturedly.

 

_"Where's your manners? She asked mockingly._

_"Sin." His eyes narrowed at the other girl. "This is Thea. Thea, this is Sin."_

_"Thea Queen?" she gave her a brief look-over. "Look at you, rolling with royalty. By the way, the salad fork's the small one." She added sarcastically._

_"It was good to see you again." Roy said coldly, a clear dismissal._

_Sins' eyes lit up. She moved in close to Roy. "She doesn't know you're the Vigilante's delivery boy, does she?" she asked quietly. The tense look on his face told her everything she needed to know. Sin turned to Thea and gave her a mocking bow. "Nice to meet you, your highness."_

_"You, too." Thea replied dryly as Sin walked off._

“Well isn’t she just a ray of sunshine.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

_Thea turned to Roy. "So how do you know her?"_

_"From around." He answered vaguely._

“Yeah, ‘cause that won’t make me suspicious at all.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

_Out on the fringes of the buy back, Oliver stood, observing the event. Sebastian Blood noticed him and walked over._

_"You don't show up when you say you will, and when you promise not to, here you are." Blood said._

_"It's going well?" Oliver asked._

_"Last check, we've taken in over 200 guns in only 3 hours." He noted the tight expression on his face. "Try not to look so happy about it."_

_"A lot on my mind, alderman." Oliver said tiredly._

_"My job is to help the people in this city with their problems." Blood said._

Dinah muttered things that no one could make out but her opinion on the good alderman was clear.

 

_Oliver turned to face the alderman. "Two people that are very important to me are having a tough time." Oliver began. "Sisters, actually. And neither one of them is making it very easy for me to help them."_

_"Sooner or later, we all go through a crucible." Blood replied. "I'm guessing yours was that island." Oliver nodded slightly. "Most people there are two types of people who go into a crucible- the ones who grow stronger from the experience and survive it, and the ones who die. But there's a third type. The ones who learn to love the fire." He continued. "They choose to stay in their crucible because it's easier to embrace the pain when it's all you know anymore."_

“He’s right. I’ve seen some of the guys I’ve served with lose themselves in the job, they use it to avoid their problems in their personal lives.” Diggle noted.

 

“So, Sara was obviously the third kind of person…but what was Ollie?” Thea wondered.

 

“I think he was both the second and third. He survived…but he also liked the fire, used it to avoid living his life.” Dinah mused.

 

_“That's why I'm on the clock to help this city. Before it becomes used to living like this."_

_"Living is not for the weak." Oliver said, thinking back to the ''Amazo''. "Old friend of mine once told me that."_

_"That's a wise friend." Blood said._

_Suddenly the peace was ripped apart by gunfire._

“Not good.” Tommy said alarmed.

 

_The Mayor, riding in the back of a tricked out pickup truck with a couple of goons with assault rifles smashed through the police barricades and sent the people scattering. The truck skidded to a stop, and the Mayor began speaking._

_"Listen up, people. This is your mayor speaking." He said as the few officers drew their guns and held them on the gang leader. His goons aimed back with their rifles, creating a Mexican standoff. "Now I don't recall this here event being sanctioned." He continued. "What happens in the Glades only happens if I allow it."_

“You know, this event seems very under protected,” Diggle mused and everyone looked over at him, “The Mayor has made his intentions to control The Glades pretty clear. This in an event that would clean up The Glades, which is something The Mayor obviously wouldn’t want. Yet there aren’t nearly enough officers to protect the people there. It’s almost like someone was hoping The Mayor would show.”1

 

“Your smart John, always were.” Dinah said vaguely.

 

_"You're not the leader of this community!" Blood shouted angrily as he stalked towards the truck. Oliver watched angrily, hating that he couldn't do anything without drawing attention to himself. "You don't speak for these people!"_

_"And neither do you." The Mayor replied, gesturing to his men. "Not anymore."_

_Just before they opened fire, Oliver ran at the alderman and tackled him, taking his out of the line of fire. He pulled the man behind a squad car that was soon raked with bullets. The goons then turned their guns on everyone else, spraying bullets everywhere even as the police returned fire._

Is Blood Suicidal?” Tommy asked as he stared at the screen.

 

“No, he’s calculative. You said someone was hoping The Mayor would show John? Well, you’ve found him.” Dinah laughed humorless as they stared at the screen.

 

“Why the hell would he do that?” Laurel demanded angrily.

 

“A show of strength, to inspire the people. To convince them he wanted to save The City, to believe in him. In his mind, a few injuries and possible casualties were worth the sacrifice. For the greater good.” Dinah said disgusted.

 

“For what greater good?” Laurel demanded and Dinah smiled thinly.

 

“You’ll see.” Dinah said lowly.

 

_Oliver sprinted over to Thea and Roy. "Hey! Are you ok?" he asked them. "Are you hit?"_

_Thea shook her head. "No." Oliver nodded, then got up and sprinted off to finish off the gang leader._

_Roy heard a groan, and looking up he saw Sin hunched over. "Sin, you all right?" he called out._

_"All's good." She moaned, and then stared at shock at her hand as she pulled it away from her abdomen. It was covered in blood. She fell back and Roy ran over to her. "Go get help!" he yelled to Thea. "Go!" she nodded and ran off to call the paramedics, leaving Roy holding Sin as she continued to bleed out._

“Innocent people got hurt. I hope Blood is satisfied.” Roy growled.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. Down in the basement, the trio were watching a news report on the shooting._

_'The shooting was committed by the gang leader known only as "The Mayor," who, until now, has never been seen in public.' The broadcaster was saying. 'We do want to warn our audience that some of these images are graphic.'_

_Felicity paused the broadcast and started typing into her computer._

_"The coward finally decided to show his face." Diggle said in disgust._

_"Vanity is going to cost him." Oliver noted._

_"I borrowed the FBI's facial recognition software." Felicity aid as the program ran._

_After a few moments, the program beeped and a profile was pulled up. "Got a match. Xavier Reed." She said, reading off the name on the profile._

“Xavier Reed, now I have a name to go on when we get back.” Laurel said, planning to see if this guy had any priors when they got home.

 

_"Did Mr. Reed serve in the military?" Oliver asked._

_"No military history." She replied._

_"Family members?"_

_Felicity shook her head. "Reed was in and out of foster care his whole life." She frowned as she read on. "Wait, hold on. In 1996, Reed spent three years with a foster family and their son, Ezra Barnes." She said, turning to face Oliver. "He served three tours in Iraq. He's stateside now."_

“Barnes is how he’s getting the guns.” Diggle realized, disgusted at how someone who wore the uniform could betray what it stood for like that.

 

_"$20 bucks said he was stationed at Camp Kirby." Dig said._

_"Pay the man." Felicity replied, swinging back around to her computer. "The Mayor's foster brother is assigned to a weapons convoy that carries SCAR 16s by truck. The convoy's scheduled to come through Starling City tonight."_

“Oh my god. If The Mayor gets his delivery, then Starling City will be the site of world war three!” Diggle said alarmed.

 

“Good thing Ollie has some help.” Dinah smirked.

 

_"FN SCAR 16s are military assault weapons with grenade launchers." Dig noted with concern. "The man gets a hold of these, Oliver, its game over."_

_Oliver scowled. "He won't." he said, turning to gear up._

_The scene changed to Starling General. Sin was sedated in a hospital bed, being checked over by the surgeon. He turned to Roy, who stood with him in the room. Thea waited outside the room, leaning against the far wall._

_"The bullet penetrated her anterior abdomen." The doctor was telling Roy. "We were able to remove most of the fragments. We'll know more in a few hours."_

_Roy nodded, and the doctor walked out. Thea walked into the room. "Hey." He told her. "I'm going to stick around, in case she wakes up."_

_"Is it ok if I stick around with you?" she asked. Roy nodded, and Thea placed a warm hand on his shoulder. "I mean, you saved her life, Roy." She said, gently rubbing the shoulder. "I guess you can't stop being a hero, can you?" they both turned to look at the sleeping Sin._

“No more than he can change the color of his skin.” Dinah teased and Roy rolled his eyes as everyone snickered.

 

_Outside, The Canary watched on, sad for her friend's pain and angry that she couldn't prevent it. Suddenly an arrow struck the wall behind her. She turned to look at it, and saw a zip line attached. Without hesitation, she grasped the line and slid down to the adjoining rooftop, where The Arrow waited._

_"I want to see how you do in a real fight." He told her._

_"Good." She said. "I was looking for a fight."_

“The Mayor doesn’t stand a chance.” Tommy said gleefully.

 

_The scene changed to deep in the Glades. The convoy rolled through the darkened streets, coming to a halt right in front of Xavier. His foster brother climbed out of the truck and walked up to Xavier, hugging him._

_"They're with me." Ezra said, indicating the other men that had climbed out of the military vehicles. He then nodded at the open back of his truck. "He wasn't."_

_Xavier looked in to see a dead soldier._

“That son of a bitch!” Diggle shouted, enraged.

 

“Relax John; he gets what’s coming to him.” Dinah assured him.

 

_. He laughed and clapped his brother on the shoulder. "You're done being all you can be." He said._

_Ezra held out his hand, and one of his men handed him a SCAR 16. He unfolded the stock and held it out for Xavier to look at._

_"Ahh. You and I are going to own this town." He said with a grin. He hefted the gun. "Now let's see what this bad boy can do."_

_A sound grabbed everyone's attention, and they all turned to see The Canary standing there, her bo staff in hand. At once she attacked, expertly wielding the staff, taking out soldiers and gang members combined._

_As the gang tried to regroup The Arrow joined in the fray, letting loose with a barrage of arrows._

“I’m sorry, what was that, I couldn’t hear you over the sound of you getting your ass kicked.” Thea grinned viciously.

 

_. They opened fire, but they were firing blind. Oliver dropped down, running behind cover, and then dropped down again behind the truck he came around and belted the young gunman three times in the face with his bow, dropping him. He looked up at Sara, who had just finished off the last soldier._

_"Behind you." She said. Oliver turned to see Xavier standing about fifteen feet away, the SCAR in hand._

_"Old school weapon." He called out. "Respect. But can your arrows do this?" he fired off the grenade. Olive drew an arrow and fired, hitting the grenade and detonating it._

_The shockwave sent him and Sara to the ground. His ears ringing, he noted the rest of the gang members rushing up to attack, so he grasped the first weapon he saw on the ground- Sara staff. He got up, spinning the staff around and wielding it like an expert. As the last of the gang members dropped to the ground, Ezra came out from behind one of the trucks, a SCAR in hand. He raised it to fire-_

_But was dropped by an arrow between the shoulder blades, courtesy of the Canary._

_The two vigilantes walked up to one another and traded back their weapons, Oliver grinning at Sara, then they moved off after Xavier._

“Incredible, their teamwork is flawless.” Diggle said in awe.

 

“They trusted each other. Even when they couldn’t trust anyone else, they could trust each other.” Dinah said a slight smile on her face.

 

_Xavier was sneaking around, his SCAR in hand, looking for the crime fighters. "Come on, where are you?" he muttered under his breath. He turned around-_

_But the Canary was there. She belted him hard once, then twice, sending him to his knees. She brought her staff up under his chin, choking him as she prepared to break his neck._

Laurel tensed. Although she had gotten used to seeing Oliver kill when necessary, she did not want to see her sister murder anyone.

 

_"You hurt a friend of mine." She hissed._

_"Let him go."_

_Sara looked up to see Oliver standing there. "You can't save a city with forgiveness." She told him harshly._

_"You don't have to forgive him." Oliver replied. "But you do have to let him live."_

_Sara looked at him, and then relented, easing her grip on the staff._

Laurel released a barely audible sigh of relief, glad Oliver had talked Sara down.

 

_"Bitch." Xavier gasped. "I knew you didn't have it in you."_

_Sara quickly jerked the staff back, crushing his throat. Then she lifted the staff away from his head and kicked him hard in the small of the back, sending him crashing face first to the ground, unconscious._

_"I really don't like that word." She said. Oliver gave her a look, but she just looked back, impassive._

“Oh stop judging.” Roy rolled his eyes.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated the next day. Oliver was pacing in his office, watching the news on his computer._

_'Demonstrations opposing the construction of the new Star Lab's particle accelerator have reached a fever pitch with five more protestors being arrested.'_

“That’s, what, the second or third time we’ve heard about this accelerator? It must be important.” Diggle narrowed his eyes.

 

“Not yet but it will be. And not for the reason’s you think.” Dinah told him.

 

_'In other news the recent cash for guns event held in the Glades is credited for getting over 800 weapons off the streets.' Oliver leaned down, looking at the screen. 'Still a mystery- the anonymous donor whose generous donation funded the event.' He switched it off._

_"I guess it's true what they say- one man can change the world." Sebastian Blood said, walking into his office._

_Oliver smiled at the man. "I'll leave changing the world to you, alderman." He said._

_"I'm only in the world because of you." Blood said, reaching out his hand. "Thank you."_

_The two men shook hands. "I was just acting on instinct." Oliver said, downplaying as usual._

_"It wasn't instinct. It was strength." Blood insisted._

_Oliver smiled at him. "I see the signs and the graffiti; 'Blood for mayor'. Now that the "mayor" is in jail, maybe you should run." He advised._

_"There is more than one way to save a city." Blood replied before taking his leave._

“Really? Then why did you endanger innocent people for your own benefit?” Roy sneered.

 

_The scene changed to Starling General. Roy and Thea were dozing on a seat outside of Sin's room when the doctor came out._

_"Mr. Harper?" he said, getting the boy's attention._

_Roy started awake, alarmed. "What's wrong, is she ok?" he asked. The doctor merely nodded, then walked off. Roy jumped to his feet and ran into the room to see Sin, awake, sitting up in the bed._

_"Hey." She said as he took a seat next to her bed. "You saved my life. I guess I have to keep your secret now, huh?" she looked past Roy to see Thea walking in. "You know you're dating a moron, right?' she told her._

_Thea gave her a small grin. "It's my first and last thought of every day." She replied._

“Well gee, thanks.” Roy said dryly as the time travelers snickered.

 

“Don’t worry Roy; it’s one of your more…endearing qualities.” Dinah told him and Roy rolled his eyes.

 

_"Crap." Sin looked back to Roy. "I like her." The three chuckled._

_Outside the room Sara looked in, making sure she was okay. Seeing that she was, she pulled the ball cap low and walked off. Down the hall she stopped as Oliver came up to her._

_"Your friend." He said softly. "I took care of her medical expenses."_

_"Thank you." Sara replied. "Look, I don't want Thea to see me—"_

_"What's your plan, Sara?" Oliver asked. "Because right now, you just… well, you're whipping across rooftops and keeping watch over your family like some sort of ghost."_

_"We're both ghosts." Sara said sadly. "We died on that island."_

“In a way, she’s right,” Dinah mused and the others looked over at her, “The Oliver Queen and Sara Lance we used to know died the moment The Gambit went down. They were reborn as completely different people.”

 

“But they’re still Ollie and Sara.” Thea said firmly and Dinah nodded.

 

“At their core, they are still Ollie and Sara.” Dinah agreed.

 

_"But we didn't." Oliver shot back. "We both lived. And I get that you have been in pain so long that it probably just feels normal now. But you can let it go and come home." He pleaded. "I mean, I know that the earthquake brought you here, but your family kept you here. You have to tell them, Sara. They need you." He emphasized._

_"You told them that I died on 'The Gambit'." Sara pointed out. "If they know the truth—"_

_"They would never- they would never talk to me again." Oliver said, laughing humorlessly. "Not one of them. But it'd be worth it."_

“Ollie.” Laurel breathed, touched that he would give up his relationship with her to give her her sister back.

 

_The scene changed to an AA meeting, where Lance was speaking. "My daughter's in trouble." He was saying. "She's, uh, she's been through some really terrible things. And Instead of facing up to them, she's running away from them." At Laurels apartment, Laurel popped a couple of her father's Oxycodone, then downed it with a glass of red wine._

_"She's losing herself in her work, and maybe even worse. She's my daughter, I just want her safe, I want to protect her." At the hospital, Oliver held out a hand to Sara, and hesitantly she took it. He led her down the hall and out of the hospital towards an uncertain future. "But I guess like we say in our meetings, more will be revealed."_

Laurel sighed, the weight of what was happening to her family weighing on her. Tactfully, no one said anything.

 

_On the ''Amazo'', a pair of pirates opened Oliver's cell and dragged him out. He screamed slightly in pain. The leader looked at him with cold eyes. "Your days of screaming are just beginning." He promised cruelly. The pirates dragged him through the ship, dumping him in some sort of lab. They left, closing the door, and Oliver looked up to see a pair of black boots standing in front of him. He continued looking up following the legs to the torso, to finally the head-_

_Of Sara Lance._

“Sara was on that boat!?” Laurel said, shocked and confused, as were all the time travlers.

 

“The next recording’s flashbacks are about how Sara ended up there, so just hold your questions.” Dinah ordered and Laurel nodded as she relaxed slightly.

 

_He looked at her in confusion. "How?" he muttered as she stared back impassively._

_The scene changed to an undisclosed location. Xavier Reed was strapped to a chair with a bag over his head. Suddenly the bag was removed, and Xavier looked up to see a young patrol officer standing there._

_He looked around in confusion, squinting at the harsh light given off by a set of shop lights._

_"What the hell is this?" he demanded. "This ain't the police station." The cop stepped aside, and a new man walked in. He was dressed in slacks, a red shirt, and a blue windbreaker with the collar popped up. But what was really distinctive was the mask. It was brown leather, shaped like a skull, and concealed the man's face entirely except for the eyes, which regarded Xavier coldly. "Why are you wearing that mask?"_

_"This city is in chains, and I'm going to free it." The man in the skull mask said. He stepped aside so that another man, this one carrying a syringe filled with a green liquid, could approach the bound man. "But to do that, I need an army."_

“Wait, what’s going on? Who is that? What is that stuff?” Tommy demanded, confusion flooding his mind.

 

“In order: it’s complicated, you’ll find out in just a second, The Mirakuru.” Dinah explained.

 

“Wait, what is this Mirakuru? You mentioned it once before.” Diggle remembered and Dinah sighed.

 

“We’ll take a break after the next one. When we come back, if my math is right, then that recording will answer most of your questions about The Mirakuru.” Dinah assured him.

 

_"Whoa, what's in that thing?!" Xavier said in a panic as the third man injected the green serum into his arm. "Get that off me! Get that crap away from me!" the injection finished, the man pulled the needle free and stepped back. Skull man stepped forward again._

_"Are you ready to serve?" he asked. Xavier tensed as the serum coursed through his veins, and then screamed out in pain. He screamed for several moments before he finally died, his head dropping to his chest, and crimson tears of blood running out of the corners of his eyes._

“Good god.” Laurel breathed as they all stared, horrified.

 

“What the hell just happened?” Diggle demanded.

 

“The Mirakuru killed him. Believe it or not, that’s actually the lesser of two evils. At least when it kills you, it’s over. When it doesn’t…well, you’ll see.” Dinah explained.

 

_The man pulled off the mask, revealing the face of Sebastian Blood._

“What the hell!?” Roy shouted in shock or anger.

 

“Now you’re starting to see why I hate him. But we’ve only scratched the surface.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“What could possibly be worse than this?” Tommy asked sarcastically.

 

“You don’t want to know, but you need to.” Dinah said grimly and a shiver went down five different spines.

 

_Blood sighed in disappointment. "Bring me another." He ordered the cop._

_"Yes, Brother Blood." The cop replied._

“One more, then we’ll take a break and get lunch.” Dinah said before she started the next recording.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: It seems to me that Blood did not do a very good job of getting security for this event. It was a well-known fact that The Mayor had Military grade weapons and wanted The Glades just the way they were. Yet there were very few police officers there for security. If Blood had trouble getting security for the event, then he could have brought this up to Oliver, who could have had Diggle get some of his military friends to help with security, like they did with Oliver’s Christmas party in 4x09. Either Blood was hopelessly naïve or he was hoping The Mayor would show in order to take a public stand against him to gain support. Considering what we know about Blood’s character, I’m gonna go with option B.


	36. The League of Assassins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laurel gets advice from Dinah on her anger at Sara as the League pursues Sara.

_The memory set opened six years earlier as the 'Queen's Gambit' was sailing through stormy weather._

_Inside the yacht, Sara Lance lay back on Oliver's bed, clothed in only a thin shirt and lacy underwear, while she talked to her father over the phone._

_"Yeah, Dad, college is great." She lied. "No, me and my new roommate totally hit it off." She grinned at Oliver, who sat in a chair facing the bed. "We're like besties. Ok. Yeah, dad, I got to get back to chem lab."_

Tommy and Laurel scooted away from Laurel as they noticed the look on her face as she seethed.

 

_Oliver laughed quietly and rose, stalking playfully towards the bed. He whispered 'Get off the phone!' as Sara tried to wrap up the call. "Yes. It looks like I got a long night ahead of me." She giggled at Oliver. "Love you, Dad. Bye." She hung up and tossed the phone to Oliver, who in turned tossed it to the floor. "Ollie. You are trouble." She said with a smile._

_"How is Detective Lance?" Oliver asked._

_"Ah, he's clueless, as usual."_

“As usual!?” Laurel snarled and Tommy was thinking how far the door was from the couch while Thea measured that she just needed to outrun Tommy.

 

_She finished off her glass of white wine, then held it out to him for a refill. "Guess I was thirsty." Oliver walked over to refill her glass as more thunder boomed around them. Sara looked at the dimming lights in worry. "Did you hear that?" she asked nervously. "It's getting closer."_

“Here it comes again.” Thea muttered softly as Laurel tensed, her anger draining into apprehension.

 

_"That's not very scientific." Oliver said teasingly._

_"What would you know about science, Mr. Ivy League dropout?" she asked as he brought two glasses of wine to the bed._

_"I happen to know a lot about science." Oliver said, handing her a glass. "I know about fermentation. I know biology…" he trailed off as he kissed her. The broke apart and Sara leaned back smiling._

_"Laurel's gonna kill me." She said, putting the glass down on the nightstand. "Oh, she's so gonna kill me."_

_"Your sister will never know." Oliver assured her, pressing her down into the mattress. "Come here."_

_Sara laughed and they kissed some more, and suddenly there was a loud crack of thunder. Sara broke away, slightly panicked. "Ok, that one was really close." She said nervously._

_"Sara," Oliver said, grinning at the girl, "we're gonna be fine." Suddenly, without warning, the room seems to flip and suddenly the far wall became the floor. Oliver and Sara were thrown out of the bed, slamming into the wall. Oliver staggered to his knees, pulling himself up on the edge of the bed._

_"Sara?" he called out, looking around. There, across the room near the door lay Sara, a small cut on her head bleeding. She blinked in confusion, then look up and back at Oliver. She reached for him- but was suddenly swept from the room "Sara!" Oliver screamed as the water claimed him, too._

Laurel, Thea, and Tommy all winced at the scene. Damn Malcolm.

 

_In the stormy ocean, Sara shot back above water. She gasped for breath, frantically thrashing about trying to keep her head above the rolling waves. She looked around and saw the 'Gambit' slipping into the ocean; heard Oliver cry out for her. "Oliver!" she shouted futilely-_

_Then Sara gasped as she woke from the nightmare- one of the milder ones, she knew, but still unsettling. She looked around; taking a moment to recognize the room at Queen Manor that Oliver had lent her. Giving up sleep as useless, she threw on some clothes and padded downstairs. In the den, she found Oliver sitting on the couch, also awake, watching the news._

_'In sports, the international basketball league was busy last night with seven games on the schedule. The Cavaliers came up with a surprise upset…' Oliver looked up, sensing her presence. "Can't sleep?" he asked._

_"I don't do well with my eyes closed." She replied. "Hey, thanks for letting me stay here. I know you got a lot going on with your mom."_

_"Thea's mostly staying at her boyfriend's." Oliver explained, none too happy about THAT._

“Yeah, I’m sure he just loves that.” Roy drawled as Thea smirked and Tommy scowled.

 

“Probably as much as I do.” Tommy muttered.

 

_So… don't worry about anyone finding out that you're back."_

_"Thanks for understanding." Sara said._

_"I don't understand." He replied. "You know, not a day goes by that your family doesn't miss you." He told her._

_"Yeah? How do you know?" she asked snappily._

_"Because I missed you." He admitted._

As Laurel grumbled, Dinah debated reminding her about the time they called the cops before deciding not to…for now.

 

_Sara sighed. "I don't think they'll be as happy to see me as you think." She said._

_"How can you say that?" Oliver asked. "I know how hard it is to come home when you've been gone for so long."_

_She smiled sadly. "I'm guessing my father and Laurel weren't too happy to see you." She said._

_"No." Oliver chuckled. "No, not at first."_

_"I wasn't sure if you and she ever got back together." Sara wondered._

_"We tried." He admitted. "It's too much."_

_"Yeah some things, you know, it's better left in the past." Sara advised, then turned and headed back up to her room._

“Sara.” Laurel sighed sadly.

 

_The scene changed to the next day. At Iron Heights Moira, Janet and Thea sat across from Donner and his second on the case waiting for Oliver to arrive. Finally, though, Donner had had enough._

_"I'm done waiting for Mr. Queen. Let's get started." He said briskly._

_Just then, Oliver was escorted in. "Sorry I'm late. There's an old friend… in town." He trailed as he saw Laurel sitting next to Donner._

“What?” Laurel blinked.

 

“Our first case we were assigned was to Moira’s trail.” Dinah explained.

 

“That’s…unusual. Everyone knows about my relationship with the Queen family. It’s like someone is deliberately sabotaging the trial.” Laurel said confused.

 

Dinah refrained from saying anything. With great difficulty.

 

_"I just finished explaining to your mother and sister that Miss Lance will be sitting second chair for the prosecution." Donner said smugly._

_"This is a conflict of interest." Jean replied brusquely. "Miss Lance practically grew up in the Queen house."_

_"I think you're overstating matters." Donner shot back confidently._

_"Oh, we'll see when I move to conflict Miss Lance off this case." Jean replied. Oliver stared at Laurel in shock. Laurel, for her part, couldn't meet his eyes._

_"Maybe there won't be a case much longer." Donner said, reaching into his briefcase. "I come here not just with Miss Lance, but also with a plea offer." He pulled out the offer and slid it across to Jean. "Life, with the possibility of parole."_

_"No." Jean shook her head, sliding it back. "We are not pleading out. Mrs. Queen is innocent."_

_"She aided and abetted 503 homicides." Donner said._

“The guy’s an ass…but he’s not wrong,” Roy noted and Thea glared at him, “oh come on, you know I’m right.”

 

“…yeah.” Thea sighed.

 

_"Under duress from a homicidal maniac named Malcolm Merlyn." Jean reminded him. "She also withdrew from the criminal conspiracy prior to its execution."_

_"Five minutes prior." He replied sarcastically. "With Malcolm Merlyn dead, a jury's going to want to have to blame someone."_

_"If she doesn't take the deal, then she's facing the death penalty." Laurel added._

_"Sounds a lot like blackmail." Thea spat back at her._

“It’s not blackmail, it’s a lesser evil. All the people who lost something in The Glades are directing their anger on her. Your mother has become the face of The Undertaking and very well could lose this case. If I was a lawyer, I’d advise her to take the deal.” Diggle said as Thea paled as she grasped the situation.

 

_"Try reality." Donner said smugly. "And here's some more- we've subpoenaed over a decades' worth of phone messages, phone records, letters and emails. I'm willing to bet I find something that crushes your duress defense to powder."_

_"Mr. Donner If you don't mind, I'd like a few days to consider your offer." Moira said, speaking for the first time._

_"Of course." He said with a smile. He grabbed his case and rose, allowing the guard to open the door._

_Laurel quickly grabbed her things. "Excuse me." She said quietly, not making eye contact, and then hurried out after her boss._

_Oliver stared after her. "I'll be right back." He told the others, and then exited as well._

“Of course he’s running after you.” Thea teased.

 

“Shut up.” Laurel snapped as she flushed.

 

_Oliver caught up to her just after she exited the prison. "Laurel?" he called out, halting her in her steps. Both she and Donner turned towards him, and Oliver stopped right in front of Laurel, sending a glare at Donner that said 'I'll fuck you up right now if you don't leave.'_

_Donner took the hint. "I'll meet you at the car." He said, moving off towards their vehicle._

_After he left, Oliver turned on Laurel. "You're prosecuting my mother?" he asked incredulously._

_"I didn't ask for this case." She protested. "I was assigned."_

_"So say no!" Oliver demanded._

_"It's a new job, Oliver." She argued. "I don't have a lot of pull. And what pull I do have, I used to get that plea bargain for your mother." She added, hopeful._

_"This was your idea? Life in prison?" Oliver replied angrily. So much for hope._

_"The D.A. is serious about the death penalty, Ollie." She told him. "We both know what it's like to lose someone. So think about it and save your mother's life."_

“You may be spiraling, but you’re making a lot of sense.” Diggle noted.

 

“Thanks…I think.” Laurel said confused.

 

_Oliver stepped back and regarded her. "Are you ok?" he asked._

_She huffed in annoyance. "In case I wasn't clear last week I'm done answering that question." With that, she turned and walked off towards the car._

“And there I go, back to being in denial again.” Laurel said as Dinah grimaced at her past actions.

 

_The scene changed to the Queen Manor. Sara was in the foyer, circling around the small table set there and looking at the pictures displayed. She smiled at a picture of a young Oliver, then stopped and reached out to a picture of the 'Queen's Gambit'. She picked it up and stared at it, then looked past it to the sun shining through the windows, remembering…_

_The scene flashed back 6 years ago. Sara, having survived the sinking of the 'Gambit', lay on a piece of floating debris, half delirious from exposure and dehydration._

_Something catches her eye, and she turns her head to see a yellow canary land on another piece of floating detritus. The bird chirps happily at her, then flew away-_

_Heading towards a large steamer ship._

“Oh thank god.” Laurel sighed in relief, not noticing the dark look on Dinah’s face.

 

 “Not god, maybe the devil.” Dinah said and everyone looked at her startled.

 

“Is it really that bad?” Thea asked hesitantly.

 

“That freighter was only slightly less dangerous than Lian Yu.”  Dinah said grimly and Laurel looked concerned.

 

_Sara looked at the ship and felt hope for the first time in days. Weakly she started waving her arm and calling out to them. "Help! Help! Over here!"_

_"Sara?"_

_The scene flashed back to the present. "Sara." She looked up to see Oliver walking in, and hastily put the picture back down. "You ok?" he asked._

_"How did everything go with your mother?" she dodged._

_"I ran into your sister." He said with a frustrated sigh. "She's working on the case."_

_"You didn't tell her…"_

“Of course that’s her first thought.” Laurel grumbled.

 

_"No." he assured her with a tight smile. "I know a little something about keeping secrets and respecting them, even though I don't totally understand why you're keeping yours." She sighed and turned away, crossing her arms. Oliver moved around the table towards her. "Is this- is it because of what happened on the island?" he asked hesitantly._

_"No." she said, turning back towards him. "After. There were things that I did; things that I had to do to survive." She explained vaguely. "Things that there's no forgiveness for."_

“Her time in the League.” Diggle guessed and Dinah nodded.

 

“People like Ollie and my sister, even though they do what’s necessary, it’s not an easy weight to bear. Sometimes…it gets very hard for them.” Dinah said softly.

 

_"Well, that's the thing about forgiveness- you can't get it until you ask for it." He told her._

_Then the window over the front doors shattered as a man leapt through it. He landed on the banister in a crouch, and then jumped down to the floor. He rose; a sword in his hand, but Oliver was more stunned by his attire._

_He was dressed like Malcolm Merlyn had dressed, that night at Merlyn Global._

“Another member of The League?” Roy asked and Dinah nodded.

 

“The man who trained Malcolm.” Dinah said and everyone paled.

 

_"Merlyn?" he said in stunned disbelief._

_The man said nothing, merely attacked. He swung his sword at Sara, and she moved back. Oliver landed a kick to the back of his leg, and then ducked as the man swung the sword at him. They traded blows at a furious pace, and then he and Sara fell back to the sitting room, tossing a chair over to slow the assassin. The attacker leapt and rolled over the chair to pursue._

_Sara reached up and yanked down a long piece of solid wood molding, using it as an impromptu staff. She hit the man in the stomach, driving him back a few steps, but missed the follow up swing to the head. The Assassin brought the sword down at her head, but she used the staff to block it, allowing Oliver to land a solid punch to the assassin's head. The attacker struck back, sending Oliver crashing into the couch, then fended off Sara's attack. He grabbed the end of her staff with one hand and brought his sword down, cleaving through it. He used the broken piece against Oliver, smashing it into his head and sending him stumbling back, then whipped it around at Sara, stunning her and leaving her open for several quick jabs to the head with his sword hand. The added weight of the hilt stunned her even more, and he quickly sent her to the ground._

_Oliver grabbed a heavy candlestick holder off a table and renewed his attack, using it to block the assassin's sword and landing several blows to the man's head and chest. The assassin sent him stumbling back with a quick jab, then lashed out with his foot at Sara, kicking her in the jaw and sending her back to the ground. Oliver took advantage of his opponents' distraction and landed a clubbing blow to the back of the knee, then when he swung his sword around Oliver grabbed his arm, and bodily threw him over the couch and into a small end table. The impact stunned the man long enough for Oliver to stalk over and haul him to a sitting position, where he reached up and ripped off the man's mask. He looked at the Arabian man underneath the mask in confusion. "Who are you?" he demanded._

_"Just a warrior." He said. He looked past Oliver to Sara, who looked back in dread. Then he looked back at Oliver. "Like you." He replied._

_"Why are you dressed like Malcolm Merlyn?" he growled. "Huh? Who sent you?!"_

“Heir to the demon.” Dinah answered.

 

“Why?” Thea asked confused.

 

“You’ve actually met her.” Dinah said and it took Thea a moment to get it.

 

“Nyssa sent him?” Thea gasped and Dinah nodded.

 

“Why would Nyssa be after my sister?” Dinah demanded and was surprised to see a grin spread across Dinah’s face.

 

“I think it’s better you just see it.” Dinah said, spreading confusion with the amusement on her face.

 

_The man respond by throwing a dagger at the chandelier that was hanging over Sara's prone form. There was a bright flash as the power cord was cut, and the chandelier fell down to the ground, just missing Sara who rolled out of the way. It landed with a deafening crash, and when Oliver tuned back to the assassin, the man had disappeared._

_The scene changed to a short time later. Sara and Oliver, cleaned up, were in the Lair. Sara was looking around while Oliver sat at the evidence table, examining some he had collected from the attacker._

_Sara stopped in front of the glass case, looking at Oliver's uniform. "I remember the first time I saw this hood." She said in fond remembrance. "Shado was wearing it." She turned back to Oliver. "This is quite the set-up that you got here." She told him. "Where you're launching your one man war for Starling."_

“Crusade, yes, one man, no.” Roy noted.

 

_"I'm not one man." Oliver said, turning in his chair as Felicity and Diggle came into the room. "These are my friends. This is John Diggle and Felicity Smoak." He introduce., then looked to Sara. "Guys, this is Sara."_

_"Welcome home, Sara." Diggle said._

_"I was happy to hear you're not dead anymore." Felicity blurted out. "I mean, I didn't know you before you didn't die the first time. I'm still glad you're alive."_

_Sara smiled. "Thank you."_

_"We just had an uninvited guest in the Queen mansion." Oliver continued. "Trained. Highly skilled. And he was dressed like Merlyn."_

_That got their attention. "Well, the last I checked Malcolm Merlyn was dead, courtesy of an arrow jammed through his heart." Diggle noted._

_"It wasn't him." Oliver said. "It was a follower, an underling bent on revenge." Off to the side, Sara looked away awkwardly. "Whoever it was… he knows who I am." He finished, handing his evidence over to Felicity._

_"Gee, I didn't get you a bag of dirt." She joked, taking the bag. Olive rose and followed her over to her station as she sat down to begin analyzing the dirt._

_"I found it in the house." He told her. "Copycat Merlyn tracked it in. I want you to analyze it. Hopefully it'll lead me right to him."_

_"Then what?" Dig asked._

_"If this pretender wants to follow Malcolm Merlyn so badly, he can follow him right into a grave."_

_Oliver turned to the last person in the lair. "Sara? We'll find this guy." He promised._

_Sara stood tense, her arms crossed, still facing the glass case. "I don't want you to." She said suddenly, turning to face the group._

_Oliver looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked._

_Sara sighed. "He wasn't after you, Ollie. He's after me."_

“And now the truth will come out.” Tommy noted.

 

_Oliver sighed. "Who is he?"_

_"He's called Al Ow-al, 'The First'." She told him. "And he's a member of the League of Assassins."_

_Oliver stepped back in shock. "The League of Assassins?" Diggle said. "I thought they were a myth."_

_"What's the League of Assassins?" Felicity asked. "And please, don't say it's a league made up of assassins."_

_"No, it's an urban legend." Diggle explained as Oliver paced, struggling to come to terms with what he had just heard. "I heard about them in Afghanistan from a tribal leader. He claimed there was an ancient sect of assassins, deadly warriors that killed and vanished like ghosts." Dig shook his head. "Thought he was smoking what he was selling."_

_"I tried to tell you, Ollie, but you wouldn't listen." Sara said sadly._

_Oliver spun to face her. "That's where you've been the past four years." He said. "That's where you learned to fight. You're one of them."_

_Sara stared up at him sadly. "After the freighter, a member of the league rescued me; took me in and brought me to Nanda Parbat. They remade me into what I am." She told him. "And I swore them my allegiance."_

_"Why are they kicking down doors trying to find you now?" Dig asked._

_She looked over at the bodyguard. "Because I left." She said. "And there's only way that you leave the league."_

“Death.” Laurel breathed and Dinah nodded.

 

“When you join the League, you don’t just swear your allegiance, you swear your life. Past, present, and future.” Dinah explained.

 

“They sound like a real pleasant group.” Roy said sarcastically.

 

_"Is that why you didn't want to see your family?" Oliver asked._

_Sara sighed and turned back to him. "A year ago, I was in Guyana. I was sent there for a man named Suarez. He was a local diplomat. And I slit his throat." She explained, looking over at Dig and Felicity. "In his bed. And his kids…" she shuddered. "They found his body in the morning." She looked up at her former lover. "I'm a murderer, Ollie. You think that my family will be happy to see me?"_

“Good god.” Tommy breathed as they all stared in horror.

 

“What Sara is leaving out is that Suarez was very…involved in war profiting. He made under the table deals with other countries, promising to help them then bailed out. The number of people who died because of him is astounding. Ra’s al Ghul may be a bastard, but the League never killed anyone who didn’t deserve it.” Dinah explained.

 

“Yeah, but to let his kids find his body.” Laurel said disturbed and Dinah shrugged.

 

“Never said they were perfect.” Dinah said.

 

_Oliver stared back, but his phone buzzing grabbed his attention. He pulled it out and looked at and saw a text from Thea- ::Where Are You?:: "I have to go to Iron Heights." He said, putting the phone back into his pocket. "Felicity, I need you to find this Al Ow-al." he looked briefly back at Sara, then turned and walked out._

_Sara stared back, but her mind was in a different place._

_-6 Years Ago-_

_"Thank you, thank you." Sara was said as she was led through the dimly lit corridors of the Amazo, escorted by two pirates._

_"What were you doing out there?" the leader asked._

_"The boat that I was on, and we got caught in the storm." She stammered out. Annoyed, the pirates grabbed her by the arms and started dragging her along. "Wait, wait, wait, guys!" she screamed in a panic. She tripped and started to fall, so the two men simply lifted her off her feet and walked with her down the corridor. "Wait! I-Robert Queen. Robert Queen. It was his boat, and-and- he'll pay whatever you want, please!" she begged. They dragged her into the main area of the ships, and she looked on in horror as she saw all of the cells. "Please, please! Please, no! Please, please!" They dragged her over to one and threw her in, slamming the door shut and ignoring her cries. "Please, no! No! You've made a mistake. Please let me out!" she cried._

“Damn.” Roy said as Laurel winced.

 

_The scene flashed back to Iron Heights. Oliver was let into the visitor's room, entering just as Thea exclaimed "You cannot be serious!"_

_"What's going on here?" Oliver asked._

_"She wants to take the deal!" Thea exclaimed._

_"Whoa!" Oliver turned to Moira. "If this is about the death penalty—"_

_"I've been explaining this to your mother." Jean said with a sigh. "Even if we ever get to sentencing, you were acting under duress. I have everything I need to keep them from sentencing you to death." She argued._

“But if this goes south, then she could die.” Roy pointed out and Thea paled.

 

_"The death penalty doesn't scare me, Jean." Moira said calmly._

_"Then why aren't you fighting?" Oliver asked._

_"I have my reasons."_

_"Name one." Thea demanded._

“Me.” Thea sighed.

 

_"Because I'm tired of fighting." Moira shot back tiredly. "I am not confident that I can win over a jury. And I'm not altogether certain that I deserve to."_

_"That was actually three." Thea growled._

_"Thea—"_

_"No, seriously, you're just ready to give up?!" she said hotly. "Just take your medicine and spend the rest of your life in here. We still need you. I still need you!" she emphasized. Thea shook her head and threw up her hands. "I-I can't take this." Thea said, storming out of the room. Jean sighed, and walked out after her. Moira sat down, tiredly._

_Oliver regarded his mother. "Growing up I didn't think that there were secrets kept between us." He started. "Last year I learned different. And I've gotten pretty good at knowing when you're hiding something from me." He took her hands in his. "So, Mom… what are you hiding now?"_

_Moira stared back at her son. "Help your sister come to terms with my choice, because it's made." She told him, to his disappointment._

“Of course she won’t tell the truth. She’ll dress it up as protecting me when it comes out, but it’s about saving her own ass.” Thea growled.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Felicity was running an analysis on the dirt._

_Sara walked over to her. "Sorry if I upset you before." She told Felicity._

_"We all join clubs we wish we hadn't." Felicity replied. "It took me a year to get out of that gym membership."_

“Yeah, not even close to the same thing Blondie.” Roy drawled.

 

_Sara chuckled. "Thank you."_

_Felicity looked up at the former assassin. "For what?"_

_"Not making me feel like what I am." Sara said earnestly. "Oliver's lucky to have you both as friends. He hasn't always had the best luck in that area."_

“What does she mean by that?” Tommy asked wearily.

 

“You’ll know before we head to bed tonight.” Dinah promised.

 

_Diggle looked up as Oliver made his way down the stairs. "How'd it go with your mother?" he asked._

_"Not well." Oliver replied tersely. He walked over to Felicity. "Have you found somebody for me to hit yet?"_

_"Could be." She sat at her computer and pulled up a map of the city. A location was marked per her results. "Spectro analysis of the dirt from your house had trace amounts of aldicarb in them."_

“What?” Thea asked confused.

 

_"What?" he asked in confusion._

“Not a word.” Thea glared at the snickering Tommy and Roy.

 

_"It's a pesticide. Starling City used to have its own aldicarb plant, but per the EPA, it was shut down three years ago."_

_"What's it being used for now?" Oliver asked._

_"Nothing." She replied. "It's abandoned. But my guess is, it's the home base to one League of Assassins assassin."_

_Oliver walked over to the weapons case and grabbed his bow. Sara was right behind him. "He will kill you." She said._

_"Like you, I am not that easy to get rid of." Oliver shot back._

_"This is my fight."_

_"He made it my fight when he came into my house." He looked her in the eye. "And when he threatened somebody that I care about."_

“Well, at least he’s not letting her fight alone.” Laurel admitted and Dinah sighed, deciding now was the time.

 

“Hey,” Dinah called out and Laurel looked over at her, “I know your anger about what happened was stirred up by the flashbacks...but don’t get to angry at her. What she did wasn’t completely unjustified. Remember the party, calling the cops on Sara?”

 

“Oh.” Laurel said deflating slightly.

 

“Yeah. What Sara did to us was terrible, but we are not innocent. We screwed her so she screwed us. But at the end of the day, she is our sister. Trust me, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.” Dinah said sadly and Laurel’s blood ran cold.

 

“Sara, she’s…”

 

“Four years ago, same time Ollie died.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

“Oh.” Laurel said softly as everyone stood in silence.

 

“But that’s why you’re here; to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Dinah said and Laurel nodded as Dinah unpaused the recording.

 

_The scene changed to the aldicarb plant. Inside, Al Ow-al was sharpening his sword on a whetstone. He finished and lifted the blade, running his hand gently over it to inspect it. Suddenly, he sensed another presence in the factory and smiled. Without turning, he caught the arrow that would have split his skull… then turned with a grin._

_"Arrows. Such an ineffective projectile." He called out. "I find it strange anyone who still fears them."_

_"I'll show you why- if you don't leave Sara Lance alone." The Arrow called out from the shadows. "This is your only warning."_

_"And it would be effective, were you to pose a threat to me." He called back cheerfully. "You barely defeated Malcolm Merlyn at nearly the cost of your own life." He pointed out. He came around a corner and saw The Arrow standing on a small ledge above him "What hope would you have against the man who trained him?" he asked._

_"Helps that I didn't come alone." Oliver replied._

_Al Ow-al turned to see The Canary standing on a catwalk behind him, her staff slung over one shoulder. "The child of Ra's al Ghul awaits your return." He called out to her._

“Okay, seriously, why is Nyssa so obsessed with Sara?” Tommy demanded and Dinah flashed a wicked smile.

 

“No spoilers.” She said simply.

 

_"I'm not going back." Sara said._

_"That's not your choice." Al Ow-al replied. "I have orders to return you- alive or dead."_

_"You're not going to kill me." Sara said._

_"You overestimate your importance." He said. "Regardless, you're coming back with us."_

_Oliver didn't miss it. "Us?" he growled._

_Al Ow-al turned back to Oliver with a grin. "Like you, I did not come alone."_

“Oh boy.” Tommy said as they all tensed.

 

“Sara should have warned him. The League is like the wolf population around the world: they tend to hunt in packs.” Dinah said.

 

_Two more assassins climbed down from the rafters, flanking Sara. She took a beat to look at both before beginning the fight. As she took on the two, Oliver fired an arrow at the leader, who dodged neatly out of the way. Knowing arrows wouldn't make a difference, she jumped down, engaging the assassin in hand to hand combat. He blocked his sword with his bow and punched back. The group moved on two levels, trading blows but never landing a critical hit. Al Ow-al swung high, but Oliver duck and his sword punctured a steam pipe. Oliver followed that up with a low kick that sent the assassin sprawling to the floor. On the catwalk, Sara was holding her own, but one of the assassins finally managed to slash her in the back. Sara cried out in pain, drawing Oliver's attention. He quickly fired an arrow that took away one of the assassin's blades, allowing Sara to knock him down. Oliver then fired a zip line, then rode it up, grabbing Sara as he went. They rose to the roof, crashing through the skylight as Al Ow-al looked up at them escaping._

_"If you will not return willingly, we'll stay to bury your family." he called out._

“Bad move.” Roy noted.

 

“One thing you never do if you want to live against Ollie and my sister is threaten their families.” Dinah said.

 

_The scene changed to the lair some time later. Sara was leaned over a table, her shirt off and her face impassive as Oliver stitched her up. Felicity looked on, slightly queasy. "You're not even flinching when he…" she started._

_"Pain and I came to a little understanding few years back." Sara said simply._

“Sara.” Laurel said sadly, wondering what kind of pain and suffering her sister had gone through.

 

_Oliver finished and touched her on the shoulder. "Done." He said. He turned away and moved over to Diggle as Felicity handed Sara a new shirt. "The League of Assassins." He whispered to him. "Why wouldn't she tell me what happened to her all those years?" he wondered._

_"Probably the same reason why you didn't tell us what happened to you on the island." Dig observed._

_Oliver sighed. "We need to protect the Lances." He said. "I'll take Laurel."_

_"What can I do?" Sara asked._

_"Nothing." He said at once. "You're hurt, and you need to stay here."_

_"What about my father?" she asked._

_"I'll go talk to Detective Lance." Felicity offered._

_"Tell him he needs to get out town for a couple of days." Oliver directed._

“Yeah, because he’ll listen to the blonde IT girl. You have a better chance of Dig just watching out for him discreetly.” Roy noted.

 

“Oliver overestimated Felicity’s abilities.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"Please don't tell him about me." Sara pleaded._

_"I can keep a secret." Felicity said, winking at Oliver. "Just ask him."_

_She watched as the pair left, then turned to Diggle. "You three are quite the team." She offered._

_Dig smiled. "We have our moments." He replied._

_6 Years Ago_

_Sara lay in her cell, cold and alone. Her eyes snapped open as she heard men banging on her cell door. "Get up." The pirate ordered as he opened the door. His partner stalked into the cell._

_"Get back." She said, panicked. He ignored her and grabbed her arm, yanking her up. "No, no, please!" she yelled as he dragged her out of the cell. The two men started dragging her across the room towards four other men. She started struggling even harder. "Please, please, no!"_

_"The more you struggle; the more it'll hurt." The pirate said._

“You stay the hell away from my sister you bastard.” Laurel snarled, glaring at the screen along with everyone else.

 

_"No, no, please! Please!" she screamed._

_"Wait." A new voice said. The men parted to reveal another man, white with graying hair dressed in casual clothes and a windbreaker. "Let her go." He ordered._

“Thank god.” Laurel sighed in relief.

 

“Once again, not a god. More like a demon. Saving Sara was the one good thing he ever did.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_The pirate sneered at the man. "You don't give me orders." He growled._

_"No, that would be the Captain." The man said, walking forward towards the pirate. "But he works for me. Doesn't he?" he asked rhetorically. The pirate growled in annoyance, but obeyed, throwing Sara at him. He caught her and wrapped his arm around her._

_"Help me, please!" she begged._

_"Come here." He told her softly, leading her out of the cell block and away from the would-be rapists._

“He’s very clever. Starting the brainwashing process by presenting himself as a savior. I wouldn’t be surprised if he staged that scene.” Dinah mused.

 

“Brainwashing?” Laurel said lowly.

 

“He spent a year molding her, turning her into his loyal little pet.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

_The scene flashed back to the present. Quentin Lance walked down the dark street towards his apartment while leaving a message for his older daughter._

_"Laurel, listen, it's your father-again." He was saying. "Ok, now listen, I know you're still mad at me after what I said when you got pulled over last week, but it's not right, us not talking. So please, just- just call me, ok?" he hung up the phone, then sighed as he looked up and saw Felicity Smoak moving towards him._

_"Detective Lance!" she said breathlessly. "I knew you'd be getting home around now because your shift has ended. Which I knew because I kind of pinged your cell phone." She admitted._

“She realizes she just admitted to spying and stalking a cop, right?” Roy asked.

 

“Either she thought she was safe from dad or she just didn’t care. Neither one would surprise me.” Dinah admitted.

 

_Lance sighed tiredly, walking past her towards his apartment. "Miss Smoak."_

_"You have cockroaches and they mean business." She started._

_"Since when did you start making house calls?" he asked._

_"Since you're in danger." She replied._

_"I'm not afraid of cockroaches." He said, still walking and ignoring her._

_"Yes, you're in real danger!" she exclaimed, grabbing him by the shoulder and spinning him to face her. He looked down at her hand and she quickly removed it. "You need to get out of town for a couple days." She told him._

_"Listen, I'm in danger every time I put on this uniform, so you're going to have to be a little more specific." He told her._

_Felicity took a breath. "There's an organization called the League of Assassins and three of its members are targeting you." She said. She noted his look and sighed. "It sounded a little less crazy in my head."_

“She’s not making a very good case.” Laurel said frustrated.

 

“No one ever said Felicity could give a convincing argument.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"I doubt it." Lance said, moving to enter his building again. Again, he was stopped by her grabbing his arm._

_"Malcolm Merlyn was apparently a member." She said in a rush. "That should give you some sort of idea about the type of people we're dealing with."_

“That’s still not very convincing.” Tommy groaned.

 

_"Ok, I'll bite." Lance said, turning back fully towards her. "What did I do to piss them off?"_

_Felicity froze. “That…um…that is a really long story.” She said lamely. “You just…you need to trust me. You’re not safe here in Starling City.”_

_Lane sighed. "Smoak, nobody's safe, ok?" he said. "Especially not us cops. We get shot at for a living. And my shift? It just ended." He turned back to the building and opened the door._

_"Detective Lance!" she called out._

_“Good night.” He called through the closed door._

_“Wait, you need to listen to me!” She called out._

_“Good night, Ms. Smoak.” He said, trudging up the steps._

_"So I guess this means you're not leaving town?" she said, watching his back as he climbed the steps._

“What do you think?” Laurel snapped, worry shooting through her.

 

_The scene changed to the D.A.'s office. Laurel was shutting down her computer for the night when Oliver came in._

_"Evening." He said with a smile._

_"I should have said this earlier, but it's not appropriate for us to be discussing your mother's case." Laurel said at once._

_"Actually, I was in the neighborhood, so I thought that I would swing by and see if I could give you a ride home and maybe get a bite to eat." He said._

_Laurel sighed as she hefted her purse. "It's been a long day." She said. "I don't need an even longer night of you trying to talk me out of your mother's plea agreement."_

_"Laurel." Oliver said, getting her attention. "I promise, this has nothing to do with my mother's case. You've had a rough couple of weeks." He continued. "You really going to tell me you couldn't use a friend?" he smiled at her, and she returned it. He took her arm. "Come on." He said, leading her out._

“He was right; I could have used a friend.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Diggle looked up as Felicity walked in. "Hey. How'd it go?" he asked._

_"Badly." She said, tossing her coat onto her chair before dropping into it. "He either didn't believe me or didn't take me seriously." She sighed. "In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have led with League of Assassins." She looked up at Dig. "What do we do now?"_

_Sara made the decision for them by grabbing her coat and hat._

_"What are you doing?" Felicity asked._

_"Oliver told you to stay put." Dig added. "I thought you didn't want your father to know you're still alive."_

“You can’t tell a Lance what to do.” Dinah said as she and Laurel smirked.

 

_"I don't." she replied as she walked to the exit. "But it's better than him not being." She stopped, staring as Dig slipped a fresh clip into his gun. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked._

_"With you." Dig replied, tucking the gun into his waistband. "I'm not going to let you go out there without any back-up."_

_"Dig, you may be a three tour Special Forces veteran, but I was trained by the people that make the Special Forces look like a kindergarten class." She said harshly. "So step aside or get put down."_

_Dig stared at her, but then stepped aside. "It's your funeral, Sara." He said._

_"It wouldn't be my first." She said, walking past him._

Dinah flinched as memories of Sara’s next two funerals flashed through her mind.

 

_The scene changed to Lance's apartment building. Lance walked out, intending to head to his car but as he looked around the darkened streets, Felicity's warning came back to him. He paused, looking around but saw nothing. He moved on to his car, and had just about reached it when a small group of kids crossed the street behind him, chattering loudly and startling the cop. He watched them go, and then shook his head in annoyance. He pulled out his keys, and then froze as he sensed someone behind him._

_He may have thought Smoak was a bit loony, but he didn't completely ignore her warning. As fast as he could, he jammed his keys back into his pocket and reached for his gun, drawing and spinning around to see a female figure shrouded in darkness. After a moment's hesitation, she moved forward, revealing herself as Sara._

“Well shit.” Roy breathed as they all stared.

 

“So did not expect her to do that.” Tommy admitted.

 

_Quentin shook his head, his gun still fixed on her. "No, it can't be. It can't be Sara." He said in a raspy voice._

_"It's me." She said tearfully. "It's Sara." She staggered over to him, her emotions running wild, and gently reached up and pushed his gun down. "Daddy… It's ok."_

_"Sara?" she collapsed into his arms. "Sara?" he said again, unable to believe it. Finally he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "Sara!" he cried as the tears started to fall._

_The scene changed to a small Chinese restaurant. The waitress behind the bar came over to take their order, speaking in rapid-fire Mandarin. Sara replied in kind, and the waitress moved off._

_"You speak Chinese now?" Quentin said, surprised._

_"Picked up a couple things in the past few years." Sara replied._

_Lance sighed. "Yes." He looked at his daughter, trying to make himself believe this was real. "Why didn't you let us know that you were alive?" he asked finally. "I mean, your mother and I, we…" he sighed again. "We missed you. And your sister did, too." He continued. "You know that, right?"_

_"I know you got divorced." She said._

_"Yeah." He said. "But it wasn't your fault. That was on me."_

_"Because of me." Sara countered. "I'm sorry."_

_"It's all right." Lance said at once. "None of that matters now. You know why? 'Cause you're home, sweetie, you're home."_

_Suddenly there was a loud bang and Sara leaped up, the dinner knife in hand, scanning for threats. Down the counter, the waitress looked back at her warily as she put the napkin dispenser she had dropped back on the counter._

“Well, that’s one way to let him know something’s up.” Roy said dryly.

 

_Lance looked at his daughter in alarm. "Are you in trouble?" he asked as she sat back down. "Huh?"_

_"No, Dad. You are." She said sadly._

_He looked at her, his mind processing the facts. "You sent Felicity Smoak to warn me to leave town." Lance said, piecing it together. "You know the Arrow." He looked her in the eyes. "You're the girl in the mask." He deduced. "You've been kicking the crap out of creeps in the Glades. You've been home for weeks."_

_"Tell me something- if these assassins, if they hadn't shown up, would you have ever let us know that you were alive?" he asked._

_"No." she replied honestly._

“Well, at least she was honest about it.” Laurel sighed sadly.

 

_Lance sighed. He took a few moments to pull himself together. "Felicity said that these guys were part of a league of something. What do they want with you?" He asked._

_"What all assassins want- to terminate their objective." Sara replied._

_"Oh, this is crazy." Lance said, dropping his head to the counter._

_"Dad, we have to go." Sara said, rising and grabbing her jacket._

_"No, we are not going anywhere." Quentin shot back. "Not until you sit down and you tell me exactly what you've gotten yourself into."_

_Sara grabbed his hand. "You are an amazing cop and you are strong and decent and honest." She told him, her eyes wet. "But these men, they will cut you down before you can lift a finger. Now please. Come with me." She pleaded. Lance sighed, but rose and allowed Sara to lead him out._

“At least he’s listening.” Thea said optimistically but Laurel didn’t relax an inch.

_6 Years Ago_

_The man led Sara into a large room in the rear of the ship. "I'm afraid it's not much, but, uh It's home." He said, turning to close and lock the hatch behind him._

_Sara spun and looked at him fearfully. "Why did you lock the door?" she stammered out, eyes wide._

_The man instantly realized what it looked like. "No, no, no, no. It's not because…" he held out a calming hand and sighed. "It's just a habit." He told her. "My shipmates aren't exactly the nicest bunch." He walked down the small staircase to the center of the room. "Please, come in. Have a seat." He offered. Sara timidly followed him down and sat in the comfortable looking seat while the man walked over to a desk._

_He was flipping through his notes, but looked back when he heard her crying. Sighing, he grabbed a stool and walked back to Sara, setting the stool down in front of her before taking a seat. "My name is Ivo." He said, introducing himself. "Dr. Anthony Ivo. And you are?"_

_"Sara." She said softly._

_"Nice to meet you, Sara."_

_"Why do you keep those people down there in those cells?" she asked._

_"It's my work." Ivo said. "I need them."_

_"What work?"_

_He paused a moment before speaking. "I am going to save the human race, Sara." He said, and then leaned in close. "Maybe you can help me."_

“And the brainwashing begins.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“So he was lying?” tommy asked.

 

“I’m sure he thought he was going to save the world but that was just a side benefit. His true motivation was much more…personal. But he told Sara what she needed to hear in order to trust him. To an extent anyway.” Dinah said darkly.

 

_The scene flashed back to the present, where Oliver was walking Laurel back up to her apartment._

_"I noticed you didn't have a drink at dinner." He said pleasantly._

_"No. I didn't." she replied, a bit smugly. "So will you now admit that you and my father overreacted last week when you thought that I was becoming a drunk?"_

_"I am prepared to admit that I care about you." Oliver hedged._

_"Is that why you insisted on walking me to my door?" she asked coyly._

“Oh. I have a feeling I won’t take this well.” Laurel said uncomfortably.

 

“You’d be right.” Dinah sighed.

 

_"You know me." Oliver replied. "I just wanted to make sure you were safe."_

_"This is safe." She said with a smile, leaning in for a kiss._

_He pulled back. "This..." he said, holding her gently away. "We shouldn't."_

_Laurel looked at him in confusion. "Then why did you come all the way up here?" she asked._

_"I'm really sorry if I was sending the wrong message." Oliver started._

_"No! No, no, I got the message." Laurel said, sobering instantly. "I get it loud and clear every day. Run. Run, run away from Laurel, run as fast as you can."_

_"Laurel, come on." He tried._

_"Sara… she got on 'The Gambit' with you." She said. "My father, he- he climbed into a bottle. My mother, she-she climbed into her car and she drove away, and then Tommy…" she took a shuddering breath. "What is so wrong with me that everybody leaves?"_

“Laurel…” Tommy didn’t know what to say.

 

“god.” Laurel sighed.

 

“It had been building up for a long time, I’d been holding in all the pain and resentment until it exploded. Tommy dying just let it all come flowing out.” Dinah explained sadly.

 

_"I will never leave you." He promised._

_"Until you do." She said sadly. She turned to go into her apartment- only to see the door was slightly ajar. She looked at it, frowning. "I thought I locked that." She said._

_Oliver looked at the door warily. "Stay here." He told her. Cautiously, he entered the apartment. He moved slowly through the darkened apartment, and his frown turned into a scowl when he saw the blade stuck into the frame of a door._

“They were in my home.” Laurel paled.

 

“Yeah.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"Ollie?" Laurel called, walking into the apartment. Oliver quickly took the blade out of the wall and held it behind his back out of her sight. "Anything?" she asked._

_"All good." He said. "I have to go." He said softly._

_"Listen, I'm sorry about what I said—"_

_"Don't be." Oliver replied, gently touching her arm. "Just stay here." He smiled and walked out, closing the door behind him. Laurel sighed and dropped her purse onto the end table, then opened it to pull out her bottle of Oxycodone. She popped a few pills and closed her eyes, feeling the drugs beginning to take effect._

“And now I’m going from alcohol to drugs.” Laurel groaned.

 

“I told you, we hadn’t even gotten to the edge of the abyss yet.” Dinah told her.

 

_Out in the hall, Oliver was calling the Lair. "Felicity, Al Ow-al was at Laurel's place." He said when she picked up._

_"What? Is she ok?" she asked._

_"She's fine." Oliver replied. "Looks like he moved on before we got there."_

_"But if Laurel's not his target…" Felicity started._

_"He's after Lance, and I need a location now." Oliver finished._

“Oh my god.” Laurel breathed as she paled even further.

 

“Relax, Ollie gets there in time. And he’s got Sara there to protect him.” Dinah told her soothingly.

 

_Felicity quickly pinged Lance's phone, and then relayed the coordinates to Oliver._

_The scene changed to the Clock Tower. "Well, I can't believe I didn't think to look for you up here." Lance said as Sara led him in to her hideout._

_"It's a good vantage point." She said. "You can see the whole city."_

_"Like a bird on a wire." Lance said dryly._

_Sara chuckled. "Where I was, they have you choose a new name." she said. "I chose Ta-er al-Sahfer. It's Arabic. For Canary."_

“I could never figure out why she loved that thing so much.” Laurel said in a choked voice.

_"I bought you that Canary when you were ten." Lance noted, watching as Sara moved around, gathering up equipment._

_"I was as far from home as you can get, but I never forgot where I came from." She said. She turned back to her father. "You know how they say the first thing you forget about somebody when they're gone is their voice?" she asked. "You can remember their face, and the way they move, but you can't hold on to the way they sound." She touched him gently on the cheek. "I never forgot your voice, Dad."_

_Sweetheart—" he started._

_"We're out of time." Sara said, sensing more people in the room. She spun, whipping out her staff, to face Al Ow-al and his two minions._

“Not good.” Tommy said alarmed.

 

“You think?” Laurel snapped, worry flooding through her.

 

_Lance stepped back, drawing his gun._

_"So, this is where you wanted your father to die." Al Ow-al said._

_"What the hell, Sara, who are these guys?" Lance demanded._

_"Associates of your daughter, Officer Lance." Al Ow-al said._

_"Well, she always did have the worst taste in friends." Lance noted sarcastically._

_"Did you really think we weren't going to find you here?" he asked._

_"No." Sara said, holding her staff out in front of her with both hands. "I knew you would."_

“She wanted them to find her there?” Laurel asked stunned.

 

“She had the strategic advantage. And she figure, while she engaged them, Dad could shoot one.” Dinah explained.

 

_"Go!" Al Ow-al Ordered. The two minions rushed at Sara and Lance-_

_Only for one to get caught in a rope snare. He was pulled upside down and five feet into the air, leaving Sara to face Al Ow-al and Lance to face the second minion._

_Lance opened fire, but the assassin leapt and dodged, slipping around the bullets with contemptuous ease. Sara split her staff in two and used the pieces as escrima sticks, pressing the attack against the more experienced assassin. She landed a hard blow against his face, spinning around him and maneuvering him to just the right place. Al Ow-al stepped on a loose board, which in turn activated a nail gun. The gun fired a burst of nails into the man's thigh, sending him to his knees. He looked up at Sara, who stood with her escrima sticks at the ready._

“Looks like the student has become the master.” Tommy said smugly.

 

_"You should be mindful of your surroundings." She advised. Al Ow-al forced himself back to his feet and resumed the attack. Sara attacked with a new found ferocity, but in the end she was no match for his skill. He landed a slice against her calf, sending her to her knees, and then placed his sword at her neck. In the meantime, the second assassin finally managed to cut himself down._

Laurel sat up straighter, panic racing through her as she worried for her sister.

 

_Al Ow-al pulled off his hood and stood, staring contemptuously at Sara-_

_Then an arrow flew through the glass face of the clock, embedding on the far wall._

_A moment later The Arrow arrived, sliding in on his zip line. He landed in a kneeling skid, taking Al Ow-al's feet out from under him, then attacked the second assassin, blocking the man's axe's with his bow and beating him down with ease. With renewed fervor, Sara also managed to take down Al Ow-al, trapping his neck under her staff._

“Thank god Ollie.” Laurel sighed in relief.

 

“No kidding.” Thea said tiredly.

 

_Off to the side, the third assassin was beating down Lance, who had run out of ammo. Lance landed hard on his back as the assassin towered over him._

_"Guns are a coward's weapon." He spat. "What are you without your side arm?"_

_In reply, Lance pulled out his back-up piece- a snub-nosed .38 revolver, and shot the man once in the heart. "A guy with a spare." He quipped dryly, forcing himself to his feet._

“Nice.” Roy whistled impressed.

 

_He staggered out, standing next to the Arrow, looking at his daughter holding Al Ow-al at her mercy._

_"You think because you are the beloved you will be granted your freedom?" he assassin spat._

_"There's only one freedom." Sara said coldly. "Let me grant you yours." With that, she snapped his neck, then dropped him to the floor, dead._

“Damn.” Tommy said as Laurel recoiled, stunned by her sister’s brutality.

 

_She stalked over to the second assassin, grabbing him the same way she had held Al Ow-al._

_"You don't have to do this." Oliver said. "It's over!"_

_"Not yet." She spat._

_"Sara, baby, don't…" Lance said helplessly._

_"Tell Ra's al Ghul that my family is off limits." She told the second assassin. "His quarrel is with me." She threw him to the ground, and in an instant he was out the broken clock face, escaping on the same zip line Oliver had rode in on._

“As if Ra’s would listen to that.” Diggle scoffed.

 

“The message wasn’t going to Ra’s.” Dinah said vaguely.

 

_Sara tossed Oliver her staff. "I'm sorry you saw that." She told her father, not looking him in the eye. She was too ashamed for that. "I can't imagine what you must think of me."_

_"I think you're a survivor." Lance said at once. "I think you're one of the bravest people I've ever known." She looked up at him. "You're my daughter. It's time for you to come back home." He said, pulling her into a hug. She let him hold her for a moment before pulling away._

_"I can't." she said sadly._

_"Why not?" he demanded._

_"They are never going to stop looking for me." Sara said._

_"I'll protect you. We'll protect you." He looked back to the Arrow, who was standing silently behind him. "Tell her it's safe to stay."_

“He can’t because it isn’t.” Diggle said sadly.

 

_"Dad," she brought his attention back to her. "If they hurt you or Laurel or mom, then I really would die." She said._

_"But they need to know." Lance said._

_"They can't. They can't, Daddy." Sara protested._

_"Why not?"_

_"You know why! I came back to make sure that my family was safe, and you are." She explained. "But if they knew I was alive, Laurel and mom, they would never stop looking for me, and that could get them both killed."_

_Lance pulled her to him again. "I can't let you go." He said, breaking down. "I can't let you go!"_

_"I have to-Dad, I have to-I have to go." She said pulling away, tears in her eyes as well. "I love you." She looked to Oliver. "Keep them safe." She said, before turning and running out._

“Sara.” Laurel said in a choked voice and Thea reached out and took her hand.

 

_"Detective," Oliver said through the voice changer, "She's right. You have to keep her secret."_

_"It's already the hardest thing I've ever had to do." Lance said sadly. "How do you live like this?" he asked the vigilante._

“Not easily.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_Oliver had no answer._

_The scene changed to Iron Heights. Oliver and Thea entered the visitor's room and have a seat at the table their mother is already occupying._

_"I never mind getting a visit from my children, but I know why you're here." She said at once._

_"We just have one more thing to say." Oliver began._

_"Oliver, we've already been through this." She said. "I am not going to change my mind."_

_"This is about me changing mine." Oliver interrupted. "Because I thought that you didn't want to go to trial over a secret. Then I caught up with an old friend, and I watched as she struggled to tell her family hers, because she was afraid… that they wouldn't love her if they knew the truth." He told her._

_"Whatever you are worried about, it will not make us love you any less." Thea added._

_"You don't know." Moira protested._

_"Who do you think you raised?" she shot back. "You taught us to be strong. That we could overcome any obstacle that we faced; to fight. Do you really think that we are going to scare that easily?" Thea asked._

_"Whatever comes out- you won't lose us." Oliver promised, taking her hand._

_"Ever." Thea added, adding her hand to theirs._

_"Wow." Moira said after a moment. "I'll instruct Jean to reject Mr. Donner's offer." She relented._

“Would have been a perfect opportunity to tell me right there.” Thea grumbled.

 

_The scene changed to the D.A.'s office. Lance stood outside, looking through the glass door at Laurel with a pensive expression on his face. Finally, he entered._

_"Hey." Laurel said, seeing him come in. "Dad. I know I owe you a phone call." She sighed wearily. "I have a lot of work. Can we- can we do this another time?" she begged._

_"I just had to see you, Laurel." Lance said sadly._

_Laurel was instantly worried. "Did something happen?" she asked. "Are you ok?"_

_"One day, honey, when you have a daughter of your own, you'll understand that being a parent, it means you just never stop worrying about your children." Lance said._

“He wasn’t wrong. I have worried about my little girl since the moment I first held her. You always worry about your kids.” Dinah told them.

 

_"Dad, I'm-I'm sorry I didn't call you back." She said. "I've-I've had a really long week, and-and I'm tired."_

_He placed a hand on her arm. "Are you all right?" he asked._

_"I don't know." She said after a moment. "I wish that there was- there was something, a ..." she sighed. "A sign that it gets better."_

_"It does, honey." Lance promised. "It gets better."_

_"How do you know?" she asked._

_Lance enveloped her in a hug. "I wish I could tell you, sweetie." He said after a moment. "I wish I could tell you."_

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver walked in carrying a pair of highball glasses and headed over to his munitions crate._

_"Where's Sara?" Diggle asked._

_"She left." Oliver said, opening the case._

_"You cool with that?" Dig pressed._

_"I didn't have much of a choice." He lifted a bottle of Russian Vodka. "An old friend gave this to me." He said, showing to to Diggle. "Said I would know when it was the right time to drink it."_

_"And now's the right time?"_

_"I'm not sure." Oliver admitted, pouring two glasses. "But I need a drink." He gave one to Diggle and raised his glass in salute. "Prochnost." He toasted. The two drank._

_"Hmm." Dig said, admiring the vodka._

_"So you were right." Oliver said._

_"Yeah, I usually am, Oliver." Dig said._

_Oliver laughed softly at that. "About what, specifically?"_

_"No matter how hard I try, Diggle, my past…" he shook his head ruefully. "It doesn't want to stay buried. I don't want to try so hard anymore." He set the glass down on the table. "The five years that I was gone- I wasn't always on the island…"_

“Wow, can’t believe that he told you that.” Thea told Diggle, who simply nodded surprised.

 

_5 Years Ago_

_Oliver was dragged to Ivo's quarters, where he was thrown down on the floor. The two pirates left, and Oliver struggled to push himself up. He paused when a pair of boots appeared in front of him. He continued looking up following the legs to the torso, to finally the head-_

_Of Sara Lance._

_"How are you—" he started, but was cut off by a sharp kick to his ribs. He collapsed back onto the floor as Sara stood over him, a knife in her hand._

_"Prisoners do not speak." She said, then turned and walked out, leaving a hurt and confused Oliver behind._

“Wait, did she…” Laurel trailed off, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

 

“She didn’t torture him or anything, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Dinah said as she put the remote down, “so who wants lunch?”


	37. Break four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea and Laurel both learn startling information as Olivia meets them both.

“So, Conner should be bringing the girls down for lunch any minute now.” Dinah told the time travelers as they all sat down for lunch.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Thea asked curiously.

“You want to know about Isabel.” Dinah said knowingly and Thea nodded.

“You said you’d explain why you and my mom hate her.” Thea reminded her.

“You’ll see why I hate her soon enough. As for your mom…that’s much easier to explain, though it won’t be easy for you to hear,” Dinah sighed before she continued, “when she was in business school, Isabel interned at Queen Consolidated. She was the pretty intern that caught the CEO’s eye.”

“She and my dad?” Thea asked disgusted while Tommy and Laurel looked shocked.

“Yes, she was his mistress, by far his most serious. He was planning on leaving your mom, you and Oliver for her when you fell off your horse.” Dinah told her gently.

“Dad…he stayed at my bed side all night.” Thea remembered and Dinah nodded.

“Yes. You falling off your horse gave him a much needed reality check about what was important in life. He ended it with Isabel, terminated her internship at Queen Consolidated, and never spoke to her again.” Dinah explained.

“And now she’s trying to take the company to get back at us because dad chose us?” Thea asked and Dinah laughed humorlessly.

“If only it were that simple. No, it’s a lot more complicated than that. You’ll see soon enough.” Dinah told her.

“Momma!”

Everyone looked over to see Olivia running towards them. Dinah stood up and picked her daughter up as Conner and Lian walked into the dining hall.

“Sorry, she got away from me.” Conner said apologetically.

“It’s alright. Are you being good for Conner?” Dinah asked as she looked at her daughter.

“Yes Momma. Who are they?” Olivia looked over at the time travelers, vaguely remembering them from breakfast. 

“These are Momma’s friends. Can you say hi.” Dinah asked her daughter.

“Hi.” Olivia waved slightly.

“Hey.” Tommy muttered softly, a lump in his throat at how much the girl looked like his best friend. 

“Hi.” Thea choked out, seeing both her brother and Laurel in the young girl while Laurel simply stared at her would-be-daughter.

“Olivia, why doesn’t Conner go get you and Lian something to eat?” Dinah said as she set her daughter down on the floor.

Oliver squealed and rushed over to her older brother. The two girls took his hands and Conner was dragged into the cafeteria where he would get them food. Everyone laughed a little before Dinah looked over at Laurel.

“Laurel, can we talk? Privately?” Dinah inquired.

“Um, sure.” Laurel said and got up and followed Dinah over to another table.

“Have you decided what to do with that recording I gave you?” Dinah asked as they sat down.

“To be honest, no,” Laurel said as she pulled out the device and stared at it, “I don’t like her. I think Ollie bringing her in would be a mistake. But…I don’t know, is that enough reason to use this?”

“Come with me.” Dinah said after a moment, standing up.

Confused, Laurel did as she was told. She allowed Dinah to lead her out of the dining hall. Dinah led into a room that Laurel recognized as the one she and the other time travelers had accidently wandered into that morning. The memory room, Conner had called it.

“I’m going to show you two memories,” Dinah said as she walked over to Cerebro and started pushing buttons, “memories that will show the true character of Felicity Smoak. The first memory is Ollie’s, taking place at the end of his third year back. In order to get Ollie to accept his offer, Ra’s ran Thea a sword through Thea, nearly killed her. But there are special waters In Nanda Parbat, they can bring the dead back to life, in rare instances. Take a look.”

Dinah pressed a button and the room around them changed. They were in some kind of loft. Oliver was there, packing a bag. The door behind him opened and Diggle and Felicity walked in.

“Oliver what’s going on?” Felicity asked.

“Oliver, where are you going?” Diggle demanded.

“Away.” Oliver said simply as he turned to them.

“Oliver, you can’t just take off, you have to tell us what’s going on.” Felicity said.

“There’s a way to save her.” Oliver explained.

“Who, Thea? Oliver, that’s not possible.” Felicity said sympathetically.

“Yes it is.” 

Dinah paused the memory as she looked over at Laurel, who was staring at Malcolm in complete shock.

“I probably should have prepared you for that.” Dinah said sheepishly.

“How?” Laurel demanded and Dinah sighed.

“Malcolm had resources everywhere in the city, including the coroners.” Dinah explained and Laurel nodded before the memory restarted.

“There are waters in Nanda Parbat; they’ve permitted Ra’s to live for years. And, in rare instances, told in legend, they’ve been used to restore the dead to life. He offered to use the Lazarus Pit on Thea, didn’t he?” Malcolm demanded as he walked into the room.

“Lazarus as in from the bible Lazarus?” Diggle demanded.

“It’s real John, I’ve seen it. I can save Thea.” Oliver told him.

“Right. Just as long as you become the new Ra’s.” Diggle said sarcastically.

“Well, even if a magic hot tub wasn’t crazy talk, we’re not gonna let you join the league of psychotic murders, even if it would save Thea!” Felicity shouted.

Dinah paused the memory, looking over at Laurel. Laurel opened and closed her mouth but no words came out. Dinah gave her time to process this and waited.

“She was willing to let Thea die just to keep Oliver.” Laurel said stunned and Dinah nodded.

“Yes. And that isn’t even the worst of it.” Dinah said.

“What could possibly be worse?” Laurel demanded.

“This next memory. It’s from a friend of mine, Ray Palmer. Ra’s ultimate plan was to wipe out Starling City, so he unleashed a deadly virus on the city. At the same time, Ollie was fighting Ra’s at the dam. Dad had some trigger happy officers ready to shoot Ollie that weren’t listening to him, so he called Felicity to warn her. Take a look.” Dinah said before she pressed a button.

The room around them changed again. There were in what looked like a high tech version of the CEO’s office at Queen Consolidated. Felicity was there, talking a tall, good looking, dark haired man with blue eyes as he did something on a monitor.

“Oliver’s in trouble, he needs help.” Felicity told him urgently.

“Felicity, if I can’t get the nanotech to disperse the inoculant, thousands of people in this city will die.” Ray told her.

“What? No, Ray, Oliver.” Felicity pleaded desperately.

Dinah paused the memory and looked over at Laurel. Laurel stared at the scene, horror written across her face.

“Did she just…” Laurel trailed off, not sure how to say it.

“Tell Ray to let thousands of people die in order to save Oliver? Yes. That is exactly what she did.” Dinah told her grimly.

I need to sit down.” Laurel fell back on her knees as Dinah turned off Cerebro, ending the memory.

“I need you to understand who Felicity really is,” Dinah said as she knelt down to look Laurel in the eyes, “she claims to care about people, to want to help them. But she’s lying. She wants to feel important because she never felt important growing up. She is an emotionally unstable individual who would let thousands of people die in order to save one person. She would condemn the world to save a single person. As far as I am concerned, that makes her as dangerous as Talia.”

“So, where did Dinah take Laurel?” Tommy asked as Thea sat at another table, playing with Lian and Olivia.

“You act as if I’m supposed to know these things,” Conner said as he took a bit of a donut, “Dinah tells us what to do, not the other way around. Be grateful you weren’t raised by her, man that’s an experience.”

“Was she bad?” Tommy asked confused

“Nope, just strict. Dad was the good cop, believe it or not.” Conner shrugged as he took a drink of coffee.

“You’re right, I don’t believe it.” Roy said as Dinah and Laurel walked into the room.

“Looks like Thea is enjoying her role as Aunt Thea.” Dinah noted as the pair watched Thea and Olivia talking animatedly.

“Hey, aren’t you worried that you messing with time this way could prevent Olivia from being born?” Laurel asked as the thought suddenly occurred to her. 

“It did occur to me yes,” Dinah admitted as she watched her daughter, “but time is constantly in motion. For all we know, doing this could allow Olivia to be born sooner. I am doing this for her Laurel. To create a world where she can know her father, where she can get spoiled by her Aunt Thea and Uncle Tommy. Where she can be surrounded by siblings and be dotted on by her grandparents. I want a better future for my daughter to grow up in, that’s why I’m doing this.” 

“I can get behind that.” Dinah said softly.

“Momma, come over here!” Olivia said as she excitedly gestured for her mother to come sit with he, Thea, and Lian.

“Come on.” Dinah led Laurel over to the table and the two sat down.

“Momma, this is my Aunt Thea!” Olivia said beaming.

“I know sweetie.” Dinah said as she stroked Olivia’s back.

“Momma, who’s this?” Olivia asked as she seemed to notice Laurel for the first time.

“This is Momma’s friend Laurel. Can you say hi.” Dinah asked as she looked over at Laurel.

“Hi Ms. Laurel.” Olivia waved.

“Hi.” Laurel said softly, smiling at the young child slightly.


	38. Keep your enemies closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diggle learns more about his brother's death as Team arrow, plus an uninvited guest, head to Russia to save Lyla.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Tommy wondered as he looked over at the females of the group.

 

“You are so better off not knowing. If you try to figure it out, it’ll end badly. When I was ten, I tried to snoop on what Dad and Dinah were planning for my eleventh birthday party. They heard me listening and I ran back to my room before they came out. But they knew, Dinah tripled my chores for the next week and dad was twice as hard on me in training for the next month.” Conner told him grimacing.

 

“Okay guys, lunch breaks over,” Dinah said as she stood up, “we need to get back to work.”

 

“Well, I guess I’ll see you all later,” Conner said as he stood up, “come on munchkins, let’s leave the adults to their work.”

 

Olivia and Lian jumped up and ran towards Conner, grabbing his hands and dragging him off.

 

“Cute kids.” Diggle said as they all stood up.

 

“Yeah, they are,” Dinah said with a soft smile, “let’s go.”

 

The six of them returned to the viewing room and retook their seats. Dinah picked up the remote and started the next recording.

 

_The memory set opened in the back alley of Verdant. Roy slipped out the back door of the club and walked down the alley, stopping at a familiar utility pole. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew the red flechette and jammed it into the wood before turning and walking back to the club._

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Felicity got off of the executive elevator and walked briskly towards Oliver's office, where Isabel was busy giving him a tongue lashing- and not the pleasurable kind._

“Oh great, it’s her again.” Thea grumbled, glaring at the screen, specifically at her father’s scorned lover.

 

_"You were supposed to sign this report at last night's board meeting." She was telling him. "You know why you didn't?"_

_"Probably because I didn't attend last night's board meeting." Oliver replied from his seat behind his desk._

_"Where were you?" she demanded._

_"I have other interests outside of this company." Oliver said bluntly._

“That’s the understatement of the year.” Roy drawled.

 

_"I don't." she shot back._

_"Mr. Queen—" Felicity tried to interrupt, but Isabel pressed onward._

_"I thought you were serious when you said we were partners." Isabel said._

_"Isabel, I missed one meeting." Oliver replied incredulously._

_"This week. Last week, it was two meetings." She replied hotly._

_"Mr. Queen." Felicity tried again._

_Oliver sighed and held up a finger, silently telling her to wait. Then he looked back to Isabel. "Companywide revenue is at double digits since you and I took over." He began._

_"Oliver!" she shouted, fixing both of their attentions on her._

_"Yes?" he said finally._

_"I'm sorry to interrupt your…" she gestured with her hands, "Grr! Um, I need to talk to you about your plans for this evening." She told him._

_At his look, she expounded as best she could with the company present. "With Mr. Harper?"_

_Oliver blinked, then rose from his seat and buttoned his jacket. "You'll have to excuse me." He told Isabel as he walked around his desk past her._

_"We have work to do." She said angrily. "It's important."_

“As much as I hate to admit it, she’s right. If Ollie does become CEO, he needs to devote more time to the company or else it will reflect badly on him.” Laurel noted.

 

“Well, if it does come to that, he won’t be doing this alone, so he’ll actually be able to devote more time to being the CEO.” Tommy said optimistically.

 

_"So are my evening plans." He told her. "I'm sorry." He walked past her and out the door, Felicity trailing right behind. "We are going to have to work on your excuses." He whispered to her._

_"You're right." She agreed._

“Yeah, Felicity always had the worst excuses.” Dinah mused.

 

_The scene changed to the warehouse district. Several SUV's were pulling up and disgorging their occupants as Roy watched from a short distance away. He had his red hood up and was looking at the criminals as they milled about with a pair of high-powered binoculars._

_"You should be more careful." The Arrow told him as he came up behind the younger man. "You're completely exposed."_

_"I knew you were there." Roy lied, startled._

“Sure you did Roy.” Diggle said dryly as Thea and Tommy snickered.

 

“Shut up.” Roy scowled.

 

_"What, you wanted me to tell you when the funny money guys were ready to make a sale? Here we go." He said._

_"Not 'we'." Oliver told him. "Go home. I already have help."_

_Roy turned to argue, but the vigilante had already moved off._

“Arsenal really thought he would let him help?” Laurel stared at the screen incredulously.

 

“He learned.” Dinah said simply.

 

_Inside the warehouse, the buy was already taking place. "Here's the fake." One man said, gesturing to his associate. The man held up a briefcase and opened it, showing off the pair of counterfeit $50 plates. "Let's see the real." The leader said. They buyer's associate dropped a large duffle bag and opened it, revealing stacks of $100 bills. The seller nodded in satisfaction, and the other man lifted the bag to hand it over-_

_Only for it to be struck with a pyrotechnic arrow. The criminal dropped the bag as it burst into flames, consuming the money. Then he himself went down with an arrow to the leg._

“Sucks to be you right now.” Roy smirked.

 

_Oliver walked out from his cover, contemptuously sweeping the legs out from a guard before drawing another arrow and firing, pinning another guards hand to a stack off pallets. One of the seller's men ran out of the warehouse, only to be tackled by Roy who began pummeling him._

“And of course you don’t listen.” Thea sighed and Roy shrugged.

 

“Did you expect anything else?” He asked.

 

_Back in the warehouse Oliver drew on the seller, who smirked back at him confidently._

_'You got two right above you.' Diggle said over the radio. The Arrow pivoted around and fired up at the catwalks above him once, then twice. One man fell down and crashed into another stack of pallets. The other managed to grab onto the catwalk as he fell, and dangled there from one hand with an arrow in his shoulder._

_'Another at your six.' Dig said. Oliver quickly drew a flechette out of his thigh holster and spun, flinging it at the guard and taking him down. He then turned back to the seller, who now looked at him fearfully._

_Outside the warehouse, several patrol cars pulled up. Lance got out of his car and drew his weapon, though inwardly he sighed when he saw Roy Harper pummeling another man._

_"Stay where you are, don't move!" Lance ordered._

_Roy immediately stopped and moved back, putting his hands behind his head. "I want to make a citizen's arrest." He said as he was cuffed._

“Too late for that kid.” Tommy told him and Roy looked at him with a dirty look.

 

_"Don't move." Lance ordered again._

_Up at his overwatch position, Diggle was putting away his gear. "That's it. I'm clear." He said over the radio. He turned to leave, only to see a man dressed in black with tactical gear standing at the end of the gantry. Dig spun the other way, only to see another man similarly dressed. Before he could do anything, a third man came up behind him and jammed a tazer into his neck. Dig let out a grunt of pain as the tazer brought him down, and soon he was unconscious._

“Holy crap.” Tommy said startled as everyone but Dinah straightened up, confused about what was happening and worried about Diggle.

 

“Relax, John came out fine.” Dinah assured them.

 

_Task force X to Mockingbird." The man said over his radio as his compatriots secured Diggle. "We have the prize, we're coming home."_

_When Diggle awoke, he was seated in a chair, his hands zip-tied behind him. As he shook his head to clear it, the man who had tazed him moved around to cut the tie, momentarily blocking the light that was shining into Dig's face. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. He was in some kind of safe house, its windows boarded up and lined with steel plates. Suddenly a heavy steel door opened, and he looked over to see a young, attractive, if severe looking black woman wearing 6 inch red heels walking towards him. "Who are you people?" he demanded. "NSA? CIA?"_

_"My name is Amanda Waller." She said._

“Great, it’s her.” Dinah scowled, having almost forgot about this part.

 

“Who’s she?” Thea asked and Dinah laughed humorlessly.

 

“Out of all the people I have failed to save over the years, she is the one person I never lost any sleep over. That…woman is the director of Argus.” Dinah spat.

 

“So she’s the one who…” Tommy trailed off.

 

“Stationed Fryers and his men on Lian Yu? Forced Ollie to work for her? Tried to kill you? The answer is D, all of the above.” Dinah spat.

 

“What the hell does she want with me?” Diggle wondered.

 

_Dig sighed. "I thought you A.R.G.U.S. guys were supposed to be more subtle." He said dryly._

_"For us, this was subtle." She informed him._

_"Then I want to see Lyla Michaels."_

_"So do I." Waller said. "Agent Michaels has gone dark."_

“What?” Diggle demanded as he sat up straighter.

 

_Dig paused at that. "Lyla's missing? What happened?" he asked._

_"She was running down a lead in Moscow." Waller explained. "She's missed two of her scheduled call-ins."_

_"Well, what are you doing about it?" Dig demanded._

_"Speaking to you." Waller replied coolly. "Even if we knew where in Russia Lyla is, my superiors believe sending in an extraction team could cause an international incident. As far as they're concerned, she's already a framed picture on our lobby wall."_

Diggle growled deep in his throat, glaring at the screen. Wisely, no one made a comment.

_Diggle looked at her cautiously. "Why are you telling me all this?"_

_Waller walked over and leaned in close. "Because I know how you and Oliver Queen spend your nights." She informed him, stunning the bodyguard._

_"And I know your passport is up to date." She continued, moving away slightly._

_"It would help to start with what Lyla was doing in Moscow in the first place." Dig said after a second's contemplation. "What was this lead she was tracking down?"_

_"A line on the whereabouts of Floyd Lawton."_

“Deadshot...this was because of me.” Diggle sighed.

 

“Lyla makes her own choices John.” Dinah told him firmly.

 

_"Deadshot." Dig sighed and closed his eyes. "Lyla was in Russia for me." He said wearily._

_"Agent Michaels is an asset I can't easily replace. I know you find her similarly irreplaceable." Waller told him. "Bring her home, Mr. Diggle." Waller ordered before turning and walking out of the room with her man, leaving Diggle to think._

“She just ensured Ollie will do her dirty work again. She knows he won’t let you do this alone, that psychotic bitch!” Thea snarled.

 

“My thoughts exactly, but I am a mother Thea. So say something like that again and I will put you over my knee and spank you.” Dinah told her and Roy cracked up as Thea glared.

 

“I hate you.” Thea seethed and Dinah smirked.

 

“Just means I’m doing my job.” Dinah told her.

 

_"Thanks. It's been a while since I arrested you. I'd forgotten how good it feels." Lance said sarcastically, looking down at the younger man._

_"I was working for…him." Roy said softly._

_"Him who?" Lance asked,_

_"The guy who cost you your shield." Roy replied, paying Quentin back for his cheap shot with one of his own. "I'm on his team." He said, looking the cop in the eyes. "You are, too."_

_Lance stared back, considering…_

_"Anybody else having serious deja vu?" Thea said as she stormed into the precinct. She came to a stop next to Lance, her arms crossed and an angry look on her face as she considered her boyfriend._

_Lance made a decision. "That's all right, we're letting him go." He said, moving behind Roy to uncuff him- to both Roy's and Thea's surprise. "Our mistake. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." He explained, covering for Roy._

“I so did not expect that.” Laurel said as she stared at the screen.

 

“Dad got less particular where help came from. He didn’t care whether it came from a business man, a firefighter, a cop, a vigilante, whatever, just as long as help came.” Dinah explained and Laurel smiled in pride.

 

_"Ok, uh, let's just get out of here before anyone changes their mind." Thea said, leading Roy out of the precinct, the wind totally taken out of her sails. As they left, Roy shared one last look with the cop before heading out._

_The scene changed to the lair, where Felicity and Oliver were watching coverage of demonstrations over the STAR Labs particle accelerator._

_'The potentially catastrophic risk of turning on this machine far outweigh any scientific gain that might come from it.' A protester was saying. 'The people need to understand just how dangerous technology like this is. And the very real possibility of a cataclysmic event.'_

“What is up with that Accelerator? Why does it keep being brought up?” Tommy asked suspicious.

 

“In a few recordings.” Dinah promised.

 

_Oliver looked up as Diggle walked briskly into the lair. "Where'd you go? Is everything ok?" he asked._

_"Yeah." Dig said, gathering some equipment. "Just need a few personal days."_

_"What's going on?" Oliver asked._

_"Have to help a friend."_

_"Who?"_

_Dig stopped what he was doing and sighed. "Lyla Michaels." He said finally._

_"It's his spy girlfriend that works for A.R.G.U.S." Felicity informed Oliver._

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Diggle protested.

 

“But you want her to be.” Thea teased and Diggle groaned, annoyed.

 

_"She went to Russia looking for Deadshot, for me." Dig explained. "Now she's missing."_

_Oliver nodded. "Felicity I think it's time we visited our Queen Consolidated subsidiary in Moscow." He said._

_"Yeah." Felicity agreed._

_"Oliver, what are you doing?" Dig asked,_

_"Just need to help a friend."_

_"I can't ask you to do that."_

_"You didn't." Oliver said simply, and that was that._

“Waller’s manipulations at work.” Roy drawled as everyone seethed.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Once again Oliver found himself staring up impossibly at the face of his girlfriend's sister._

_"Sara…" he whispered as she looked back at him. Suddenly a door opened, and Sara moved back, allowing Ivo to walk past her._

_"My name's Ivo." He said by way of greeting. "What's your name?"_

_Oliver looked past Ivo at Sara, who subtly shook her head. "Tommy." He said after a moment's hesitation._

“He’s not handsome enough to be called Tommy.” Tommy joked and everyone snickered.

 

“Neither are you.” Roy cracked and Thea and Laurel laughed out loud as Tommy glared at Roy.

 

_"So. How did you come to be on this island, Tommy?" Ivo asked. "I assume it wasn't by choice."_

_"My, uh boat was shipwrecked here." Oliver said haltingly, still looking at Sara. "And I was the only survivor."_

_"Well, I'm sorry to hear that." Ivo said, picking a notebook up from his desk. "Did you explore the island much?"_

_"Some of it." Oliver admitted. "Why?"_

_"You didn't happen to run across a Japanese Imperial Navy submarine, did you?" Ivo asked, looking at Oliver._

“What is so important about that sub?” Diggle narrowed his eyes.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah told him.

 

_At his nonplussed expression, Ivo decided to elaborate. "During World War II, every country was trying to develop the ultimate weapon." He began. "The United States had the Manhattan Project, of course; the Nazis had das Uranverein. And the Japanese, well, they had Mirakuru."_

The time travelers sat forward eagerly, wanting to know about this thing that Dinah clearly saw as a curse.

 

_"Stem cell and genetic therapies, decades ahead of their time." Sara explained._

_"Every war advances the cause of science." Ivo continued. "And the Japanese, they had developed a serum that caused increased strength. Rapid cell regeneration. They called it Mirakuru."_

_"Miracle." Sara translated._

_"Thought they could create an army of super soldiers." Ivo noted wryly. "They were transporting their only supply via submarine when that sub came under heavy fire by the allied forces. And it ran aground in this chain of islands." Ivo stood and walked over to Oliver. "Thanks to you… we now know it's this island."_

“An army of super soldiers…I guess it’s a good thing that sub went down.” Diggle said as his blood ran cold just thinking about it.

 

“Still, sounds kind of cool in a science fiction kind of way.” Tommy said and Dinah laughed bitterly.

 

“You won’t think it’s so cool in a few recordings.” Dinah said grimly and Thea and Laurel exchanged worried looks as Diggle frowned even more.

 

_Oliver glared up at the scientist. "You killed my friends." He hissed._

_"Which means it's up to you," Ivo countered benignly, "To help us find that sub."_

“What a bastard.” Roy sneered.

 

_Present-_

_Oliver, Felicity and Diggle arrived at Starling International the next morning. Diggle pulled the Bentley into the hangar as the Queen Consolidated Private jet sat on the tarmac, its pilots already doing their preflight check. Diggle grabbed their bags and the three were walking towards the jet when a black limo pulled up next to the Bentley._

_"Are you forgetting something?" Dig asked. The three turned to look at the limo, and Oliver had to suppress a groan when Isabel Rochev climbed out._

“Well this isn’t good.” Roy noted.

_“Where do you think you're going?" Isabel demanded of Oliver._

_"Tahiti." Felicity replied before thinking._

_"That's funny." Isabel said, walking over to the trio. "The flight manifest says you're going to Moscow."_

_"Well, we're going to stop by there, you know, after Tahiti." Felicity tried._

“Stop talking Felicity, you’re just making things worse.” Tommy begged.

 

_Isabel ignored the help and looked at Oliver. "What kind of partner decides to interact with our overseas holdings behind the other one's back?" she demanded._

_"It was an oversight." Oliver said, trying to soothe her ego._

_"Oh." She smiled smugly. "Well, lucky for our partnership, I'm a fast packer." She said, and then headed up the stairs to the plane._

“Are you kidding me?” Diggle growled.

 

“Nope, that’s another unnecessary passenger.” Dinah said grimly.1

 

_Diggle glared at the woman's back. "Oliver, her tagging along does not help matters any." He warned._

_"I will take care of her." Oliver said. "John. We're going to bring Lyla back." He promised. "Wherever she is."_

_In Russia, Lyla sat huddled against a concrete wall, her wrist chained to it. She was cold, hungry, and bruised from interrogation._

Diggle growled as he clenched his hands into fists, staring at Lyla’s image on the screen.

 

_Several hours later, Oliver had his passport stamped at Sheremetyevo International Airport. He took it back and turned to Isabel._

_"I've arranged a meeting with the chief operating officer of our Moscow subsidiary tomorrow at 10:00 a.m." she told him. "Try your hardest not to miss this one." She added snidely._

_"You know, I'm not this person that you seem to think I am." Oliver argued._

_"That depends." Isabel said._

_"On what?"_

_Isabel looked past him at Felicity, who was getting her passport stamped. "On if I think you use the corporate jet for a weekend of fun with your assistant."_

_Oliver let out a surprised chuckle. "Excuse me?" he said, nonplussed._

_"A blonde I.T. girl all of a sudden gets promoted to be assistant to the C.E.O.?" she said. "There are only two ways that happens. One is nepotism, and she doesn't look like your cousin."_

“Oh, so people thought Oliver…” Tommy trailed off.

 

“Yep.” Dinah said, popping the p.

 

“Wow. I may not like her, but that has to suck.” Tommy said feeling slight sympathy for the blonde.

 

“We all have to make sacrifices. In the grand scheme of things, it was miniscule compared to what Ollie, John, Arsenal, and the rest of us sacrificed.” Dinah said firmly.

 

_Oliver was honestly offended now. "That is absolutely not happening." He said._

_"What were her qualifications?" Isabel pressed. "Aside from an abundance of short skirts." She added sarcastically._

_"Her skirts aren't that… short." He tried to argue, but she had already turned and walked away._

_"What was that about?" Felicity asked as she and Diggle joined him._

_"Nothing." He said._

“Probably best that he didn’t tell her. She’s probably make a scene.” Roy noted.

 

“Probably.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"Everything with Knyazev is set." He told Diggle._

_"You have friends in the Russian mafia?" Felicity asked. "Color me at not at all surprised."_

_"You're going straight to the hotel in a cab." He told her._

_Felicity balked. "No, you're leaving me with her?!"_

“Would she have rather gone to the sex traffickers?” Diggle asked bluntly.

 

_"Dig and I need to get a drink." He said, and the two men walked off, leaving Felicity standing there alone._

_"Well…I wouldn't mind a drink." She muttered, and then headed off to get a cab._

The room was filled with scoffs and eye rolls.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. Inside, Thea was going over paperwork while the employees got set up for the night. She looked up in surprise to see Jean Loring walking in._

_"Ms. Loring." She said with a smile, rising and giving the lawyer a hug. "Didn't take you for the club-hopping type."_

_"Well, I'm here on business." She said soberly._

_"Is everything ok with my mom?" Thea asked immediately._

_"We need to discuss something about this case." Jean said. "Your boyfriend Roy was arrested last night."_

_"I know, but it was actually a misunderstanding." Thea said. "He got released."_

_"Well, a few reporters got hold of the story and they now know you're dating a known felon." Jean told her. "Thea, your mother is on trial for her life. Her whole defense pivots on being seen as a loving mother who did what she had to do to protect her children, what kind of parent she was. We need the people to know that she raised you to make good decisions. So if you care about your mom, you're going to have to end this relationship immediately." She told a stunned Thea._

“Damn, that’s kind of harsh.” Tommy winced.

 

“But not entirely wrong.” Roy sighed and Thea looked at him silently but didn’t say anything.

 

_The scene changed back to Moscow, where Oliver and Diggle were walking into a similar type of club. Oliver looked around for a moment before a loud, booming voice grabbed his attention._

_"Oliver Queen?" he turned to see Anatoli Knyazev rising to greet him. "Ha! My favorite American!" the two men embraced, and Anatoli gave Oliver the traditional kisses to each cheek. "Dabro pazhalavat." He said._

_"It has been too long." Oliver agreed. "John Diggle, this is Anatoli Knyazev." He said, introducing his new friend to an old one._

_"Thank you for meeting us." Diggle said._

_Anatoli looked him over. "If Oliver vouches for you, you're my second favorite American." He said with a smile, warmly shaking Dig's hand._

“For a mobster, he’s pretty friendly.” Diggle noted.

 

_A few minutes later, they were above the club in Anatoli's private office. The Russian brought out a bottle of vodka and three shot glasses, then began to pour. "First, a toast." He said._

_"None for me, thanks." Dig said._

“You don’t refuse a gift from the Bratva John.” Dinah told him grimly.

 

_Oliver leaned forward, then slid the third glass purposefully towards Dig before grabbing his own. The message was clear. Dig sighed and took the glass._

_Anatoli raised his glass. "Prochnost." He said._

_"To strength." Oliver repeated in English. The three men drank._

_"Now." Anatoli said, setting his glass down and reaching for a leather box. "Business." He opened the box and withdrew a picture, then slid it to the edge of the table. "This is woman you look for, yes?" he asked as Diggle picked up the picture. It was a booking shot of Lyla, and she was already beaten by the looks of it. "Picture is from two days ago, from gulag- prison."_

_"Lyla was arrested?" Dig said in surprise._

_"Not quite." Anatoli replied. "From what I hear, she was trying to break in."_

“What?” Diggle asked confused.

 

“Just keep watching.” Dinah told him simply.

 

_"Why?" Dig asked._

_"I do not know." Anatoli admitted. "But clearly she had issues breaking back out. Gulag, worst in Russia. It's called Koshmar."_

_"The nightmare." Oliver translated._

_"It's full of violent psychopaths and killers. And that's just the guards." The Russian explained._

“Sounds like such a nice place.” Roy said sarcastically.

 

“About as good as you expect.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"Anatoli, we need a way into the gulag to extract her." Oliver said._

_Anatoli shook his head. "You get in; you get shot before you get out." He said, and then indicated the picture. "Or end up like your friend. Mmm, it's impossible."_

_"The only thing that's impossible is us leaving this country without this woman." Diggle said seriously._

_Anatoli sat back in his chair and laughed. "I like this guy." He told Oliver. "We have no word for "optimist" in Russian." He sat back and considered for a few moments. "The only way in to Koshmar is as prisoner." He said finally. "Now, I have guard there, owes me favor. It could work. I'll give you one shot in twenty."_

_"Set it up." Oliver said at once. "I'll go."_

_"No." Dig said. "It has to be me."_

_"No." Oliver said at once._

_"Oliver, what if something happens to you in there?" Dig argued. "What happens to me, Felicity, or Isabel, for that matter?"_

“Yeah…that would be very bad.” Tommy said after considering.

 

“Isabel would’ve been alright, she’d take the jet back. But she’s probably leave you two there and then who knows what would happen.” Dinah said after a moment of consideration.

 

_"You have to be on the outside making the moves." Dig said. "I'll go inside. I've got this."_

_Oliver stared at Dig, then looked to Anatoli and nodded. The Russian poured them all another round._

_The next day, Oliver, Felicity and Diggle were in Oliver's suite at the Hotel Metropol, where Felicity was eyeing a large duffle bag filled to the top with large packets of heroine._

“Damn that’s a lot of drugs.” Roy said glaring at the drugs as though they had personally offended him.

 

_"Now that is a lot of drugs." Felicity noted, slightly stunned._

_"Courtesy of Knyazev." Diggle said. "About enough weight to land me in the Koshmar."_

_Felicity nodded uncomfortably. She walked over to a chair and picked up a large black coat. "You need to be wearing this when they process you." She told Dig, helping him into the coat. "Guards will take it, but that's the point." She picked up her tablet and unlocked it, showing Diggle a picture of a Russian officer. "This Is Knyazev's man inside the prison." She said. "A guard. "_

_"He'll know where in the gulag Lyla is being held." Oliver told him._

_Felicity pulled up a map and showed it to Diggle. "When all hell breaks loose, you need to meet us at the rendezvous point with Lyla, or—"_

_"Or I am a permanent Russian."_

“This sounds pretty risky.” Thea noted worriedly.

 

“A lot of missions are.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_"Just thinking out loud," Felicity said, stating to pace. "But, are we sure this is the best plan we can come up with?" she asked. "I know Lyla's your friend, but—"_

_"Felicity, Lyla isn't my friend." Dig said, zipping up the bag. "She was my wife."_

_Felicity blinked. "Explain that sentence."_

_"Lyla and I met in the army back in Afghanistan." Dig said. "But we didn't stay married long once we got stateside. Couldn't figure out a way to stay married without a war to fight." He said, his voice tinged with regret. "So she joined A.R.G.U.S., and I circled back for my third tour. I can't leave here without her, Felicity." He told her. "I just can't."_

_Oliver's phone buzzed. He looked at it, and then slipped it back into his pocket. "Two minute warning." He said softly._

_Felicity put a scarf around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. "Good luck, John." She said. The two watched worriedly as Dig grabbed the bag and exited the room._

“I have a feeling I’ll need it.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_A short time later, Dig was sitting on a small fruit crate near a factory, the bag on the ground next to him. Within moments, several police cars skidded to a stop before him. He stood and calmly raised his hands, not resisting as he was arrested._

_Down at the end the alley, Anatoli watched on. As Diggle was pushed into the police van, he dialed his phone. "They have him." He told Oliver._

_Oliver hung up and turned to Felicity, who was watching him anxiously. "Clock's running." He told her._

“Now it’s just a waiting game.” Diggle said lowly as he stared at the screen with a look of intense concentration.

 

_The scene changed to Koshmar. A guard unlocked the chain link door that led to the processing area as Diggle was led through. He walked slowly, looking around him, always looking for weak spots in the security. The guard behind him would have none of that._

_"Zhivey, zhivey." He said, jabbing him in the back with his baton. "Hurry up."_

_Inside the processing area, Diggle was un-cuffed and his coat was ripped off of him. He calmly took the scarf off and tossed it onto the coat as it was passed through the checkpoint to the area where prisoner possessions were kept. The guard then shoved a bundle into his hands and forced him out into the next are, just as Anatoli's man walked in. The man behind the counter took the bundle of the coat and scarf and placed it into a mesh basket, marked with a number. In theory, when Diggle was released he would be able to retrieve his coat. But as prisoners seldom left the gulag alive, this was more a holding area for things that would later be sold on the black market._

_After changing into his new uniform, Diggle was pushed into his new home- a rather roomy cell, filled with bunk beds. A man lay on one of the nearer beds, and looked Dig over as the door slammed shut._

_"What, uh, crime fits your punishment?" he asked._

_"Drugs." Dig said. "And you?"_

_The man sat up. "I gave speech. About government corruption." He replied._

“Really?” Laurel stared at the screen incredulously.

 

“You’re surprised?” Dinah said idly.

 

_Dig chuckled. "Right."_

_"It is rare to see one of your people in Koshmar." He remarked._

_"What, American?" Dig asked._

_"Chernokozhiy." The man replied. Dig looked at him, confused. "Ehh," he brushed his hand against his face, indicating his skin. Dig got it then. "Chernokozhiy not popular here." He advised._

_"Shocker." Dig remarked, glancing at the clock._

“Great.” Diggle said sarcastically.

 

“As if it wasn’t difficult enough already.” Thea groaned.      

 

“If it was easy, it wouldn’t be fun.” Dinah said with a slight grin.

 

“Who told you that load of crap?” Tommy asked.

 

“A man named Hal.” She said.

 

“Well you need to talk some sense into him.” Roy scoffed and Dinah’’s smile disappeared.

 

“He’s dead.” Dinah said bluntly and everyone was silent.

 

“I’m sorry.” Diggle said and she simply nodded as the recording continued.

 

_The scene changed to a factory near the edge of Moscow. Anatoli, Oliver and Felicity stood by Anatoli's car, waiting for some of the Russian's contacts to show up._

_"You think Dig's ok?" Felicity asked Oliver worriedly._

_"I think he's doing the same as he was when you asked me five minutes ago." Oliver replied._

Tommy, Roy, and Thea snickered while Diggle and Laurel simply smiled in amusement.

 

_"They're coming." Anatoli said. The three looked down at the end of the alley to see a Mercedes and a large tactical vehicle approaching. "They sell us Russian police truck for cheap." He told them._

_The vehicles rolled to a stop and several men climbed out. A few had AK-47,s which they held close to their chests. The leader and Anatoli both approached one another._

_"Here’s the machine you need." The man said in Russian, holding up the keys to the truck._

_"One thousand and fifty hundred Rubles." Anatoli replied in kind, holding up an envelope filled with hard currency. He handed the envelope to the other man, but the seller yanked the keys away._

_“On your knees." He called out, and the men with the AK's raised them to point at the three buyers._

_Oliver took this in, and then calmly walked forward, past Anatoli, to stand in front of the seller. "If you do this to my people, I will make your children orphans." He said softly in Russian._

“Dude, would he really…”Tommy trailed off as they all stared at the screen in shock.

 

“Ollie did a lot of bad things both during and after those five years, but he is not a monster.” Dinah said firmly.

 

_The man swallowed hard, and when Oliver held out his hand, the man dropped the keys into it without a fuss. Oliver tossed the keys to Anatoli, his eyes never the seller, until the other man turned and headed for the Mercedes. Oliver walked back to their car._

_"What'd you say?" Felicity asked him over the roof of the car._

_"Please." Oliver replied with a wink, and the two got in._

“Yeah, I really can’t see Felicity reacting well to what Oliver said.” Roy admitted.

 

“And they don’t have time for her to make a scene.” Thea noted.

 

_Five years ago-_

_In the Amazo's brig, a much rougher looking Anatoli sat in the cell next to Oliver's. "You know, in Russia, there is gulag." He noted. "Almost as bad as this."_

“Great, so there’s a place worse than the gulag.” Laurel said unhappily.

 

_Oliver glanced at him, but looked at the other see to see Sara standing on the other side of the bars, her face full of sadness and misery._

_"Sara—"_

_"Don't say my name." she whispered. "If they find out we know each other, they'll kill us both." She passed a bundled up blanket through the bars to him, which he took._

_"I thought you drowned." Oliver said softly._

_"When I came up, the boat was gone." She said. "And I thought you were, too. And I was floating out there for days when this ship…" she sighed. "They found me. And they saved me."_

“Saved, brainwashed, sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.” Diggle noted as Laurel grimaced.

 

_"Is that why you're helping them?" he asked._

_"I don't have a choice." She said._

_"I need to warn my friends." Oliver said determinedly._

_"You said they were dead." She replied in confusion._

_"They're not that easy to kill." He stated._

_On the island, in the wreckage of the plane, Shado sat next to a severely injured Slade._

“He’s right, they are alive.” Diggle said surprised.

 

_She applied a salve to his wounds a he gasped in pain._

_"Try not to move." She said as she spread the salve over the half of his face that was burnt._

_"It smells like puke!" he argued weakly._

_"It'll heal your wounds." She told him._

_"You have to go." Slade said. "Get out of here. Get to higher ground."_

_"I'm not leaving you." She told him._

_"I will not be the reason something happens to you." Slade argued._

_"Then we're in agreement." Shado said. "Because I make my own choices."_

_"You are a strong woman." Slade gasped._

“For once, we’re in agreement.” Dinah said as she looked at Shado admirably.

 

_"When I care about someone, there's nothing I won't do for them." Shado told him._

_"Another thing we have in common." Slade gasped. He started shivering uncontrollably._

_Shado looked at him in concern. "The burns, they're lowering your body temperature. Here." Quickly she climbed under the blanket and spooned up next to him, sharing her body heat._

_Present-_

_"Where you been all night?" Roy asked her as she walked down the stairs from the second level._

_"Working." She replied evasively, Jean's words echoing in her mind._

_"Oh. Well, you deserve a break." Roy said._

_"Um, actually, I've been thinking." Thea said, setting her tray down on the bar. "Maybe we should take some space. I mean, we work together and live together." She sighed, still not looking at him. "It's kind of getting hard to breathe."_

“You’re a terrible liar.”  Roy told Thea and she scowled.

 

“Back then, she got better at it.” Dinah told him.

 

“Really?” Thea asked surprised.

 

“You had a good teacher.” Dinah said grimly, scowling as she thought of Malcolm.

 

_Since when?" he asked. Then he realized. "Oh, wait, does this have to with that lawyer lady dropping by?" he asked bluntly._

_"No, this has to do with the fact that you've been arrested twice in the last month." Thea shot back._

_"Come on. I've been trying to stay out of trouble." Roy argued lightly. "My body hasn't had a scratch on it in weeks. Well, I mean, excluding the ones that you put there." He added with a grin._

_"And the other night?" she asked, finally turning to face him._

_"Was a misunderstanding." Roy continued._

_"Roy," Thea sighed. "This just isn't working, ok? Not for me." She said._

_Roy stared at her in disbelief. "Thea, you can't mean that." He said._

_"I do." She said sadly. "I'm sorry."_

_Roy looked at her forlornly, and then stalked away, running out of the club as Thea's heart silently broke._

“The complications of young love in the adult world.” Dinah said idly as Roy and Thea refused to look at each other.

 

_The scene changed to Koshmar. Diggle was following his new friend in the cafeteria, getting his slop like any other prisoner. He followed the Russian to a table and sat down._

_The Russian glanced at another table, whose occupants were glaring at Diggle. "Those men," he indicated to Diggle. "They are Vory. They are in charge. It's best to stay away." He advised._

_"Got it." Dig replied. He leaned in close. "Listen, I'm looking for a guard named Sergei Pavelski."_

_The Russian looked around, then spotted the man. "Far corner, over there." He said, pointing the way with his gaze. The guard and Dig made eye contact; the guard nodded in recognition._

_"American." The three Vory stalked up to the table. "You are suka now."_

_Dig looked up at the punks and sighed. "Are we seriously going to do this?" he asked. One of the men circled around and hit Diggle on the back hard with one of the steel serving trays. "Guess so." Dig said, leaping to his feet, He was sent to the ground when the man swung the tray into his face, then grunted as the man started kicking him. Dig quickly grabbed his leg, tripping him, then locked in a leg bar. He yanked hard, dislocating the leg. Two guards rushed over and broke the short fight up, lifting Diggle and dragging him away. "Fighting strictly prohibited." The guard told him as they forced him out of the cafeteria._

“But they started it!” Tommy said angrily.

 

“I’m the new guy, so they singled me out. Plus, Blacks don’t seem to be too popular over there.” Diggle said grimly.

 

“Still not fair.” Thea grumbled and Diggle flashed her a tight, but appreciative, smile.

 

“Sometimes life’s not fair.” Diggle said and everyone nodded in agreement.

 

_The scene changed to the Hotel Metropol. Oliver walked into the hotel's bar and got the bartender's attention. "Vodki, pozhaluysta." He ordered. He glanced around the bar, and smiled tightly when he saw Isabel Rochev sitting in a comfortable looking chair._

_"You missed the tour." She told him as he sat down in the opposite chair. "What happened to you?"_

_"I saw a Russian vehicle that I simply had to have." He said with a grin._

“Not exactly the truth but not exactly a lie either. He’s good.” Roy noted.

 

_"Is that why you came to Russia?" she asked as the waiter came over with a tray holding two shots of vodka. "Car shopping?"_

_He looked up at the waiter. "Oh, I just ordered one." He said, and then didn't quite hide his surprise when Isabel took the second shot and downed it._

_"One's for me." She said, placing the empty glass on the tray. "Drugoy."_

“So now she speaks Russian.” Tommy deadpanned.

 

“She’s a woman of many talents.” Dinah said darkly.

 

_Oliver looked her over, and then placed the still full shot back on the tray._

_The scene changed to Koshmar. Diggle was dragged into a large freezer, and then cuffed to an overhead pipe. Across from him was another man, though his head was down so he couldn't make out a face._

_"This cold room." The guard told him needlessly. "Six hours for you."_

_"Six hours? You can't keep me in here that long." Dig protested._

_"Now seven hours." The guard said mockingly. He and the other guard turned and walked out._

_"Well, that was pretty stupid." The other man said. Dig recognized the voice and looked up at him as his face came into view. "Then again," Floyd Lawton said, "you never really were one of the brightest guys."_

“Deadshot!” Diggle snarled as he glared at the screen.

 

“That’s why Lyla was trying to break in, to get Deadshot out.” Laurel realized.

 

_"Deadshot." Diggle breathed._

_"Your spine frozen through yet?" Lawton asked, shivering._

_"Trust me. My problem here isn't with the cold." Dig seethed._

_"What, you still haven't forgiven me for shooting your brother?" Lawton asked mockingly. "Man, you really hold a grudge." Diggle screamed in impotent rage, straining forward against the cuffs, but he couldn't move more than a few inches._

“Bastard.” Diggle snarled as his glare intensified.

 

“Yeah, you tend to hold a grudge against the person who took your sibling away from you!” Laurel snapped as she glared at the screen as well.

 

_"I know why you're here." Lawton continued. "That girl. From A. R.G.U.S."_

_"Lyla didn't find a lead on you." Diggle said in realization. "She found you."_

_Back at the hotel, Oliver and Isabel were having a surprisingly pleasant conversation. "Does everyone really think that Felicity and I are…" Oliver asked, trailing off._

_"No." she replied. "Just everyone who works at Queen Consolidated." They both laughed._

_"She's just a friend." Oliver told her._

_"You don't seem like the kind of man who has female friends." Isabel noted._

_"Can I ask you a personal question?" Oliver asked suddenly._

_"With some vodka in me, I just might answer." She replied._

_"Why does saving my family's company mean so much to you?" he asked._

_"Despite what Sheryl Sandberg might say," Isabel laughed, then sighed. "It still isn't that easy to make it as a woman in business. I've given up a lot." She admitted. "Which means if I don't succeed at everything, then what was the point?"_

_"Hmm." Oliver hummed noncommittally._

_"May I ask you a personal question?" she asked with a smile._

_"Others have tried and failed." He replied._

_"Why do you try so hard to make me think that you're a lazy idiot?" she asked bluntly. "I know you're not. Underneath that swagger, I see you pretty clearly."_

_"Really?" he asked softly. "And what do you see?"_

_"You're intelligent." She observed. "Driven. And lonely."_

_"How do you see that?" He asked._

_"Because it's what I see when I look in the mirror." She replied._

“Oh god, don’t tell me!” Thea groaned.

 

“I wish I could tell you my husband didn’t sleep with that…but I can’t.” Dinah sighed.

 

“And that’s why we hate her?” Laurel guessed skeptically and Dinah scoffed.

 

“That’s not even in the top five reasons.” Dinah told her firmly.

 

_In the gulag, Anatoli's guard finally came into the freezer. He walked quickly over to Diggle and undid the chains. "We don't have much time." He told the man, and then let him lean on his shoulder. "There you go. Let's go, let's go."_

_Diggle glared at Lawton._

_"Nice seeing you, John." Lawton said as the other two made their way out._

_Back at the hotel, a waiter came up to the pair. "Can I get you anything else?" he asked in Russian._

_"I don’t think I should drink more." Oliver replied in Russian._

_Isabel looked at him in surprise. "You speak Russian." She stated._

_"Only with my friends." He replied in the language._

_"I was raised in Moscow until I was nine." She revealed. "And then adopted by a family that took me to America. Took me years to get rid of my accent." She lamented. "It isn't easy making friends in grade school when you sound like Natasha."_

“Hate her but she has a point.” Tommy said stiffly.

 

_Oliver chuckled. “It looks like you’ve been dealing with loneness for a long time."_

_Isabel stared back at him, lust in her eyes. "Pay check." She ordered._

_A few minutes later, Oliver and Isabel where in his room, kissing frantically. Isabel shoved him back against the door._

_"I…don't have a lot of time." He told her as she kissed his neck._

_She pulled him away from the door and shoved him onto the bed. "I'll be quick."_

“It’s like he lost his common since.” Thea groaned.

 

“He’s human, he makes mistakes. And, in his defense, he was slightly intoxicated. Slightly.” Dinah pointed out while grimacing.

 

_Back at the gulag, the guard was leading Diggle down the corridor towards Lyla. "Five minutes. Must hurry." He said in broken English._

_"Remind me to get you a pack of cigarettes when this is all over." Dig said._

_"I don't smoke." The guard replied. Suddenly he stopped and let out a small gurgle, before toppling face first to the floor. In his back was a long, thick icicle, having been thrown there by a newly-freed Floyd Lawton._

“Bastard.” Diggle snarled.

 

_"You weren't going to leave without me, were you?" he asked sarcastically._

_"I should kill you right now!" Diggle snarled; his eyes wide in anger._

_"You won't." Lawton said confidently._

_"Why?" Dig demanded._

_"Because. I'm the only one who knows where your little girlfriend is." Lawton replied. "You're not stupid. You wouldn't put yourself in here without an exit strategy. I take you to the girl," he offered, "You take me out."_

“He may be a bastard, but he’s smart, I’ll give him that.” Thea admitted reluctantly.

 

_Back at the hotel, Oliver was putting his jacket on. "Isabel, I have to go." He said, turning to face the woman who was still in his bed, clad only in her bra and panties. "Sorry."_

_"Do I strike you as someone who needs to cuddle?" she asked calmly. He smiled, then turned and walked to his door. He opened it just as Felicity raised her hand to knock._

_"Hi." She said._

_"Hi." Oliver replied._

_"It's time. Ready?" she asked,_

_"Yeah, I—" Oliver stopped short as Isabel, fully dressed and carrying her purse, slipped past him and out into the hall. She stopped right in front of Felicity._

_"I think she can take the night off." She said wickedly, glancing back over her shoulder at Oliver. "Don't you?" with that, she swaggered off down the hall._

_"Ohh." Felicity said, flustered and more than a little heartbroken._

_"Felicity…" Oliver started._

_She cut him off. "It-what happens in Russia stays in Russia." She said with a forced smile. She turned and walked off. "Even when it makes no sense whatsoever." She said quietly to herself, leaving a frustrated Oliver in the doorway._

“Tell me Felicity, does it take surgery to have a stick that high up your ass.” Tommy grumbled, glaring.

 

“I’d say it just comes naturally to her. It’s a learned behavior she picked up from her mother.” Dinah said grimly.

 

__Back in the Gulag, Lawton and Diggle rounded a corner- only to come face to face with a pair of very surprised guards. The two men made quick work of the guards, with Diggle scooping up the lone gun before Lawton could._ _

_"Guessin', uh, you want to hold on to that." Lawton noted. Diggle just glared at the man. "This way." He said, leading him down the corridor._

_Outside the gulag in a newly-purchased police truck, Oliver and Felicity sat and waited for Dig. Both were dressed like Russian prison officials, with Felicity wearing the traditional fur hat._

_"What were you thinking?" she asked, finally sick of the silence._

_"What?" Oliver asked in reply._

_"Over 64 million women over the age of consent in Russia and you sleep with her." She noted sourly._

_"So we're not doing the 'What happens in Russia stays in Russia'?"_

_"We're still in Russia." She pointed out._

“You know what, why you don’t get off your high horse blondie. Oliver does not have to explain himself to you; you’re not his girlfriend, wife, or even a member of his family. He doesn’t owe you any explanation and you don’t get to judge him.” Tommy said angrily.

 

“Well said brother.” Thea said glaring at the screen.

 

_Anatoli climbed back into the truck. "There is nothing money cannot buy in this country." He noted happily._

_"Diggle should be heading out with Lyla in two minutes." Oliver said; glad to have dodged that conversation._

_"Well, breaking out of prison is harder than it looks." Anatoli said to Oliver. "You of all people should know that."_

“Yeah, I would say he does.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Oliver lay on his cot in the cell, futilely trying to rest. The sound of jangling keys drew his attention, and he looked over to see Sara unlocking his cell and opening the door._

_"Stay quiet." She told him as he rose. "Follow me." Oliver followed her out of the cell._

_Anatoli looked over at the pair. "You'll remember the rest of us, yes?" he asked._

_Oliver looked at the Russian. "I promise. I'll come back." He told the man._

“Did he keep that promise?” Thea asked hopefully and Dinah smiled.

 

“You think Anatoli would let Ollie live if he didn’t?” She asked and Thea relaxed.

 

_"Come on." Sara urged._

_Olive followed her deeper into the ship. "Are we making a swim for it?" he asked._

_"No. They'd shoot us the second we hit the water." She told him. Sara led him into the radio room, and quickly she sat down behind the set and started flipping switches. "You said your friends, they have one of the radios from the ship, right?"_

_"Yeah." Oliver said, watching as she worked. "You look like you know what you're doing there."_

_"In the past year, I've learned a lot of things I never expected to." Sara said._

_"You and me both." Oliver said wryly._

“That’s an understatement if ever there was one.” Laurel said dryly.

 

_Sara finished calibrating the radio. She picked up the microphone and held it out to Oliver, who looked at it warily. "They won't respond unless they hear your voice." She told him._

_Hesitantly Oliver took the mic. Sara moved aside and Oliver painfully dropped into the seat. "Shado. Ni néng tingdào wo ma?" Nothing. He pressed the switch on the mic again. "Slade. Can you hear me?"_

_On the plane, Shado grabbed the radio to respond. She spoke a word in Mandarin, and then followed that up with "Thank God you're alive."_

_"Yeah, I'm on the freighter—" he began, but then suddenly Sara ripped the mic from his hand, yanking the cord out of the set as she did so._

“What the hell?” Tommy demanded with everyone else looking confused.

 

“You didn’t find it strange how they didn’t encounter any guards?” Dinah asked and Laurel tensed.

 

“She didn’t.” Laurel begged.

 

“Ivo had a year to brainwash her, what do you think?” Dinah asked grimly and Laurel groaned.

 

“Sara.” Laurel said painfully.

 

_Oliver looked up at her in confusion. "Sara, what are you doing?" he demanded._

_"There's only two of them." The pirate captain said, swaggering into the room with Ivo right behind him. "They haven't moved from the location of the mortar attack."_

_"What the hell is going on here?" Oliver demanded as Sara looked on sadly._

_"You just confirmed that your friends are alive." Ivo said. "Which means they're still a threat. You know, until we kill them." He added coldly._

_"You son of a bitch!" Oliver leapt up from the chair, only to be sent staggering back from a quick left jab from the pirate. He gasped in pain as Sara watched impassively._

“Laurel, I kind of hate your sister right now.” Thea said glaring at the screen.

 

“Honestly, I’m not too happy with her myself.” Laurel sighed.

 

_Present-_

_At the Gulag, Lawton led Diggle to a gate that was chained shut. "If I say she's in there, what's keeping you from shooting me?" Lawton asked._

_Diggle stared hard at the man. "Honor." He said, tucking the gun into his belt and pulling out the set of keys he had lifted. "You should try it some time." Quickly he undid the chain and ran into the room with Lawton right behind him. He ran down a hall, round a corner, and then he saw her, on the floor, leaning up against the wall she was shackled to._

“Lyla.” Diggle breathed, relief filling his entire form.

 

_"Lyla!" he exclaimed, running over to her. He dropped down and started to undo the chains._

_Lyla looked at her ex-husband, half delirious from pain and thirst. "Johnny?"_

_"Ready to go home?" he asked._

_"You came for me."_

_"I always have." He said, taking her face into his hands. "Always will."_

_"Deadshot's here." Lyla said as Dig pulled her to her feet. "In the prison."_

_"I know." He said. He helped her to stand, turning so they both could see Lawton standing there, a billy club in his hand._

_"What's your extraction plan?" he asked to Lyla's surprise._

_"Depends." He said. "What time is it?"_

_In the processing room, one of the guards was trying on Digs jacket. " You think it looks good on me?" he joked in Russian to his comrades._

_Another guard saw the red star pin on the lapel of the jacket was blinking. Suddenly, it started blinking faster…_

_Moments later, a massive explosion ripped a hole in the gulag. Down in Lyla's cell, all three felt the blast, and then heard the sirens as they started to go off._

“Holy crap.” Roy said as they all stared.

 

“You gotta go big with this kind of mission.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"Let's go, go, go, move, move, move!" Dig thundered. The three ran through the halls, making their way through the chaos without being seen. They climbed into the processing area, over the rubble, looking at the devastation. Dig finally spotted the hole. "This way." He directed. Lawton paused, looking around for his wire basket. He found it and quickly grabbed the electronic eye that it held before running after the other two._

_In the truck, Felicity finished up on her computer. "Got it." She said. "I shut down the phones. The guards can't call for help."_

_"Your friend and that woman are not here by now, they will not be here at all." Anatoly noted darkly._

_Diggle, Lyla and Lawton made their way out of the wrecked processing center and into the central courtyard. Dig knocked down a guard with one punch as Lawton activated his eye piece. "Much better." He said. Suddenly they were surrounded by guards, screaming at them in Russian. Diggle slowly raised his hands-_

_But one of the guards was Oliver, who quickly took out the small group standing in front of the other three. Diggle and Lyla, who had grabbed a gun, began shooting back at the other guards._

“Well thank god for Ollie.” Laurel said as they all relaxed slightly.

 

_"Follow me!" he called to the three. They took off at a run, jumping into the police truck and slamming the door shut. The vehicle took off just as more guards arrived and opened fire, but the armor of the truck as easily think enough to shrug off small arms fire._

_Anatoly dove for several miles before breathing a sigh of relief. "We're clear." He announced._

_"Stop the truck." Diggle ordered. Anatoly brought the truck to a halt at the entrance of a deserted tunnel. He turned to Lawton. "Get out." He told the man. "Get out!" he yelled again, and Lawton opened the door and climbed out of the truck_

“Are you really gonna kill him?” Thea asked Diggle.

 

“Why not, he killed my brother.” Diggle said stiffly.

 

“Yeah…but you’re not him.” Laurel pointed out and Diggle had no response.

 

_the man. "Get out!" he yelled again, and Lawton opened the door and climbed out of the truck. Diggle climbed out after him, never taking his gun off of the assassin. "Move Lawton." He ordered. They walked sever feet into the tunnel, and then Lawton stopped and turned to face Diggle. He stared back at the former soldier impassively. Diggle never took his eyes off of Lawton, held the gun right up at his head- but he hands were shaking. Finally, he lowered the gun, unable to kill the man in cold blood, not after he had help rescue Lyla._

The others relaxed as Diggle stared, unable to feel either relief or disappointment.

 

_"That's the thing about honor, John." Lawton said. "You can't turn it on and off." He chuckled and turned to walk off, but paused. He looked back at Diggle. "I'm just curious. How is it you think your brother ended up dead?" he asked._

_"You shot a client that Andy was protecting, and you missed." Dig said at once._

_"I don't miss. Your brother was the contract." He revealed._

“What?!” Diggle shouted, shock and rage written across his face as he stared at the screen in stunned disbelief.

 

“Just keep watching.” Dinah told him.

 

_"Who would want to kill Andy?" Diggle asked._

_Lawton shook his head. "I don't know the names, just an alias. H.I.V.E." he revealed. "Food for thought, John." He said, turning and walking away. "Food for thought."_

“Wait, isn’t that the organization you said Damien Darhk was leader of?” Diggle asked as he turned to Dinah.

 

“Yes.” She said bluntly.

 

“Why would Darhk want Andy dead?” Diggle demanded.

 

“When you get to your room tonight, there will be a file on your bed,” Dinah said after a moment, “it has everything we know about your brother. The past, your present, and our future. It will answer all your questions John.”

 

Diggle, still not quite satisfied, nodded as he turned back to the recording.

 

_The next day, the QC corporate jet taxied back to its dedicated hanger. The door opened and a very relieved Felicity stepped down the stairs, followed by an equally relieved, though for another reason, Diggle and Lyla. Isabel then made her way down, followed by Oliver._

_"Are we going to discuss what happened last night?" Oliver asked Isabel._

_"Why would we?" she asked._

_"No reason." Oliver said._

_"I'll see you in the office tomorrow." She said with a smile as she climbed into her limo._

“I already hate her and apparently, we haven’t even gotten to the good stuff yet.” Thea said darkly.

 

_"Thank you." Diggle said to Oliver as the limo drove off. "You had my back." The two men shook hands._

_"And now you know what it feels like." Oliver said, walking over to the Bentley._

_The scene changed to Iron Heights. Thea walked into the visitors area- to see Moira talking with Roy._

“So did not see that coming.” Thea said surprised and Roy nodded silently as they both stared at the screen.

 

_"Wh-what are you- what are you doing here?" she stammered in surprise._

_"Good question." Roy replied. "I've gotten a lot of calls from prison, but never from my girlfriend's mother."_

_"It occurred to me that I've never been given the opportunity to meet the man in your life." Moira said lightly._

_"I don't know if she told you, but your daughter kind of dumped me." Roy said bluntly._

_"And what you should know is that she did it for me." Moira told Roy, and then looked back to her daughter. "Jean told me she came to see you. I told her she shouldn't have."_

_Roy turned to Thea. "Why didn't you just tell me the truth?" he asked, still hurt._

_"Us being together… it can hurt her case." She said, though it sounded lame to her when she said it out loud._

“You know, when you think about it, who Thea dates seems pretty minimal in the grand scheme of the trial.” Tommy mused.

 

“Because Jean completely over reacted.” Dinah told them, looking at Thea and Roy pointedly.

 

_"Thea- Your social life is not going to be the determining factor in my trial." Moira said, taking her daughters hands in her own. "Sweetheart, what you've had to endure this last year is more than most people go through in two lifetimes. But you've not only survived, you've flourished. I think a lot of that has to do with Roy." She said, nodding at the young man. "So, as your mother, I forbid you not to see him." She said in a mock-stern voice._

_The two women laughed. "Thank you." She said, hugging her mother._

“So I guess this menas I get your mom’s stamp of approval. Roy smirked, enjoying the displeased look on Tommy’s face.

 

“Well you won’t have mine.” Tommy muttered.

 

_The scene changed to Diggle's apartment. Dig was lying in bed under the covers, while Layla was walking back towards the bed, clad only in his shirt and panties._

“Well hello.” Tommy said coyly and Diggle glared at him.

 

“I will carve your eyes out.” Diggle growled and Tommy covered his eyes.

 

“I see nothing!” Tommy said fearfully and Diggle laughed.

 

_"I have to admit, this is not how I anticipated my trip to Russia ending." She said with a smile._

_"You just feel lucky we made it out of there alive." Dig said as she crawled back into the bed._

_"Thank you." She said. "Not just for coming for me. For doing what you had to once you did."_

_"You mean working with Deadshot." Diggle said. She nodded. "You know, me and Carly broke up because I couldn't love her and hate him at the same time." He noted._

_"I'm honored to be the exception." She said._

_"Lyla, you're always the exception." He replied, drawing her in for a kiss._

Diggle stopped, considering. Maybe Dinah was right…maybe they could try again when he got back.

 

_"I have a debrief with A.R.G.U.S. at 0800." Lyla said regretfully, moving to rise._

_Diggle pulled her back down to the bed. "No, no, let Waller stew. Stay for breakfast." He asked._

_"Throw in your blueberry pancakes and you may be able to convince me." She said, rising to get dressed. She threw a smile over her shoulder as she walked towards the bathroom. Diggle settled back on the bed, a smile on his face. It faded as he reached over and grabbed his smart phone. He typed 'H.I.V.E. into the Bing search engine and pressed enter, waiting as the result were collated._

“You won’t get anything that way John, Hive is very secretive.” Dinah said and Diggle scowled.

 

_Oliver walked out of his office, looking over a contract. He moved over to Felicity's desk and laid them down in front of her. "Can you deliver this to Isabel's office, please?" Oliver asked._

_He turned to go back into his office when her voice stopped him._

_"Why her?" she asked softly. He turned back to her and she continued. "I mean, besides the obvious leggy model reason."_

_"It just kind of happened. It didn't mean anything." He said lamely._

_She looked back down at her tablet. "Hey." He said softy. She took a moment to compose herself before looking up at him. "Because of the life that I lead I just think that it's better to not..." he paused a moment. "Be with someone that I could really care about." He said finally._

“So he’s till in that whole ‘I can’t be with the one I love and still be The Arrow’ phase he has going on?” Tommy asked and Dinah sighed.

 

“Yes. And it won’t be going away anytime soon.” Dinah told him.

 

_She nodded, then picked up the contract, shuffling it lightly against the desk. She rose and walked past him, allowing Oliver a moment to compose himself._

_"Well, I think…" he turned back to Felicity. "I think you deserve better than her." She said sadly, then turned and walked away._

“For once we agree Blondie.” Thea said softly.

 

_Five years ago-_

_"We have their location." The pirate said. "This one's no longer of use to us." He drew his Luger and aimed it at Oliver's head. "Let's see how good you are at removing a bullet from your head."_

_"Wait!" Sara said suddenly. "He could still be useful." She said, looking at Ivo._

_Ivo considered her for a moment. "She's right." He said after a moment. "Once we get rid of his friends, we'll need him to lead us to the graves."_

_The pirate scowled at Sara. "Sometimes I wonder who gives the orders here." He said snidely. "You or your little bouzin." He stalked out of the room._

_Ivo smirked as he walked towards Oliver. He leaned down over the table. "You're going back to the island. Oliver." He said._

_Oliver looked over at Sara, who looked on impassively. He wasn't sure if he imagined it or not, but he thought he saw a flicker of regret in her eyes._

“Man, Ivo really had her brainwashed, didn’t he?” Laurel sighed and Dinah nodded.

 

“Unfortunately. We have a few more to get through before we head to bed.” Dinah said as she started the next recording.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: it seems to me that the only people who needed to go on this mission were Oliver and Diggle. I mean, Isabel obviously went just to stir up trouble, but what about Felicity? I mean, did she do anything that Oliver could not have done himself this episode? I just don’t know why she was even there this episode.


	39. State v Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moira's trail goes underway and Laurel becomes suspicious of the proceedings. the others learn about Malcolm.

_6 MONTHS AGO_

_Moira stood in the parlor of Queen Manor, giving the press conference that would put her in prison._

_"My name is Moira Dearden Queen. I am the acting CEO of Queen Consolidated. And, God forgive me, I have failed this city." She said to the cameras and reporters amassed in the room. "I have been complicit in an undertaking with one horrible purpose- to destroy the Glades and everyone in it." Shocked gasps ran through the crowd as Thea continued to watch on in horror._

_At Iron Heights, a guard in the control room watched the newscast in stunned silence. 'If you reside in the Glades, please, you need to get out now. Your lives and the lives of your children depend on it. Please.'_

_Another guard walked into the room. "Warden says we got to evacuate." He told his partner, opening the weapon's cabinet and withdrawing all the shotguns. "Help me get these out of here."_

_"What about the inmates?" the first guard asked, taking several of the guns._

_"Leave 'em." The second man said coldly, and the two guards ran out of the prison._

“What a bastard.” Roy sneered, thinking of the friends he had in Iron Heights thanks to the corrupt system in Starling City.

 

“The guards in Iron Heights were no better than most police officers back in Starling.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“Our tax dollars at work everyone.” Tommy said grimly.

 

_In the cell block, The Count lay on his cot, reading a book. He had recovered several weeks ago from his Vertigo overdose and had been moved to the high security block at Iron Heights._

“Oh great, the drug dealing psycho is back.” Tommy said sarcastically.

 

“Yippy.” Thea said in a matching tone.

 

_He had recovered several weeks ago from his Vertigo overdose and had been moved to the high security block at Iron Heights. As he lay there, he thought he felt something but looking around he saw nothing. A few moments later, he noticed the light in his cell was swaying slightly._

_Then the shaking really started._

_The Count was thrown from his bed, and he rapidly scurried under it to avoid the shower of concrete and steel. By the time it was finished and he climbed out from under his bed, he was happily surprised to see his cell door was ajar. He squeezed through it, and saw something else that made him smile- the guard of the block, dead. He reached down and plucked the keys off of his belt, then started moving down the hall, waving the keys at all of the other prisoners still locked in their cells._

“So not only did my dad make things worse in The Glades, he let out a psychopath to wreak havoc.” Tommy growled.

 

“Malcolm broke the city, no matter how good things got, things were never really the same after The Undertaking.” Dinah told him.

 

_"Over here, let me out!" one yelled._

_"Give me the keys!" another shouted, making a grab for the keys._

_"No, no, too violent." The Count said as he moved down the cells.” Too sloppy, too stupid. Too ambitious." He paused in front of a cell and smiled wide. "You. I love your work." He handed the keys to the prisoner. "Big future." He predicted._

_"Hey, be careful." Barton Mathis warned. "There's liable to be aftershocks."_

“So he let Mathis out to.” Laurel seethed.

 

“Unfortunately.” Dinah sighed.

 

_"Oh, I'm counting on it." The Count said happily. He ran down the hall and up a set of stairs, pausing to smile at the large hole in the wall- and the visage of a flaming Starling City beyond it. Without a care, he walked out of the prison as sirens blared and concrete rained around him._

_Present-_

_Dig opened the door of the Mercedes, allowing Oliver to climb out in front of the courthouse. Thea followed right behind, and the trio made their way towards the entrance, pushing past the reporters as they shouted questions at them._

_"Mr. Queen, what are your mother's chances?" one asked._

_"Is she on suicide watch?" shouted another._

_"Mr. Queen, can you give us any comment?" shouted yet another._

“Vultures.” Tommy spat as nearly everyone glared at the screen.

 

_"It's not fair." Laurel remarked to Adam Donner as they watched the trio approach from the top of the stairs. "They're not the ones on trial."_

_"That won't stop Jean Loring from using them as props to drum up sympathy." Donner pointed out crassly._

_"You don't seem overly concerned." Laurel noted._

_Donner smirked. "She confessed to being an accomplice on live television."_

“He seems very confident.” Diggle noticed.

 

_"She also said that Malcolm Merlyn coerced her." Laurel looked at Donner, who was smiling. "You have something, don't you?" she said. "I thought I was your co-counsel, Adam. If you're holding a trump card, don't you think maybe you should share it with me?"_

_"It's going to be a good trial." Donner said confidently. "Come on, let's get inside." Donner moved to the door._

“What does he have?” Thea asked worriedly and Dinah only stared at her blankly, causing Thea to realize. “Me, he has me.”

 

“Yes, he found some of Moira’s medical records and put two and two together.” Dinah explained.

 

“Isn’t that illegal?” Tommy demanded.

 

“She confessed to aiding and abetting a mass murderer. All records were considered evidence.” Dinah considered patiently.

_Laurel turned to follow, but paused as she saw Oliver walk up the steps. Oliver looked over at her, his expression closed off._

_Five years ago-_

_Oliver looked at the plane, his expression closed off. His hands were bound in front of him and he was being led by a large group of men, along with Ivo, Sara, and the Pirate captain. "You don't have to do this." He pleaded wearily._

_"Ivo says we do." Sara replied. "Your friends are a danger to his men."_

“If Ivo told her to jump off a bridge, would she do it?” Thea spat.

 

“She was brainwashed Thea, that doesn’t make it better but it’s the way things were. You had your own in experience with that in year three.” Dinah said and Thea paled.

 

“What?” She choked out.

 

“I’ll tell you after all this is finished.” Dinah promised.

 

_"Go." The captain ordered his men. "Quick and quiet."_

_Oliver was having none of that. "Slade! Shado! Run!" he yelled. For his effort, he got a punch in the jaw that sent him to the ground. The pirates opened up on the plane, spraying bullets into the fuselage. After a few seconds they stopped. One of the men approached the fuselage and looked inside._

_"There's no one here." He called out._

“So they got out.” Laurel said as they all sighed in relief.

 

_"They must have moved on from their position." Ivo deduced. He pulled a black device out of his pocket. On it was a digital clock that read 4:30. "Chargers are placed. Here's the detonator." He handed it to the pirate. "Make sure they have no place to return to. Go." The man ran back to the plane and threw the device into the fuselage._

_"And you." Ivo snarled at Oliver. "Now you're going to take us to the graves." He looked to the captain. "Let's go. Get him up." The black man hauled Oliver to his feet. "Let's get clear." The group walked off into the jungle._

_In the fuselage, Shado quickly got out of their hiding place. She found the detonator and disarmed it with only seconds to spare._

_"Did you find the detonator?" Slade said, pulling himself out._

_"Yes." She tossed the deactivated device down on the table. "We were lucky." She said._

_"I was lucky. You were good." Slade replied, sitting down on a crate._

“She must have been good for Slade to admit it.” Dinah noted impressed.

 

_"Either way- they have Oliver." She said, gathering up her bow, quiver and hood. "I'm going after him."_

_"Not alone." Slade said._

_"You can barely walk." Shado told the man._

_"All the more reason not to stay here." Slade countered. "Give them another chance at blowing me up." He limped out of the plane, leaving Shado to follow._

_Present-_

_"Are you two ok?" Diggle asked Oliver, his voice raspy._

_"I should be asking you that question." Oliver replied, noting how much the man was sweating._

“Yeah man, you don’t look so good.” Roy noted with concern.

 

“Yeah, you look you’re about to fall over.” Tommy noted.

 

“Thanks, you guys look good to.” Diggle said dryly.

 

_"I'll be fine." Diggle protested._

_"You look like you have the flu." Oliver said as he and Thea followed the man up the stairs as reporters continued to swarm around them._

_"If that's true, I shouldn't have wasted my time getting vaccinated." Dig replied._

_"Diggle, whatever it is, just go home." Oliver told his friend._

_"Oliver, listen, I can take care of things." Dig argued._

_"No, we'll be fine, all right? Go rest." He told Dig. "And don't make me call a cop. There are a few of them around here." Oliver threatened._

Tommy, Thea, and Roy snickered while Diggle rolled his eyes, annoyed.

 

_A short time later, Moira Queen was led into the courtroom and escorted over to the defendants table. She looked at the front row that contained Oliver, Thea and Roy- in a suit, no less- and allowed the officer to remove the cuffs. Donner smirked at the display as Moira sat down and turned to face her family, smiling reassuringly before the trial began._

“Douche.” Tommy said, glaring at the screen.

 

_'-have been complicit in an undertaking with one horrible purpose- to destroy the Glades and everyone in it.' Donner stood next to the flat screen TV as Moira's televised confession played. He paused the playback and turned to the jury. "And it worked." He began. "The Glades were destroyed. Homes and lives were lost. All because of her actions. True, she had second thoughts; Remorse which compelled her to deliver this statement." He offered, then turned to face Moira. "But on behalf of the 503 lives that were extinguished that day, I say, Moira Queen, your remorse comes too late." He said dramatically._

“He sure likes to hear himself talk, doesn’t he?” Roy drawled.

 

“You have no idea.” Dinah said dryly, remember having to under hearing Donner talk when she had worked with him.

 

_'For the last five years, under the threat for my life and the lives of my family—' "Why wouldn't those threats silence her?" Jean asked as she paused the playback. "Why wouldn't Moira Queen be terrified? Malcolm Merlyn killed her first husband, abducted her second." She pointed out. "Why wouldn't she be in fear for her life? For the lives of her children? What would you do? If it were your children in the crosshairs of a mad man's rage?" she asked the jury._

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Felicity was watching the news broadcast as she worked to cover for Oliver. '-S.T.A.R. Lab's particle accelerator will be turned on right on schedule.' The news broadcast was saying._

“They mentioned the accelerator again.” Laurel noticed, everyone eager to see what would happen with it in a few recording.

 

_'In other news, we have just received word that both sides have now completed their opening statements in the Moira Queen trial.' She looked up to see Diggle practically stagger into the office. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you look disgusting." She said worriedly._

_"Yeah, well, I don't feel great, Felicity." Dig said, walking to her desk and picking up some documents. He paused and looked at her. "Is there a right way to take that?"_

“Probably not.” Thea said and Diggle shrugged.

 

_"You should go home." She said as she rose from her seat._

_"I am going." Dig said, loosening his tie. "I just need to make arrangements for a replacement bodyguard."_

_"Did you get the flu shot?" she asked as she walked past an into Oliver's office. "Personally, I never do. I know that I should. I just, I have this thing about needles." She continued, setting the papers down on his desk. "All pointy things, really. Which is ironic, considering who we work with." She finished, coming back into the lobby._

_"Yeah, it's not the flu, Felicity, it's more like…" he trailed off as he collapsed; Felicity tried to catch him, but was only successful in guiding him to the floor on his back instead of his face._

“Okay, that is definitely not the flu.” Diggle said alarmed.

 

“I’ll say.” Thea muttered.

 

_Dig!" she yelled as he gasped on the floor._

_The scene changed to an empty warehouse. A well-dressed man entered the building and looked around. "Hello?" he called out. "Are you here?"_

_"Here, there- everywhere." The Count said, coming into view. He held up a silver briefcase. "So. How goes our little science project?" he asked._

_"Working like you said it would." The man replied, eyeing the briefcase._

_"How wonderful." The Count said._

_"Ah, so listen." The man said after a moment. "Doing the thing was $50,000. Keeping quiet about it, I'm thinking it should be 50 more." He said greedily._

“Oh, you stupid man.” Tommy winced as they all waited for what was coming.

 

_The Count smiled at him. "Hmm." He said thoughtfully. "Oh, I want word to spread." He said, setting the case down on the ground. He started circling the greedy man. "It's kind of the whole objective, actually. You see my point?" standing behind him, he withdrew his trademark double syringe and stuck it into the mans' arm, injecting him with a lethal dose of Vertigo. "You should know, I find post hoc negotiation distasteful." He remarked. The man gasped in pain, then dropped to the ground, dead._

_"Ahh. Such a shame you won't get to see what your works have wrought, doctor." The Count said, kneeling besides the corpse. "But soon, everyone else will. And they'll beg for it to end."_

“And just when I thought he couldn’t get any crazier.” Roy drawled.

 

“Never say never Roy. I learned that the hard way.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Diggle was on the exam table, writhing in pain when Oliver walked in._

_"What the hell are you doing here?" Diggle gasped from the bed._

_"I heard you passed out." Oliver replied._

_"I told Felicity not to call you." Dig argued._

_"Yeah, but before that, you said 'gaw' and 'thud,' so I didn't take it very seriously." Felicity said as she leaned over him._

_"She was right to call me." Oliver said. "Diggle, you need medical attention."_

_"He needs more than that." Felicity said. "When Dig passed out, I sent a sample of his blood to a chemist I know at QC. The guy owes me a favor. Long story, I fixed his parking ticket." She paused. "Huh. I guess it's not that long."_

“So now she’s using her abilities to get other people out of trouble.”  Laurel said angrily.

 

“Ollie really should have done a better background check on her. The internet is to her what alcohol is to alcoholics. She had it under control but now she can’t stop,” Dinah said grimly, “But an alcoholic doesn’t usually work in a bar. Felicity worked in the hacking equivalent of a bar. If it wasn’t Ollie recruiting her, it would’ve been something else that made her fall off the wagon.”

 

_"Felicity." Oliver said, bringing her back on track._

_"The blood sample. It came back positive- for trace amounts of Vertigo."_

“What?!” Diggle demanded stunned.

 

_"I never used Vertigo before in my life." Dig said defensively._

_"You were exposed to it somehow." Felicity told the bodyguard._

_"Vertigo's in play again?" Oliver said with dread._

_"When the Count recovered from his OD on Vertigo, he was sent to Iron Heights." Felicity explained. "That got hit in the quake." Felicity moved over to her computer and started typing._

_"He got out the same way the Doll Maker did?" Oliver guessed._

_She sighed as she pulled up the sealed and confidential report from Iron Heights. "And just like with the Doll Maker, prison officials worked overtime to keep the lid on the escape." She informed him._

“Of course, because why let the people know there’s a psychopath on the loose? It’s not like he’s dangerous or anything.” Tommy sneered.

 

_Oliver growled and walked over to the weapons case and withdrew an arrow._

_"I know what you're thinking." Felicity started._

_"No, you don't." Oliver cut her off. "I made a choice not to put an arrow in this guy. And it was the right choice." He said._

“Denial’s not just a river in Egypt Ollie.” Dinah said idly.

 

_"There's no more killing." He handed her the arrow- it was an injection arrow filled with a green liquid. "I worked this up to counteract the effects of Vertigo. Give it to Diggle." He looked at his watch and sighed in frustration. "I… I need to get back to court. While I'm gone, just work up whatever you can and figure out how Diggle got Vertigo in his system without his knowledge." He ordered._

_"Ok." She said. "Go."_

_The scene changed to the courthouse. Oliver was back in the visitors' gallery, watching as his sister gave her testimony to Adam Donner._

_"When was the first time you heard about this so-called Undertaking?" Donner asked Thea._

_She leaned in close to the microphone. "When everyone else did, when my mother gave the press conference." She replied nervously._

_"Doesn't seem like you took it too well." Donner noted._

_"I was surprised." Thea replied. "Who wouldn't be?" she looked at him, expecting his next question right away. Instead Donner looked-flustered._

“Man, he doesn’t look so good.” Thea noticed.

 

“You don’t think he…” Tommy trailed off but everyone understood what he was implying.

 

_Donner cleared his throat. "Uh, your mother was, um, immediately taken into custody, but I assume you went down to the precinct to see her?" he asked, hesitantly at first then building up strength._

_"Um, actually I didn't see her until she was moved." Thea admitted._

_"To the prison." Donner clarified. "Do you remember when you visited her?" he asked._

_"Uh, not the exact date." She hedged._

“Oh boy, this isn’t gonna be good.” Thea winced as everyone tensed.

 

_It's ok, I have the visitor log here." Donner picked the log up from his table and looked at the marked page. "October ninth." He said loudly. "Five months later." Donner set the book back down on the table, but suddenly his strength wavered. He leaned heavily against the table. "Why so long?" he asked in a halting voice._

_"Um, I—I…" Thea looked at the D.A., concerned despite what he was doing. "Are you ok?" she asked as murmurs started from the visitors._

_"An answer, please." Donner said loudly, forcing himself back up and turning to face Thea. "Why did it take you five months to visit your mother?" he asked forcefully._

_"Your Honor, if I—" Jean started to object._

_The judge held up his hand to stop her. "No. I want to hear this." He said._

_"I needed time." Thea finally said. "I was angry."_

_"So angry, perhaps, that it took you five months to forgive her?" Donner supposed._

_"It was complicated." Thea argued._

_"No. It's very simple." Donner countered. "You blamed your mother for what she had done." He looked to the jury. "So why shouldn't the jury?" Donner moved back to his table. "Your Honor, we have no further questions for the…witness." Suddenly, Donner leaned heavily against the table as the world around him started going in and out of focus. Laurel looked up at him in concern. Then he dropped to the floor and started convulsing._

_"Adam!" Laurel shouted, jumping up from her chair as worried murmurs started growing louder in the audience. Oliver jumped up to check on him, concerned as well- it was the same thing that Felicity had said happened to Diggle only a short time before._

“I would say yes Tommy, it is possible.” Diggle said grimly.

 

“How exactly is it possible for a District Attorney to get injected with Vertigo?” Laurel wondered.

 

“You’ll see.” Dinah said simply.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Oliver led the small party into the cave, and Ivo immediately dropped to the ground and started looking through the skeletons of the soldiers._

_"Where is it?" he demanded to no one as he searched the skeletons. "Come on, where is it?!" Ivo rounded on Oliver. "The Hosen, where is it?" he demanded._

_"What?" Oliver asked in confusion._

_"The arrowhead." He explained hotly. "Every report said it was with these bodies. You said you and your friends were here. Now, where is it?" Oliver said nothing. "Take him outside." He told the captain. "Make him show you where his friends are hiding."_

“Bastard.” Tommy growled as he, Thea, and Laurel glared at the screen as though it were actually Ivo.

 

_The captain dragged Oliver outside the cave and threw him a good five feet to the ground, where he landed hard. "Take us to them." The Captain demanded._

_"I don't know where they are!" Oliver argued._

_The captain growled and withdrew his luger, pressing it to Oliver's hand. "Tell me, or you lose your hand."_

_"Let us suggest another option." Everyone looked up to see Shado and Slade standing there. Shado had her bow primed and aimed right at the captain, while Slade trained his MP5 on the others._

_"You hand the kid over to us, and we don't kill you all." Slade threatened. A moment later, Ivo exited the cave and Slade moved his submachine gun onto him._

“Please tell me Slade shots him?” Thea begged and Dinah grimaced.

 

“No, Slade doesn’t hurt Ivo…yet.” Dinah said and Thea groaned.

 

_Present-_

_Donner was being wheeled out of the courtroom on a gurney. He was confused and fiddling with his I.V. line as the paramedic tried to keep him still as they made their way to the ambulance._

_Oliver watched him go, and then moved over to his sister. "Hey, are you ok?" he asked her._

_"Don't worry about me. I can take it." She said with false confidence._

_Out in the ambulance, the D.A. was loaded and the doors were closed. Up in the driver's seat, The Count looked back at the confused attorney, before driving off with a grin._

“Are you serious? No one notices the well-known psychopath driving the ambulance?” Tommy asked angrily.

 

“Everyone was kind of distracted by the assistant DA collapsing.” Dinah deadpanned.

 

_Back in the courthouse, Moira followed Jean into a side chamber to confer._

_"Was that as bad as it seemed?" Moira asked._

_"Thea's testimony?" Jean asked to clarify. She nodded. "It was a set-back. We were counting on her to-"_

_"Humanize me."_

_Jean looked back at Moira. "Frankly, yes." She admitted. "And now we're going to have to go another way."_

_"No." Moira said at once. "No, I told you, I won't testify."_

_"I know you did." Jean said. "But now you have to."_

_"She's right, Mom." They looked up to see Oliver standing in the door. "Jean, can you give us a minute?" he asked._

_"Yeah." She agreed, walking out of the room._

_"I know what you're going to say." Moira said. "But if I testify, it will destroy our family."_

_"And if your lawyer's right, you don't have a choice." Oliver countered. "Mom, secrets are what put you in this situation. Secrets and lies." He sighed. "And now it is time to give the truth its day."_

“Might as well ask her to stop breathing.” Thea scoffed.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Dig was seated on the exam table, still shaking from Vertigo withdrawal as the news played on Felicity's computer._

_'Now, I don't want us to lose sight of the other major event in court today.' The anchor was saying. 'Was there any indication of Adam Donner being ill?'_

_'No, there was very little warning before Mr. Donner collapsed to the ground.' The correspondent replied. 'I've spoken to several people that were in the courtroom with me…'_

_"How are you feeling?" Oliver asked as he walked in._

_"Fine." Diggle lied._

“You wanna try standing and say that?” Roy drawled and Diggle shot him an unamused look.

 

_"You have a lousy poker face, Diggle." Oliver said with a grin." He looked over to Felicity. "Did he take the antidote?" he asked._

_"Didn't work." She said. "The Count must have futzed with his recipe."_

“Great, he’s made a better batch of Vertigo.” Tommy said sarcastically.

 

_"Heard what happened with Donner at the court, and with Thea." Dig said. "How is she?"_

_"Going to be fine." Oliver lied._

_"Your poker face isn't much better than mine, Oliver." He said with a chuckle._

_Suddenly the news feed faded to static, and a new signal started to air. On the screen was The Count._

“Well, looks like he’s about to send a message to everyone.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_'Hello, Starling City.' He said._

_"Felicity!" Oliver said, getting the blonde's attention back on the screen. She started hacking at once._

_'Miss me?' The Count continued. 'Many of you have noticed that you're not feeling quite like yourselves…'_

_"He's taken over all the local station feeds." Felicity told Oliver._

_"Track his signal." He ordered._

_'Like our good assistant district attorney here.' The Count continued. 'You might recognize him from his work in the ongoing Moira Queen trial.' The camera shifted from The Count onto Adam Donner, who was bound to a chair. 'Hi, Adam.' He said happily._

_'What do you want?' Donner demanded._

_'I want what you want.' The Count said. 'For you to feel better.'_

_'Go to hell!' he snarled through the pain of the withdrawal._

_'I do think you want the pain to end, and I can do that- with Vertigo.' He revealed. 'It's what all of your bodies crave. Fortunately, the power of relief is right here." He pulled out his double syringe. 'And all you have to do is go to your friendly neighborhood Vertigo dealer and request the cure. Simply supply and demand at work.' He knelt beside Donner, putting himself in the same shot as the lawyer. 'Now, tell me you want this and it's yours. All the pain will just…disappear.' He said tantalizingly. Donner looked longingly at the syringe. 'Say it. Say…you want it.'_

“What a sick bastard.” Roy said disgusted.

 

“He’s taunting Donner while tarnishing his reputation at the same time. What’s worse is that he’s taking some sick pleasure out of it.” Laurel said glaring at the screen.

 

“I may hate the guy, but no one deserves this.” Tommy said stiffly.

 

_'I-I-want-I want it.' Donner said after only a moment. The Count injected him, and immediately Donner's body went lax, the pain receding._

_'You see- a simple solution.' The Count continued, showing the relaxed Donner before putting the camera directly on himself. 'I'm Count Vertigo, and I approve this high.' The signal cut out._

_"What do we do now?" Felicity asked._

“You find him and stop him. What else?” Roy said slowly.

 

_"We find him- and we shut him down." Oliver said firmly. "Where did he broadcast from?" he asked her._

_"He bounced the signal off of S.T.A.R. Lab's satellite." She replied. "He could have sent that transmission from Markovia."_

_Oliver shook his head. "He would want to stay local. Scrub the footage, frame by frame if you have to." He ordered. "There's something on here that gives us a clue to where he is."_

_"If he dosed the whole city, why are only some people showing symptoms?" Diggle asked._

_"Maybe exposure was selective." Oliver guessed. "The Count contaminated something that only certain people, like you and Donner, consumed."_

_'A most dramatic turn.' The news anchor was saying. 'City officials are urging calm, hoping to avoid widespread panic. Deputy Mayor Levitz has…'_

_At the District Attorney's office, District Attorney Kate Spencer was watching the news with Sebastian Blood and Laurel._

_"The Count has turned Starling into a city of junkies." Blood said, pacing the room. "Any leads on where he's holding ADA Donner?"_

_"Hmm, no. As cold as it sounds, I've got other concerns." Spencer said. She looked to the younger lawyer. "Laurel?"_

_"Adam's trial notes are very thorough." She told her boss._

_"They better be." Spencer said. "You're lead counsel now."_

“That’s not only unusual, but a very bad idea.” Laurel said confused as Thea stiffened.

 

“How so?” Diggle asked as he looked at her curiously.

 

“Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last six years, everyone in Starling City knows my history with the Queen family, both good and bad. The argument could be made that I was looking to get payback for Ollie cheating on me with Sara, which ultimately resulted in Sara dying. More and more, it’s looking like some is deliberately sabotaging this trial.” Laurel explained and everyone exchanged glances.

 

“But who?” Tommy wondered and Laurel had no answer.

 

_Laurel looked up, alarmed. "Ms. Spencer, you're the district attorney." She pointed out._

_"Yes, but you're the one that the jury knows." She countered. "You'll do fine, Laurel." She assured her, mistaking one concern for another._

_"I know." She said, looking at the file. "I just found Adam's trump card."_

“Me.” Thea sighed.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. Thea was sitting at the bar of the closed club, lost in thought when Roy walked up to her. She started slightly._

_"Sorry, I didn't hear you walk up." She muttered softly. "I just want to be left alone."_

_"Well, too bad that's not an option for you." Roy said. "But maybe I know something that is." He dropped a pair of red boxing gloves onto the bar top that Thea looked at incredulously. "Hit me."_

“What?” Thea asked and Roy shrugged cluelessly.

 

_"What?"_

_Roy looked at his girlfriend. "You wonder why I used to go out at night looking to throw down with bad guys." He started. "Part of it was to help the city. And the other part was to help me."_

_"Getting tuned up by street thugs helped you?" she asked in disbelief._

_"Yeah, well, I gave as good as I got." Roy replied, strapping her hands into the gloves. "There we go." He said as he finished. "When I would throw a punch, I'd be so angry. I'd feel this heat rising inside of me, in my jaw. In my chest. And my fists. But it needed somewhere to go. Come on." He tugged her out onto the empty dance floor. "Thea, you're angry. At your mother, the D.A., yourself, maybe." He explained. "But that anger is going to chew up your insides if you don't let it out."_

_"I'm not going to hit you, Roy." Thea protested._

_"Try." Roy dared. "Try!" he said again, an edge to his voice. Thea took a lackadaisical swing, hitting him softly in the arm. "I said hit me, right?" he mocked. "'Cause that felt like- that didn't really feel like anything." She hit him again, this time putting more effort into it. "Better." He said. "But keep your wrists straight. Don't just use your arm. Put your entire body into it." She hit him again. "Come on, again." He stood there as she started throwing hard punches, one after the other. With each punch, the careful control of her emotions began to slip until finally she collapsed into Roy's arms, crying._

“Thank you Roy.” Tommy said begrudgingly, grateful despite himself at Roy helping his sister.

 

“Thanks, I guess.” Roy was half tempted to point out he hadn’t done it yet but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

_The scene shifted downstairs to the lab, where Felicity was hard at work analyzing the video. Oliver paced, casting worried looks at Diggle._

_"At least let me call Lyla." He offered._

_"All she could do is worry about me." Diggle rightly pointed out._

_"I found something." Felicity finally said._

_Oliver squinted at the screen. "I don't see anything." He said._

_"Because you have to see what Donner does." She enhanced Donner's eye._

_"His eye caught a reflection." Oliver realized. "Can you enhance?"_

_"It hurts me that you feel a need to ask." She said, enhancing the image._

“I realize that she’s good, but does she have to sound so arrogant?” Tommy whined.

 

“It’s Felicity.” Dinah deadpanned and Tommy ‘ah’ed.

 

_A symbol appeared in the enlarged eye._

_"What are those, wings?" Dig asked._

_"It's the city seal." Felicity stated. "Starling Municipal Records Department. That building's been abandoned since the city went to digital." She looked back at Oliver. "Dollars to donuts, that's where is operating out of."_

_"Not for long." He said, going for his costume._

“It’s payback time you bastard.” Roy grinned viciously.

 

_The scene changed to iron Heights. Moira was led into the visitor's area, but stopped cold when she saw Laurel standing there._

_"You shouldn't be here." Moira told her coldly. "My attorney needs—"_

_"Moira." Laurel cut her off. "I know I could be disbarred for speaking with you, but this isn't something for lawyers. This is a family matter." She said significantly._

_Moira reluctantly came to the table, and the two women sat. "Jean told me she's calling you to the stand tomorrow." Laurel began._

_"Yes." Moira replied tersely._

_"You can't testify." Laurel stated bluntly._

_Moira sat back. "Well. The fact that you don't want me to, Laurel, is a good indication that I should."_

_"If you take the stand, I'll have to cross examine you, and I'll have to do it to the best of my ability." Laurel continued._

_"Yes, I understand." Moira said off-handedly._

_"No, I don't think you do." Laurel opened her folder, then turned it and slid it to Moira so she could read what was inside- Donner's trump card. "Forget about what this will do to Oliver and Thea. It also could undermine your entire case. So, Moira, please." She placed her hands on Moira's. "Please. Don't make me use this." She begged. "Everything is at stake for you. And I don't want to be the one to take it all away."_

_Moira pulled her hands away, a look of dread on her face._

“Either way, she should probably just take the plea deal. It’s too big a gamble to take with Moira’s life.” Diggle noted and Thea paled.

 

_The scene changed to the Municipal Record's department. Vertigo production as in full swing, and The Count urged his people on._

_"Faster, please." He called out as he walked briskly through the production room. "Faster! We have a city full of customers. And I mean this literally." He looked up at the platform at the end of the room that Donner was seated on, still bound to his chair. "I'm afraid my production apparatus is a little over-taxed with the increased demand." He continued. "I can live with it, though. I can't say the city can."_

“He doesn’t even care about all the people he’s killing.” Laurel said disgusted.

 

“As I told you a few days ago, some men just want to watch the world burn.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_Suddenly The Arrow dropped down next to Donner. He pulled a flechette from his wrist gauntlet and cut the lawyer's bindings. "Go." He told the man, who took off._

_On the floor, The Count stared up at his nemesis "Be still, my heart."_

“If only we were so lucky.” Tommy scoffed.

 

_A goon ran up to the platform, but Oliver easily sent him over the edge and through a pallets of drugs. He dropped down to the floor and drew on The Count, who was hiding behind some of his workers. In front of him, two more goons flipped a table and took cover behind hit, training their guns on the vigilante._

_"Step away from them." The Arrow ordered._

_"Yes, I've heard you've developed an allergy to killing." The Count said mildly._

_"Do it!"_

_"Or what?" he asked. "You'll kill me?" the Count stepped out from behind the two workers and hopped up on a crate, making himself an un-missable target. Still, The Arrow held his fire. A sound of a person struggling caused him to look behind, where Donner had got himself captured. Snarling in aggravation, Oliver shot at a small gas tank, causing it to explode. He then spun and sent a flechette into the goon's hand that held Donner causing him to release his hostage. Oliver stalked over and quickly beat the guy down before grabbing Donner and leading him out of the building._

“Damn it, Donner got in the way!” Roy snarled angrily.

 

“So did his unwillingness to go too far.” Diggle noted.

 

_"You're really on the no killing wagon?" The Count called out, taunting the vigilante as the flames started to rise. "Shame. Really letting one of life's true pleasures pass you by."_

There wasn’t a single person watching this who did not look disgusted.

 

_The scene changed to the courthouse the next day. Moira, Oliver, Thea and Jan were in chambers, where Moira was about to reveal part of a devastating truth._

_"But you said you didn't want to testify." Thea said after her mother told them she was taking the stand. She sighed "But you have to. Because of me.' She dropped into her chair, dejected._

_Moira shook her head. "No."_

_"You have to do damage control." Thea continued._

_"None of this is your fault." She said to Thea sternly. "We're here because of what I did." She sighed. "Now, you both know the truth, but you don't know all of it. Laurel does."_

“Wait, is actually going to tell us about Malcolm?” Thea asked surprised.

 

“Some of it, but she conveniently forgets to tell you the most important detail.” Dinah said and Thea sighed angrily.

 

“Of course, because why tell us the truth?” Thea asked angrily.

 

_"What does she have?" Oliver demanded, tired of the secrets._

_"You shouldn't have to find this out in court." Moira said after a moment._

_"Find out what?" Thea asked._

_Moira paused again, summoning the courage to speak. "Years ago- it was many yes ago, your father was engaging in his- his extramarital activities." She said delicately. "And I had a moment of weakness. I cheated on him." She paused. "With Malcolm Merlyn."_

_Oliver looked slightly disgusted. Thea shook her head in denial. "No." she said. "No, I- I asked you about this. Last year. You said that there was nothing between you two!" she exclaimed._

_"There wasn't." Moira said at once. "Sweetheart, it wasn't an affair. It was very brief, and a long time ago."_

_The scene changed to the courtroom, where Laurel had just revealed the same thing to the jury. "And despite it, you remained friends with Mr. Merlyn." she said as she cross-examined Moira. "In fact, he frequently attended parties at your home."_

_"He was my husband's best friend until Malcolm killed him." Moira pointed out._

_"And this is why you claimed to feel as though you were in fear for your life and the lives of your children?" Laurel asked._

_"Well, I think it's a fairly compelling reason." Moira said defensively._

_"Last year, your second husband, Walter Steel, was abducted by Mr. Merlyn, is that correct?" Laurel asked._

_"Yes. So you see—"_

_"Why didn't Merlyn kill Walter, the same as your first husband?" Laurel asked at once._

_Moira sighed. "I convinced Malcolm not to." She admitted._

_"And Malcolm listened to you." Laurel pointed out for the jury. "Your friend spared Walter's life, and yet, you'd have this jury believing that you and your children were in danger?" she asked, her voice full of incredulity._

_"We were." Moira said, again on the defensive. "I was afraid—"_

_"Afraid of getting caught." Laurel said, cutting her off._

_"Despite whatever youthful mistakes I might have made, Malcolm Merlyn was a dangerous man." Moira tried._

_"To other people." Laurel stated. "But the only person who truly posed a danger to Moira Queen and her family was Moira Queen."_

“Couldn’t you lay off?” Thea asked Dinah angrily and the older woman sighed.

 

“I had to treat her like any other suspect. I didn’t enjoy doing that Speedy; I was just doing my job. If I didn’t do my job, I’d get fired.” Dinah told her patiently.

 

“Well your job sucks.” Thea huffed and the two versions of Laurel exchanged tight smiles.

 

“Sometimes it does Speedy, sometimes it does.” Laurel agreed.

 

_Later on, Oliver and Thea sat outside while the court was in recess. Oliver got up and started to pace, stopping when he saw Laurel emerge. The lawyer froze, then immediately turned and started walking the opposite way. Concerned, Oliver walked around, meeting her before she reached the stairs._

_"Hey." He said._

_"Ok, if you want to attack me, go right ahead." Laurel said in a rush. "But you should know that you're not going to say anything that I haven't already said to myself."_

_"Whoa." Oliver said, cutting her rant short. "I know that that was difficult for you, and I just want to make sure that you're ok." He reached out to her, but she jumped back as if hit._

_"No, no. I don't understand how you can forgive me after what I just did in there." She said, confused. "I don't understand how anyone could." She walked rapidly away, leaving Oliver standing alone._

“Because he understood that we were just doing our job. Plus, to those who knew us, it was clear we were falling apart.” Dinah told Laurel, who nodded thoughtfully.

 

“Couldn’t have hurt that he was still hopelessly in love with you.” Roy chimed in.

 

As Laurel glared at him, Tommy and Thea snickered while Dinah and Diggle laughed.

 

“Yeah, that didn’t really hurt either.” Dinah admitted.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Ivo looked at the new arrivals in frustration. "So, obviously you three took the Hosen out of this cave." He deduced. He looked to the captain. "Lift him up." He ordered. The pirate did so. "Now I know he doesn't have it, which means one of you two does. Give it to me, and we'll discuss an exchange." He offered._

_"We don't know what you're talking about." Shado said. "Give us Oliver, and we'll leave you alone to look for it."_

_One of the pirates went to make a move, only to be shot in the foot by Slade "Anybody else want to be stupid?" he asked as the pirate cried out in pain._

“Only a braindead idiot would with a trigger happy Slade pointing a gun at them.” Diggle noted.

 

_"Hey. Hey!" Ivo shouted. He huffed in annoyance. "Fine. Take 'em. Cut him loose." He said to the captain. The black man pulled out a knife and cut his bonds, and Oliver stood there for a moment, rubbing his wrists._

_Then he belted the captain hard in the jaw, sending him to the ground. As the pirates started to react, Oliver grabbed Sara's hand and pulled her along with him as he began to run._

“He saved her from Ivo.” Laurel breathed and Dinah nodded.

 

“He didn’t trust them with Sara. Plus, he saw how Sara was completely brainwashed by Ivo and wanted to get her as far away from him as possible.” Dinah explained and Laurel smiled, grateful towards Oliver for protecting her sister.

 

_"What are you doing?!" she asked in confusion as they ran, Slade laying down covering fire._

_"We have to keep moving, they're following us!" Oliver yelled as the four castaways ran out of the thick jungle into a small clearing. As they crossed it, Shado took out the detonator and re-activated it._

_"Not for long." she said, tossing it on the ground as she ran. A few moments later the Captain and one of his men ran into the clearing- just as the detonator exploded, sending both men flying._

“Take that you bastard.” Tommy smirked.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed back to the Foundry. Felicity was still trying to find a pattern for The Count's victims as Diggle watched the news._

_'Obviously we're continuing to monitor both of these major stories in what has become a significant news day here in Starling. What can you tell us about…'_

_"Oliver's going to be pretty wrapped up with his mother." Dig noted. "You making any process on how The Count's getting Vertigo into people's systems?"_

_"Not much." She admitted, pulling up a map of the city marked with Vertigo victims. "Each dot is the home of somebody with withdrawal symptoms."_

_"That seems pretty random." Diggle said sourly._

_"That's because it's very random." She replied._

_Dig sighed. "Ok. What if people weren't exposed at home; what if they got dosed at work?" he supposed. "Can you do this by their employment addresses?"_

_Felicity gave him a look before she started rapidly typing. "I'm really starting to wonder what it would take to impress you guys." She finished and the dots on the map reformed "It's a trail." She said in surprise. "A path through the city. Any place you've been?" she asked,_

_Dig pointed to a dot on the map. "59 and Dale. I got my flu shot."_

_"You got your vaccination from one of those trucks, right? One of those roving flu trucks?" she realized. She pulled up the information about the Flu vaccine trucks. "The route." She said. "It's a flu vaccination tour. A truck sent out by Starling City Mobile Care."_

“Are you kidding me, he posed as a doctor? And no one noticed?” Diggle stared at the screen incredulously.

 

“The people of Starling City are naturally dismissive of common sense.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_"I got addicted after one injection?" Dig said in disbelief. "That can happen?"_

_"Sure. Try heroin some time." She said offhandedly. Then she realized what she just said. "Not try-try."_

_"All right, where's the truck now?" Dig asked._

_"Downtown." she said. "What do you think? Call Oliver?"_

_"No, no, he's busy with his family." Dig said. "I'll go." He started to rise, but then immediately started to fall back into his seat._

_"Yeah, no." Felicity said, helping him back down. "That's not happening. I'll go." She decided._

“Yeah, because that won’t end badly at all.” Roy said sarcastically.

 

“It went about as well as you’d expect.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"Felicity, it's too dangerous." Dig argued._

_"It could turn out to be nothing." Felicity said confidently. "If it's not, I'll call."_

_'…courtroom drama you've just witnessed? Bethany, no one expected the turn that testimony took. A revelation that Moira Queen once had an affair with Malcolm Merlyn became the sole focus of the prosecution's cross.'_

_The scene changed to downtown. Felicity walked towards the vaccination truck, parked on a dark, deserted street as a light rain fell. Hesitantly she reached up to touch the door-_

_Which opened compliantly for her._

_"Hello?" she called out. She stepped into the van. "Anybody home?" she called out, looking around. Seeing no one, she began searching through the lower drawers. Finding nothing of note, she stood and slid the door open on a high cabinet. Inside were rows of plastic injection tubes, all containing- "Vertigo." She said happily. "Got ya."_

_"Funny." Felicity yelped in alarm as she spun to see The Count standing behind her. "You took the words right out of my mouth." He said._

“And this is why the tech support should never, ever go out in the field without training.” Diggle groaned.

 

“Did she not stop to think that maybe she got in too easily?” Laurel asked incredulously.

 

“While Felicity is very smart when it comes to computers, she’s practically braindead when it comes to street smarts.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene changed to the court house. Oliver and Thea were standing at the rail at the top floor, leaning against it and waiting for news._

_"Thea?" the two looked over to see Jean walking towards them._

_"Can we call it a night?" Thea asked._

_"The jury just signaled that they could have a verdict." Jean told them. "The judge will not send them home. He wants to get this over with."_

_"Line forms behind me." Thea said sarcastically._

_"A verdict that quickly is bad, isn't it?" Oliver said in dread._

_Jean sighed. "I think the two of you should prepare for the worst."_

Thea whimpered as Tommy gripped her hand tightly, both very pale. Laurel would have said something to comfort them but, under the circumstances, she didn’t think Thea would appreciate it very much.

 

_Jean walked off, and then Oliver's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw Felicity's name on the screen. "Excuse me." He told his sister, moving off before picking up the call. "Felicity—"_

_"Oliver." Oliver froze, hearing a horribly familiar voice._

_At Queen Consolidated, The Count sat at his desk, a glass of brandy in hand. "Is it ok if I call you Oliver?" he continued. "Surprised to hear from me, right? Not as surprised as I was."_

_Back at the courthouse, Oliver's hand tightened around the phone and his frown became a scowl._

_"You see, I find this not unattractive blonde, getting all up in my business." The Count continued, rising from the desk and moving around towards Felicity, who was bound in a chair. He started running his finger down her arm. "And what does she have on her? A Queen Consolidated I. D. badge." He continued as she whimpered in fear. "Now, I think to myself, why does that name ring a bell? Oliver Queen. He tried to buy off me last year, just before the hood put me in a padded cell." The Count snarled. "Ipso facto, Arrow."_

“Soo a psychopath put it together before we did?” Thea asked weakly.

 

“He was insane, not stupid. And, in hindsight, it was pretty obvious when you knew what to look for.” Dinah explained and everyone else nodded after a second of thought.

 

_At the court house, Oliver cut the line and started storming for the exit._

_Thea looked at his retreated back in disbelief. "Where are you going?!" she demanded._

_"Something's come up at the office." Oliver said shortly._

_"Ollie, the jury!"_

_"I have to go." He said, moving rapidly towards the stairs._

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Oliver, now dressed in full Arrow regalia minus the grease paint and with his hood down strode down the corridor on the executive level. Cautiously he made his way into his outer office, and then he saw them. Through the glass wall he could see Felicity, bound to a chair and trembling with fear, as The Count sat behind her, casually running his hand through her ponytail._

_"Pretty swanky offices." He called out to the vigilante. He stood as Oliver stopped at the open doors to the conference room and casually put his hands on Felicity's shoulders. "You can see all the destruction that your mom caused from up here."_

“As if he needs reminding.” Tommy grumbled as tension filled the room, everyone waiting to see what would happen.

 

_"What do you want?" Oliver demanded._

_"World peace and personal satisfaction. Though not necessarily in that order." He rubbed Felicity's shoulders gently, causing her to whimper in fear. "You poisoned me and put me in a hole." The Count spat. "You have no idea how much I hated you for that. Turns out, someone else hates you, too."_

_Oliver blinked in surprise. "Who?" he demanded._

_"Who?" The Count echoed mockingly. "Oh, you're going to be surprised when you find out. He's a man of means. Set me up with my new operation so I could draw you out."_

“Who would fund this guy just to get to Ollie?” Thea wondered.

 

“You’ll know by the end of the night.” Dinah promised grimly.

 

_"Who?" The Count echoed mockingly. "Oh, you're going to be surprised when you find out. He's a man of means. Set me up with my new operation so I could draw you out."_

_"To do what?" Oliver asked._

_"This." The Count drew his gun and started firing. Oliver ducked and rolled over a low sofa as the bullets shattered the glass around him._

_"You're going to have to try harder." He called out._

_"Done!" The Count fired his last two rounds, and then slammed the gun down on the conference table. He took out a knife and cut Felicity loose, then yanked her to her feet by her hair. "Come on!" he demanded, dragging her along with him._

_"Ahh!" she yelled out in pain as The Count pulled another gun from his waistband and dragged her around the couch- but Oliver wasn't there. The Count looked down in momentary confusion, but then Oliver dropped down from the ceiling into the conference room and drew on the drug pusher. The Count dropped his gun and moved himself behind Felicity, taking out his double syringe and placing it at her neck._

_"So now we move on to plan B." he said._

“So he can’t win so he’s gonna kill a defenseless hostage? Good god, what a sore loser.” Thea said disgusted.

 

_"Oliver, don't! Not for me!" she pleaded._

_The Count yanked back on her hair hard. "Quiet, please. I'm threatening." He looked to Oliver. "Lower your bow." He ordered._

_Oliver slowly lowered the bow and tossed the arrow to the ground. "Your problem is with me." He pleaded. "It's not with her."_

“You’re smarter than that Ollie, did you really think he was gonna let her go?” Laurel asked incredulously.

 

“Again, this is what Ollie’s no kill rule produces.” Dinah pointed out.

 

_"Well, then, consider this your penalty for making me go to plan B in the first place." The Count replied, drawing back the syringe to jam it into her neck._

_Without thought, Oliver drew and fired three arrows in rapid succession. All three pierced the Count's chest. And if that didn't kill him, the momentum of the impacts drove him back into the window that had already been weakened by a bullet strike. The Count crashed through and fell 36 stories onto a taxi cab's roof on the street below._

“Well, at least he can’t hurt anyone ever again.” Laurel said as the tension in the room drained, replaced by relief.

 

_Oliver sighed heavily, but then moved over to Felicity who had fallen to the ground. "Hey." He said, cupping her head gently as she wept. "Hey. Hey, shh, shh. It's all right." He told her as her eyes finally found his. "You're safe."_

_Felicity noticed blood on Oliver's arm. "Oh, you were shot."_

_"Hey." He said with a small smile. "It's nothing." He rose and moved over to the broken window, looking down at the Count's body sadly as a crowd started to gather._

_The scene changed to the court house. A short time later, Oliver returned, his wound dressed and back in his business suit. He walked around the waiting area, stopping as he spotted his sister._

_"Any news?" he asked._

_"Where have you been?" she demanded._

_"Something… happened at Queen Consolidated." He said obliquely. "You will see it on the news later. Just don't worry about it."_

_"What would you have done if there'd been a verdict?" she asked angrily._

_"Thea…" he sighed. "I don't know."_

_Thea looked at her brother with worry. She placed a hand on his arm- right where he had been shot- causing him to jump slightly. "Are you ok?" she asked._

“No, he’s really not.” Diggle noted with concern.

 

_Before he could answer, Jean walked up to them. "Hey. Jury's back."_

_"Come on." Thea told Oliver, and the three headed back in._

_Moments later, the judge restarted the proceedings. "I have received a note that the jury has arrived at a verdict." He said, turning to the bailiff. "Please publish the verdict."_

_"In the superior court of Star county state versus Moira Queen verdict." She began. "On one count of conspiracy in the first degree, the defendant is found not guilty." Oliver's face showed surprise. "On the 503 counts of murder in the first degree, the defendant is found- Not guilty." Moira sagged in relief and she hugged jean. Oliver looked on in shock, mouthing 'I don't believe it.' To himself as the courtroom exploded into pandemonium. Even Thea sat in shock. Finally, Moira let go of Jean and moved over to her children._

“I don’t understand. Thea’s testimony hurt the case and Laurel’s cross examination threw out Moira’s defense of duress.” Diggle said confused.

 

“Someone sabotaged the trial, because they were trying to get Moira off,” Laurel realized, “but who would go to so much trouble to get her off?”

 

“Wait a few minutes and you’ll see.” Dinah promised.

 

_"Mom." Oliver said, rising to give his mother a hug. Soon Thea was pulled in as well._

_"I love you both so much." She told them tearfully. Oliver looked up, still in shock, and caught Laurel's eye. Her face was blank, revealing nothing, and she calmly made her way out of the courtroom._

_'A stunning result, as Moira Queen is acquitted of all charges.' The scene changed to the Lair later that night, where once again Felicity had on the news. 'In a day that's provided a week's worth of shocks and legal twists, many had pronounced this case a done deal…'_

_"Congratulations." She told Oliver as he walked in. She sat in her chair with a blanket over her shoulders. He had taken off his coat and was trying to get out of his dress shirt without aggravating his wound any more than it already was. "Is that appropriate?"_

_"She should have lost." Oliver said bluntly, taking a seat on a stool. "She should have been convicted."_

_"Did you want her to be?" Dig asked._

_"I expected her to be." Oliver admitted. "Verdict doesn't make sense."_

“It does if you know what to look for.” Laurel muttered.

 

_"Still, your mom must be thrilled." Felicity said. "Beyond."_

_"It's more like shock, I think." Oliver replied. "They're processing her now. I just wanted to check in on you." He looked at Diggle, then at Felicity. "And you."_

_"I'm feeling better." Dig told him._

_"And, with the Vertigo tainted vaccine, Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences Division was able to formulate a non-addictive treatment." Felicity informed him._

_"Good." Oliver said, and then glanced at his watch. "I need to meet my family at home. So you guys go home, get rest." He said, rising from his seat. Diggle patted him on the shoulder before heading out. Oliver smiled softly at Felicity. "Good night."_

_"Good night." She replied. He turned to leave. "Oliver." She called out, stopping him. He turned back. "I, uh… I just wanted to say thank you."_

_"Yeah." He replied._

_"And I'm sorry." She added, on the verge of tears._

_"For what?"_

_"I got myself into trouble again, and you killed him." She said sadly. "You killed again, and I am sorry that I was the one to put you in a position where you had to make that kind of choice."_

_"Felicity." He took her hand in his and squeezed gently. "He had you, and he was going to hurt you. There was no choice to make." He told her honestly._

“Did you expect him to let you get killed. My brother isn’t a monster. Thea said softly.

 

“Felicity sees the world in black and white. If you kill, you’re bad in her eyes. Very little will change her mind.” Dinah explained.

 

_They shared a smile, and then he turned and walked out._

_Five years ago-_

_After what seemed like eternity, the four castaways stopped running to catch their breath._

_"Why did you do that?!" Sara demanded._

_"Because you stopped the captain from killing me." Oliver replied. He looked up at Shado. "Thank you for coming. Shado," he looked over at Slade, who was gasping for breath harder than the rest of them combined. "He doesn't look too good."_

_"He's not." She admitted. She looked at the blonde. "Who's this?"_

_"It's…. complicated." Oliver dodged. "That Hosen thing they're looking for is back on the plane."_

_"No, I've got it." Shado said, pulling it out from under her shirt where it had hung from her neck. "It has a Buddhist inscription on one side. It reminded me of my father."_

_"I'm pretty sure they aren't interested in Buddhism." Slade gasped._

_"What's on the other side?" Oliver asked._

_Shado turned it over. "30-30-147-12."_

_"Ok, numbers, what…" Oliver wondered helplessly._

_"Coordinates." Shado realized. "To what?"_

_"A Kairyu-class Japanese submarine which ran aground here during World War II." Sara revealed._

_"What do these guys want with a 70 year old sub?" Slade asked._

_"The sub isn't important, but what's on it-" she looked up at Oliver. "It'll save the human race."_

_Oliver looked at the grievously injured Slade. "Will it save him?" he asked._

“So they injected this Mirakuru stuff into Slade?” Tommy asked and Dinah nodded stiffly. “What did it do to him?”

 

“You’ll see.” Dinah said stiffly.

 

_At the clearing, the captain was crawling away from the blast site when Ivo and another pirate walked up._

_"Well, you survived your own stupidity, congratulations." Ivo said sarcastically. He knelt down and yanked the captain's gun from its holster. "You know I needed you to deal with any resistance that I encountered on the island." He stood and pointed the gun at the captain's head. "I got to say, you've done a fairly lousy job of that." He fired once, killing the man. He then handed the pistol to his companion. "Congratulations. You're the new captain." He said dryly before stalking off, leaving the stunned Captain behind._

“Bastard.” Roy sneered.

 

“Killing his own men, this guy has no conscience.” Diggle said angrily.

 

“Couldn’t agree more.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

_The scene changed to Alderman Blood's office. He was watching the news with a scowl on his face when Officer Daley walked in._

_"I arranged for The Count to take out the Arrow, and all I accomplish is reigniting the vigilante's killing spree." He spat._

_"Sir, there's been a development." The cop said. Blood went to an ornate wooden cabinet behind his desk and opened it to reveal the leather skull mask._

_Minutes later he walked into his lab. A line of men sat bound to chairs, all with bloody tears, all dead- all except the last._

_"Brother Cyrus How do you feel?" blood asked the man._

_"Stronger." Cyrus replied._

_"Good. Then you're ready." Brother Blood said._

“Ready for what?” Thea asked as a pit of dread formed in her stomach.

 

“You see in the next recording.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_The scene changed to the court house, where Moira was being released. She moved through the crowd of reporters with Jean at her side, heading towards a waiting limo._

_"Mrs. Queen, how does it feel to get away with murder?" a reporter called out._

_"Once you go out back, there's a car waiting for you." Jean told her client softly as they pushed through the reporters._

_"Did you kill your first husband?" another reporter shouted._

“Damn Vultures.” Thea sneered as three sets of eyes glared at the screen.

 

_"Just keep going." Jean told her, then spun back to the reporters. "Obviously Mrs. Queen is overjoyed that the jury has ruled that she was acting under terrible duress."_

_"Can you give us anything else?"_

_"This way, Mrs. Queen." The driver said, opening the door to the limo. Moira climbed in and sighed in relief as the door closed, dimming the sound of the vultures outside. She sat in the back, looking out at the city for the first time in months as it streamed past the windows. "The freeway will be quicker." She told the driver when he turned onto a side street._

_"I'm sorry, Mrs. Queen. I was instructed not to take you home." The driver informed her. "Not yet." Moira looked on in increasing alarm as the driver pulled into an abandoned parking lot on the outskirts of downtown._

“Wait, what’s going?” Thea asked with alarm as everyone leaned forward, confusion and worry for Moira filling them.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_He climbed out, then opened the door for Moira._

_"Where are we?" she asked nervously. "I-I don't know this place."_

_The driver stepped back and looked over her shoulder. "I've got her, sir." He said. Almost at once he was struck in the heart by a black arrow._

_Moira cried out as the driver fell back against the car and slid to the ground, dead. Spinning around, she saw her worst nightmare come back to life._

_Malcom Merlyn strode confidently towards her, his compound bow in his hand._

“What the hell?!” Roy shouted.

 

“How the hell is he still alive?!” Tommy demanded as he shot to his feet, staring at the screen in shock.

 

  
“It can’t be.” Thea said in denial while Diggle was just stunned into silence as Laurel, the only one who had known ahead of time, simply waited for Dinah to explain.

 

“He had contacts everywhere in the city, including the Coroner’s. His contact got him out of the city and he stayed at one of his safe houses while he recovered,” Dinah explained, “now sit down, we’re not done yet.”

 

Grumbling Tommy sat back down, glaring at the screen hatefully.

 

_"Hello, Moira." Malcolm said, stopping a respectful distance from the frightened woman._

_"They said you were dead!" she exclaimed._

_"There are parts of the world where death is an illusion." Malcolm told her. "I've been to one. I learned to be very convincing. But I returned because you needed my help."_

_"Help?" she asked, baffled._

_"With your trial." He explained to her growing horror. "You didn't think that jury acquitted you without a little persuasion?"_

_"Dear God." She breathed. "What do you want, Malcolm?"_

_"I still have resources in Starling. Associates. Including one in the D.A.'s office. " he revealed. "I followed Mr. Donner's investigation of you with interest." He moved closer. "The ease with which you lied about us for years, it made me wonder whether you lied to me." He seethed._

_Moira backed up against the car, terrified. "No. No" she stammered out._

_"It was a matter of a simple surreptitious genetics test to confirm my suspicion." Malcolm continued._

_"Don't." Moira protested weakly._

_"Imagine my joy at learning that Thea is my daughter." Malcolm stated, confirming her fears- he knew._

“So now my psychotic father knows I’m his daughter. Yay.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

“Relax. Your mom handles him for a while. Now, we have two more recordings to get through before we turn in.” Dinah said before she started the next one.


	40. The scientist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The viewers see the first time Oliver met Barry Allen as Malcolm and a new threat stir up trouble.

_The memory set opened at Queen Consolidated Applied Science building. As a storm brewed outside, two security guards were walking the floor. They were walking passed a loading bay door when it shook with a heavy impact. The two stopped and stared and soon the door was hit again. “What was that?” one of the guards asked the other. They watched as the door was struck again and again and, as it started to buckle, they drew their guns. One last hit sent one of the two doors to the ground and the guards opened fire._

_Before them stood a man in a black, featureless mask. He ran forward, shrugging off bullets and punched one guard, sending the man flying into several barrels that toppled on top of him. The other guard tried to make a run for it but the man stopped him. He lifted the guard by his neck with one thick hand and squeezed, crushing his throat. Then he threw him head first into a heavy metal barrel, finishing him off. With no further resistance, the man walked on into the building, searching for his objective._

“That-that’s not humanly possible.” Diggle breathed as the time travelers stared in shock.

 

“Whoever said he was human?” Dinah said grimly and everyone exchanged bewildered looks.

 

“Let me guess, we’ll find out?” Laurel asked and Dinah nodded.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated proper the next day. Oliver, Moira and Diggle exited the elevator on the executive floor and were greeted by Felicity._

_"Mrs. Queen, welcome back to the company." She said happily._

_"Thank you." Moira said graciously._

_"You look fabulous. Really, better than ever. Did you do something to your hair?" she rambled, unable to stop._

_"Yes, I shampooed it without eight women and a guard watching me." Moira quipped._

_Felicity laughed, but then forced herself to stop. "Is it ok to laugh? Because I was ordered not to say anything about you being in prison, just to avoid any awkward exchanges." Moira walked off._

_"Like that one." Oliver said, following his mother._

“She really doesn’t take orders well, does she?” Thea said dryly.

 

“If you think this is bad, you should have seen her in year three and four.”  Dinah muttered.

 

_Inside the boardroom, Isabel was going over the latest projections with the rest of the board. "We need to drill down on these numbers before the earnings call." She looked up in surprise to see Moira enter with Oliver right behind her. "Oliver. I didn't realize your mother was stopping by for a visit today." She said._

_"Well, it's not a visit." Oliver said, pulling out the chair at the head of the table for Moira, and then sitting down in the chair at her right. "This is her company, too."_

_"Of course." Isabel turned to Moira. "How are you, Moira?" she asked with forced pleasantness._

_"Back, Isabel." She said firmly._

“Wow, you could cut the tension with a knife.” Tommy quipped.

 

_Isabel paused, and then turned back to Oliver. "Mr. Queen, may I speak to you for a minute?"_

_Moments later the two were out in his office. "What sort of message does it send to the investment committee, to the city, if we hand Queen Consolidated right back to your mother?" Isabel argued._

_"She was acquitted." Oliver pointed out._

_"By a jury. Not by the city." She shot back. "Oliver. Stop thinking like a son and start thinking like a CEO."_

“As biased and self-serving as she is, she’s right.” Dinah said looking like she had just swallowed a lemon.

 

“If he lets his emotions interfere with his judgement, it makes him look incompetent.” Laurel noted concerned.

 

“Yeah and Isabel used it to her advantage.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_Oliver gritted his teeth as she walked back into the boardroom, but before he could join her, Diggle came into the office._

_"Oliver. There's been a break-in." he informed him._

_At the Starling City Train Station, a young man climbed off a train. He carried a heavy wheeled suitcase and tried to shield himself from the rain with the latest issue of Science Showcase that featured an article on the new particle accelerator. He looked at watch. "Damn!" he muttered, grasping the handle on his case and taking off at a brisk walk down the station._

“Ah, hello old friend.” Dinah said with fondness.

 

“Who’s he?” Thea asked curiously.

 

“Wai a minute.” Dinah said simply.

 

_The scene shifted to the Applied Sciences building. Diggle and Oliver were looking at the wrecked door as Felicity stood behind them._

_"This door was made of expanded reinforced titanium." Diggle noted. He turned to Officer Lance, who was one of the cops working the scene. "What did they use to do this?"_

_"Not sure yet." Lance said. "No sign of any explosives. Maybe a crane, maybe a forklift." He walked around the scene. "I'm guessing there was at least three of them, maybe four. And given how quick they got in and out of here- they were fast." He guessed._

“No, just one guy. One inhumanly strong guy.” Tommy said dryly.

 

_Outside the train station, the young man tried to flag down a taxi, who took off anyway. "Whoa, hey, stop, wait!" he shouted after the cab. "You don't even have a fare!" He sighed and stated walking again, then stopped as another passing car sent up a large plume of water, drenching him._

 

“That is one unlucky guy.” Diggle noted.

 

“His luck improved.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_Back at the Applied Sciences building, Quentin was started asking questions. "Any idea what these guys were so hot to break in here for?" he looked at Oliver. "You didn't happen to leave a spare earthquake machine lying around, did you?" he quipped. Oliver gave him a look. "Sorry." He apologized._

“So he can apologize to Ollie.” Thea said surprised and Dinah smiled in amusement.

 

“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Dinah promised.

 

_"This is what we're able to pull off the security cameras." Kelton said, coming up to the group and pulling up the video on his tablet. The clip showed the man in the mask killing the two guards, and then the man picked up a box and flung it at the camera, taking it out. "He was the only guy we got on video. The rest of the crew must have come in after him."_

_"Actually, it was only one guy." They all turned to see the young man from the train, who was examining the scene. "Ah, sorry I'm late. But actually, my train was late. Well, the second one. The first one I did miss, but that was my cab driver's fault. I've got this great traffic app, and… but he thought that he was right. I'm here now, though. So…." He babbled._

_"Great." Lance said dryly. "Who the hell are you?"_

_"And do your parents know that you're here?" Oliver added._

There not a person in the room who wasn’t laughing.

 

_"I'm Barry Allen." He said, pulling his ID out of his jacket and showing it to them. "I'm from the Central City police department." He explained. "I'm with the crime scene investigation unit. We're working on a case with some similar unexplained elements in Central City, so when the report of your robbery came over the wire, my captain sent me up here."_

_"And you think one guy ripped through this door like it was tin foil?" Lance said skeptically._

_"One very strong guy, yeah." Barry replied. Oliver looked off, suddenly lost in a memory. "Uh, it takes about 1,250 foot pounds of torque to break someone's neck." He pulled up the autopsy photos of one of the guard and showed it to them. It showed the man from the shoulders up, focusing on the bruising of the neck. "You see the marks on the guard's neck? The bruising pattern suggests the killer used only one hand. I'm guessing you don't know how hard it is to break someone's neck." He said to Oliver._

“I think he’s got an idea.” Roy drawled.

 

_"Hmm?" he looked up, his mind having been in the past briefly. "No. No idea." He lied._

_"Uh, we're going to need a list of the entire inventory here to figure out exactly what was stolen." Kelton began._

_"Actually, I think I know what was stolen." Barry put in. "A centrifuge. An industrial centrifuge. Probably the Cord Enterprises 2BX 900. Maybe the six series." He led them to a concrete base, on which something had been attached and was no longer. "Both have a three column base. Here, you can see the three sets of broken bolts where the thief just ripped it out of the ground."_

_"And what exactly is a centrifuge?" Lance asked._

_"It separates liquids." Felicity explained. "The centripetal acceleration causes denser substances to separate out along the radial direction."_

_"And lighter objects move to the top." Barry added._

_Felicity smiled at the scientist. "What did you say your name was again?"_

_"Barry. Allen."_

_"Felicity. Smoak." She said, introducing herself._

“Oh god, please tell me she’s not gonna try to go for him to!” Thea groaned.

 

“She tried but Barry was smart enough to decide not to go down that road.” Dinah explained.

 

_Oliver gave the younger man a look, so he continued with his analysis. "Um, you can see the cracks heading towards the door." He stated, pointing to the footprints embedded in the floor. "Footsteps. One guy." He stood. "Anyway, it's just a theory. One backed by a lot of evidence." He added._

_"There has to be another explanation." Lance protested._

_"Yeah. I'm sure you're right." Barry said to placate the cop._

_As Oliver knelt down besides the base to examine it more closely, Lance moved over to Felicity. "You might want to fill our mutual friend in on this."_

_"Yeah. Don't worry. I'm sure he's already on it." She assured him._

“Yep, already on it.” tommy said dryly.

 

_Five years ago-_

_The four castaways trudged through the forest, moving towards the coordinates on the Hozen. Shado took point, Sara brought up the rear, and Oliver helped the injured Slade move down the steep incline they were on._

_"We need to change directions." Slade said with a groan._

_"We need to rest." Oliver countered._

_"If Ivo and any of his men survived that blast, they'll be tracking us. We keep moving." Slade said determinedly. Then he stepped over a tree branch and dropped several inches. The impact, slight as it was, hurt him tremendously. "Five minutes." He gasped reluctantly._

“Man, he must be in a lot of pain to give in.” Diggle noted concerned.

 

“Yeah, he was.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Oliver helped him sit on a rotted stump. "You watch him, please." He asked of Sara._

_"Of course." She said._

_Oliver walked over to Shado. "Do you believe them?" she asked of him. "That this Hosen will lead us to a wrecked Japanese sub?"_

_"Ivo seems to think so." Oliver pointed out. "I just hope whatever miracle serum they're after is actually onboard." He looked back at Slade. "For his sake."_

Dinah grimaced but no one seemed to notice.

 

_"How do you know that girl?" Shado finally asked him._

_Oliver sighed. "Sara was on my father's boat with me."_

_Shado scoffed in realization. "What about the girl in the picture? Laurel?" she asked in disbelief. "The girl you told me you were in love with."_

_"Sara is her sister." He admitted, ashamed. Shado gave him a look of disgust._

“I’m guessing Ollie didn’t tell her about his life before the island?” Laurel asked.

 

“No, he was too ashamed to.” Dinah explained.

 

_Slade staggered over, rested enough of the moment. "I feel like taking a walk." He said with forced levity, throwing an arm over Shado's shoulders to help support himself. "Anyone care to join me?"_

_The two started walking again. Sara paused next to Oliver. "I guess a lot's happened in the last year." She noted before following._

“Understatement of the century.” Roy drawled.

 

_Present-_

_In Queen Consolidated, Oliver was staring out of the window as the rain fell, his mind deep in thought._

_"Oliver." He looked over to see Diggle coming into his office. "Got the final inventory from applied sciences." Dig said. "That CSI from Central City was right. The only thing missing is a centrifuge." He handed him the inventory._

_"You have to see this." Felicity said a moment later. She walked over and showed her tablet to the men. "I pulled up CC traffic camera footage from across the street of applied sciences. This is three minutes after the alarm went off." She played the video, and they watched as the mask man carried the two-ton centrifuge on his shoulder to a waiting van._

“Damn this guy is strong.” Roy whistled.

 

“Who would want a centrifuge and why? I mean, this guy is obviously just the muscle. There has to be a brain behind the operation.” Diggle pointed out.

 

“There is. An evil the likes of which you haven’t seen…yet.” Dinah said grimly and a chill went down the spines of the time travelers.

 

_Oliver looked up to see Barry Allen out in the waiting area. "Can we help you with something, Detective?" he asked._

_"Oh, CSIs aren't actually detectives." Barry said, moving into the office. "We don't even carry guns. Just some plastic baggies." He chuckled. Felicity did as well, causing Oliver to look at her askance. "Uh, where should I set up my equipment?" he asked._

_"I'll show you." Felicity offered._

_"What's going on?" Oliver asked, thoroughly confused._

_"Your assistant said that you preferred to keep the investigation in house, so I cleared it with my captain to give you a hand." Barry explained._

_Oliver smiled at the man, but took Felicity by the elbow and led her closer to the window. "What are you doing?" he asked her quietly._

_"We need to find this intruder." She said. "And he seems to know more about it than any of us. Forensic science isn't exactly my forte, so I'd say we need him." She added. "Wouldn't you?"_

“Hasn’t she learned anything since signing on with Ollie? This guy could be a serial killer in disguise for all she knows!” Thea shouted.

 

“At times, it felt like Felicity was incapable of learning from other people.” Dinah said and Thea groaned.

 

_Oliver gave her a pained smile. "Mm-hmm." He said grudgingly._

_Felicity smiled, and then walked over to Barry. "I'll show you around." She offered._

_"Why am I getting the feeling you know more about this than Felicity's new friend?" Dig asked after the other two had left._

_"Pray I'm wrong." He said simply._

“He wasn’t wrong, was he?” Diggle asked.

 

“Unfortunately, no.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene shifted to Queen Manor later that day. Moira was in the parlor, looking at a picture of a younger Thea when Oliver walked in._

_"Hi." He said. "I'm sorry about what happened at the office this morning."_

_"There are a lot of people who think I got away with murder, Oliver." Moira noted, putting the picture back. "Maybe I did."_

_"Mom, the trial, the Undertaking, Malcolm Merlyn, all of that is behind us now." Oliver told her. "And we need everyone to see that."_

_"How are we going to do that?" she asked skeptically._

_"We throw a party." He said decisively._

“Is he insane?” Thea asked as she stared at the screen in disbelief.

 

“Not insane, more like optimistic.” Dinah clarified.

 

“There’s a time for optimism and a time for realism.” Roy muttered.

 

_Before she could say no, two more people joined them. "Thea. Roy." She said, greeting them in turn._

_"Did I hear you guys say something about a party?" Thea asked._

_"A welcome back to Queen Consolidated party for mom." Oliver said._

_"I don't think so." Moira started to protest._

_"If things are going to get back to normal, then we need to start acting normal." Oliver argued. "Normal for us is a lavish party."_

_Roy's phone beeped, so he pulled it out to look at it. He sighed. "Oh. I'm sorry, Mrs. Queen, I can't stay for brunch." He apologized._

_"I guess we got to go." Thea said, kissing her mother on the cheek. "Bye." The two walked out under Oliver's watchful eye. After they had gone, he looked back at his mother and smiled._

_"I'll take care of everything." He promised._

“Something tells me this won’t turn out the way he hopes.” Tommy muttered.

 

“You’d be right.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene changed back to the Applied Sciences building. Barry was setting up a ring of ultraviolet lights around the base of the stolen centrifuge as Felicity looked on._

_"What exactly are you looking for?" she asked._

_"Your thief's shoes touched the ground, which means he tracked in dozens of clues as to where he's been the past few days." He explained from the floor as he examined the footprint from all angles. He smiled and pulled out a pair of tweezers. "Got ya." He said. He snagged the small pit of evidence with the tweezers and stood, walking over to the mass spectrum analyzer. He grinned at Felicity as he put the evidence in the machine and closed the tray. "Shouldn't take long." He told her._

_Felicity moved over to the monitor to watch as the picture of the evidence started to appear on the screen, along with the chemical makeup._

“Damn, he’s good.” Tommy whistled impressed.

 

“That he was.” Dinah smiled sadly.

 

_"So you've seen him, right?" Barry asked. "The Vigilante? I read that he saved you." He said offhandedly. "What was he like?"_

_Felicity froze. After a moment's silence, she merely said "Green."_

“Green?” Thea snickered along with Tommy and Roy.

 

_"Green." Barry said excitedly. "That's interesting, right? I mean, why green? Black would be better for stealth, and urban camouflage."_

_"Me, personally," he continued as Felicity did her best not to make eye contact, "I think that he trained in some sort of like forest or jungle environment, and the green is a nod to that."_

“How is that the police are working overtime to figure out who Ollie is and this guy from Central City already has half the answer?” Laurel said as she stared at the screen stunned.

 

“He was just that good.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"I don't give the vigilante much thought." She said, walking around the table and turning off the UV lights._

_"Police reports show that he uses carbon arrows, but if he switched to an aluminum carbon composite, he would have far better penetration." Barry continued, oblivious to her nervousness._

_"Maybe he thinks he penetrates just fine." Felicity noted, so nervous she didn't even feel embarrassed at the double entendre._

Tommy and Roy snickered while Laurel rolled her eyes at their immaturity.

 

_"Do you want to know something else?" Barry asked. "I think that he has partners. Definitely someone with a background in computer sciences."_

_"Yeah." Felicity moved back in front of the computer. She looked at him askance. "Why are you so interested in the Vigilante?" she asked._

_Barry exhaled heavily, his excitement gone in a flash. "When I was 11, my mom was murdered."_

“Join the club kid.” Tommy said softly as his own mother’s death flashed through his mind.

 

“Yeah, one hell of a club.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

_"I'm so sorry." Felicity said at once._

_"They never caught the guy who did it." Barry said. "Maybe he would have." The computer beeped, snapping Barry back into scientist mode. He stared at the results on the screen. "The soil…there's a crystalline structure in it." He squinted. "That's weird." He said after a moment._

_"What's weird?" she asked._

_"It's sugar." Barry stated curiously._

“Sugar?” Tommy repeated confused.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. It was already night by the time Roy and Thea were finally able to meet up with Sin._

_"Sin, you said this was an emergency." Roy started._

_Sin looked askew at Thea. "No offense, but Thea, you shouldn't be here." She said bluntly._

_"In the alleyway of the club I own?" Thea replied sarcastically._

_Sin sighed. "It's my friend Max." she began. "He's missing. I haven't seen him for a week, no one has. Something happened to him." She looked at him significantly. "I figured you knew someone who could help." She said._

_Roy was frozen, he most DEFINITELY couldn't reveal to Thea that he was informing for the vigilante. Fortunately, Thea saved him._

_"Roy can help you." She said confidently._

_He glanced over at his girlfriend, puzzled. "I thought you wanted me to stay out of trouble." He said pointedly._

_"I kind of like that you never turn away from someone who needs help." She said, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'll just get someone to cover the club." She said, heading towards the back entrance._

_"What do you mean?" Roy said at once._

_She glanced back at him. "Oh, I'm coming with you." She said, smirking._

“Hell no.” Tommy said at once, glaring at Roy.

 

“Somehow, I don’t think I’m the one you should be glaring at.” Roy raised an eyebrow.

 

“You’re right Roy. Hell no.” Tommy said as he glared at Thea.

 

“You’re not the boss of me.” Thea said rudely.

 

“Children, be quiet and watch.” Dinah said and Roy snickered as Tommy and Thea flushed.

 

_She headed back into the club, and Roy gave Sin a look. The other girl just shrugged her shoulders._

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Moira walked into her room to finish getting ready for the party downstairs when a voice startled her._

_"I hear you're throwing a party." Moira gasped and spun to see Malcolm Merlyn standing by the French doors that led out to the patio. "I didn't get my invite."_

“Yeah, because she’s gonna invite a mass murderer into her home.” Roy said sarcastically as Tommy and Thea glared at the screen.

 

“Get away from her/get the hell away from my mother.” The siblings said in sync.

 

_Moira took a moment to compose herself. "Where exactly should I have addressed it? Starling City cemetery?" she asked acerbically._

_"I know that's where you wish I was right now." Malcolm stated. "Lying beside my son."_

_"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you, Malcolm?" Moira asked. "You killed Tommy. You killed your son. You cannot have my daughter."_

_"Our daughter." He said, cutting her off. He moved in closer. "I think we both needed someone that night. I felt so bad about betraying Rebecca's memory that I left Starling." He continued. "Left Tommy behind. That's when I made my way to Nanda Parbat, where I found my new purpose." He smirked at her. "In a way, Moira, you made me the man I am today."_

“And I’m sure she takes great joy in that.” Thea sneered.

 

_"Thea is innocent." Moira argued fearfully. "She loved Robert. Please don't take that away from her, I'm begging you."_

_"Thea is all I have left." Malcolm said coldly. "Tell her the truth, and tell her soon." He turned and walked back out the way he had come in, leaving a red-eyed Moira alone in her room._

“Bastard.” Tommy sneered as he glared at the screen.

 

_The scene shifted to Applied Sciences. "You found something?" Oliver asked as he and Diggle walked in._

_"We found something." Felicity clarified, looking to Barry._

_"There were trace amounts of sucrose and a spec of dirt the killer dragged in here on his boot." Barry revealed._

_"Which got me thinking." Felicity continued. "There is a sugar refinery two miles from here. The land around it is suffused in waste sugar. So I checked. They had a delivery truck stolen a few days ago."_

_"Their truck matches the make and model of the truck the thief used to steal the centrifuge." Barry added._

_"Can you track the vehicle?" Oliver asked._

_"We've been trying." Felicity started, but was cut off when her computer beeped. She looked at it in astonishment._

_"What was that?" Oliver asked._

_"You're not going to believe this." She said. "The truck, it was just used to rob a blood bank."_

“So, a centrifuge and blood? What is this guy’s boss planning?” Diggle wondered.

 

“I have a feeling Ollie knows.” Laurel looked over at Dinah who nodded.

 

“He’s putting it together.” Dinah admitted.

 

_The feeling of dread in Oliver's stomach grew. "Are you sure?" he asked._

_"Yeah." Felicity confirmed. "Our guy just made off with 30,000 cc's of O-negative."_

_Diggle scoffed. "What, he has super strength, likes blood? Please don't tell me we suddenly believe in vampires." He joked._

“Well…” Dinah trailed off and Diggle looked at her in disbelief.

 

“Seriously?” He asked stunned.

 

“Batman had a nasty run in with Dracula a few years back in Gotham City.” Dinah said and Diggle stared in shock.

 

_"We should give this information to the local police." Barry said, slightly confused by the dynamic in play._

_"I'll take care of that." Oliver said. He gave Barry a look. "Did you say that you were working a similar case in Central City?"_

_Barry blanched slightly. "Oh, yeah, um…" he stammered. "Yeah, you know, it's similar. Has similar elements. A lot of similarities. Right. Yeah." He finished lamely._

_Oliver smiled tightly at him, then he and Diggle turned and started walking out. They stopped a short distance away._

_"I want you to look into this Allen kid." Oliver told Dig. "There's more to him than he's letting on."_

_"His intentions seem pretty clear to me." Dig said wryly, looking over at Barry who was standing very close to Felicity as they worked on the computer._

_"Just do it, please." Oliver said tiredly._

“Please tell me he’s not jealous.” Thea begged.

 

“No, he just doesn’t trust Barry. As I’m sure you’ve realized by now, he doesn’t trust easily. He thought Barry was hiding something, he wasn’t wrong.” Dinah shrugged.1

 

“Was he a threat?” Diggle asked suspiciously and Dinah shook her head.

 

“Barry Allen is one of the best people you will ever meet.” Dinah said in a voice that left no room for argument.

 

_"Oliver, when are you going to tell me what exactly we're up against?" Dig asked. Oliver just gave him a look._

_A short time later. The Arrow pulled up behind a speeding sugar deliver truck that was loaded down with stolen blood and missing the driver's side door. He tried to speed past the truck, but Cyrus kept cutting the wheel to the left and right, cutting him off. Frustrated, Oliver fired an arrow at the passenger side mirror, taking it out, then pulled to the driver's side. Cyrus looked out the open space to see Oliver's bike speed past- with no one on it. He was confused for a moment before The Arrow swung in from the roof of the cab, landing a hard boot to his masked face. He replied with a single punch that sent Oliver tumbling back out._

“Damn this guy is strong!” Tommy said worried for his best friend.

 

_Oliver hung on desperately, finally managing to pull himself back up. He threw three hard right crosses that did nothing more than piss Cyrus off. Cyrus responded with a single punch that sent Oliver flying out and up onto the hood of the truck. Cyrus punched through the windshield shattering it, then grabbed The Arrow by his hood and yanked him back into the cab. A little dazed, Oliver pulled a flechette from his thigh quiver and jammed it into Cyrus' leg. The other man grunted in annoyance, then threw one last straight punch that sent Oliver- and the passenger side door- crashing to the pavement. The momentum caused it to skid into a pile of trash by the side of the road. He pulled himself up, wincing in pain, and looked at the bloody arrow he had managed to hold onto, covered in Cyrus's blood._

“This guy…he isn’t human.” Diggle breathed as they all stared at the screen, shocked by his strength.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair._

_"Yeooww!" Oliver yelped in pain as Felicity taped up his ribs._

_"Sorry." Felicity said softly, trying to be gentle._

_"Ahh." He winced as he pulled on a sweatshirt. "Thank you." He said softly to Felicity. He let out a breath. "You were right to ask if I knew more than I was letting on." Oliver admitted to Diggle. "I've seen men with abilities like that before."_

_"You have?" Felicity asked. "Where?"_

_"The island." He said tiredly. "My second year marooned there, we- I came across the remains of a Japanese World War II military project." Oliver explained. "It was a serum designed to create human weapons."_

_"Human weapons." Diggle scoffed. "My God, what's next, aliens?"_

“John, you remember Kara and Kal, right?” Dinah asked and Diggle stared at her in disbelief.

 

“Really?” Diggle asked and she nodded.

 

“They are the last survivors of an alien race from the planet Krypton.” Dinah explained.

 

“Well, now I’ve seen it all.” Roy quipped.

 

_"This is real, Diggle." Oliver said sharply. "Those five years that I was away, I came across things that just defy explanation." He sighed. "There's a doctor, his name is Ivo, and he came to the island to test the serum on people. The ones that survived, their endurance, reflexes and strength were all enhanced."_

_"And you think this Ivo's in Starling City?" dig asked._

_"He's dead." Oliver said confidently. "And so is everyone that he injected with the serum. The last of which I burned."_

_"You think someone found the recipe." Diggle surmised._

_"The centrifuge and a large supply of blood." Oliver stated. "I think someone wants to make more of it. A lot more."_

_Felicity sighed sadly. "Why couldn't you have been marooned on Aruba?" she muttered._

“Good question.” Thea sighed.

 

_"There's a third component- a strong sedative." Oliver revealed. He handed the bloody arrow over to Felicity, who took it timidly._

_"I think I preferred it when you left these in people." She noted sourly._

_"I need you to analyze the blood on the arrowhead." Oliver ordered. "If we can figure out which sedative they're using—"_

_"We can figure out where the next robbery will be." Diggle finished._

_"Barry and I will get right on it." Felicity said, walking off._

_"I think our Miss Smoak is smitten." Dig noted._

_"Diggle, what did you find out about Mr. Allen?" he asked the bodyguard quietly._

_"He's not who he says he is." Dig replied._

“Wonder what he’s hiding.” Tommy muttered as the time travelers leaned forward in anticipation.

 

_Five years ago-_

_The four continued their trek through the wilderness. As they came down a steep incline, Shado looked back at Slade with concern._

_"How are you holding up?" she asked, noting his labored breathing._

_"I could do with a better looking crutch." He joked, referring to Oliver._

_They started moving again. Oliver glanced over at Slade. "You two seem like you've gotten pretty chummy." He said casually._

_"We're here." Shado announced suddenly. They stopped at the top of a steep cliff. Down below was a lagoon that must have fed into the ocean- because sitting near the middle up against a rocky outcropping was an ancient Japanese submarine._

“They found it.” Thea breathed, not noticing Dinah’s grim expression.

 

_Present-_

_In the Applied Science's building, Barry was climbing the shelves looking at the setup in horror. "They have nitric acid next to hydrazine? Permanganates on top of acetone? This is the definition of dangerous." He exclaimed._

_"If it's so dangerous, maybe you shouldn't be touching them." Felicity noted. Thunder cracked overhead, and Barry glanced up at the ceiling. "Barry." She said, getting his attention back. "I managed to get a sample of the perpetrator's blood from the police department. We need to isolate a sedative in the blood." She told him a she prepped the arrow. "It could lead us to the thief."_

_"How did the police get it?" Barry asked._

_"Apparently the Vigilante shot him with an arrow." Felicity said offhandedly._

_"You're kidding." He climbed down from the shelves and ran back over to the examination table. "You know what this means, right?" he asked excitedly. "This means the Vigilante's working the same case we are! Heh." He chuckled. "Go figure. How did you get it?" he asked her._

_"Oliver has a lot of connections." Felicity replied casually._

“You have no idea.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_Barry chuckled again. "Wow. Pays to work for a billionaire." He noted._

_"Actually my take home's nothing special." Felicity said. "Especially given I am rarely at home, since I'm with him every night."_

_"Ah." Barry deflated slightly. "Well, I didn't realize you and he were…"_

_"Oh, no." she quickly denied. "Work. He and I are not, no," she shook her head. "I do not like Oliver." She said firmly._

“Should have stayed that way. You are not good for my brother.” Thea muttered.

 

_Barry smiled and turned back to the shelves. "Um, I was invited to a work function." She continued nervously, causing him to turn back to her. "It's a party. And I have a plus-one. I was thinking you would make a really good plus one." She asked._

_He smiled warmly at her, and then looked momentarily panicked. "There's not going to be dancing, is there?" he asked worriedly. "I'm not just not too good on my feet."_

_Felicity just smiled._

_The scene changed to the Glades the next day. Sin let herself, Roy and Thea into her friends' small apartment._

_"Ohh." Thea gagged, covering her nose. "It reeks in here." She looked around at the dozens of paintings- on the floor, on the wall, some still on easels. All of them showed an eerily familiar interpretation of Brother Blood's skull mask._

“Isn’t that Blood’s mask?” Tommy asked as he narrowed his eyes.

 

“Yes.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“So he was involved with Blood’s cult?” Diggle inquired.

 

“Seems that way, but we could never figure out how.” Dinah explained.

 

_. "I guess your friend wasn't too into painting seascapes." She quipped._

_Sin picked up a pizza box with a few fuzzy pieces still in it. She grimaced and put the box back down, closing the lid._

_Roy looked around, scouting for clues. Looking down on a chair, he noticed an advert for a blood drive sponsored by Sebastian Blood._

_"Max is like any starving artist- starving." Sin said. "But I could always crash here when I didn't have a place to stay."_

_"Hey, this blood drive was a week ago." Roy said, holding up the pamphlet. "When did you say he went missing?"_

_Sin looked at the ad. "That day." She said._

“That’s a coincidence.” Tommy raised an eyebrow.

 

“Too much of a coincidence.” Diggle narrowed his eyes.

 

_Outside, Officer Daily was seated in his police cruiser, parked just down the street that faced the building. He noted with interest as the three left the building. He picked up his phone and hit the number one speed dial. "It's Daily. Someone's looking for Maxwell Stanton." He said into the phone._

“Bastard.” Roy sneered.

 

_"And they should find him." Blood replied._

_"Yes, Brother Blood." Daily said, and then hung up._

_In his warehouse, which now housed the cooler of stolen blood and the Kord Enterprises TBX-900 centrifuge, Sebastian took a bag out of the cooler and walked over to Cyrus. "Blood provides life." He said. "Blood provides power. And with power- there's no limit to what I can do." He told his superman._

“He’s insane.” Roy said bluntly.

 

“Not insane, just someone who believes the ends justify the means. And without honor.” Dinah pointed out.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Felicity and Barry were at her desk watching the latest news report about the particle accelerator._

_'…Central City is just a day away from making history when the controversial S.T.A.R. Lab's particle accelerator is finally turned on.'_

_"Pretty cool, right?" Barry asked excitedly._

_"You know there's been a hundred percent increase in earthquakes since they've turned on the Large Hadron Collider." Felicity teased._

_"That data is misleading." Barry started to argue._

_"Oh, do tell." Felicity said with a laugh._

_"You know about misleading, don't you?" the laughter died as the two saw Oliver walking powerfully towards them._

_"What are you talking about?" Felicity asked._

_"He's not from CSI, he's an assistant." Oliver revealed. "Whose bosses don't know you're in Starling. And there is no similar case in Central City. So tell me, Barry," Oliver glared at the younger man. "What are you really doing here?"_

“Busted!” Thea sang as Tommy and Roy snickered.

 

_Barry exhaled heavily. He looked over at Felicity. "I told you my mom was murdered." He started._

_"By your father." Oliver put in._

_"He didn't do it." Barry said defensively, walking around the desk to stand in front of the imposing man._

_"You said that the police didn't find the man who killed her." Felicity stated._

_"The police think they did." Barry replied. "My dad has been serving a life sentence. They didn't believe me." He said sadly._

_"About what?" she asked._

_"I was 11. One night something just came into our house, like a tornado. A blur. Somewhere inside The Blur, I saw a person." He turned back to Oliver. "My dad went to fight it. I tried to get 'em when suddenly," he sighed. "I was 20 blocks away from our house. Nobody believed me." He chuckled humorlessly. "They thought I was trying to cover for my father. But what I saw that night was real. As real as the man that ripped down that metal door with his bare hands." He said pointedly. "That's why I look into cases like this. The ones nobody believes are possible. Maybe if I can just make sense of one, I might be able to find out who really killed my mother. And free my dad." His shoulders slumped and he looked back to Felicity. "I am sorry I lied to you. Better find another plus one." He said sadly before walking out._

“Well that’s…one hell of a story.” Diggle muttered.

 

“Is it true?” Tommy asked.

 

“Every word.” Dinah said and they all stared stunned.

_Felicity glared at Oliver. "He did lie about who he really was." Oliver said, trying to defend himself._

_Felicity scoffed. "And what do we do every day?" she asked emotionally before walking out, leaving Oliver alone in the office._

“Just because you naively trust people at the drop of a hat doesn’t mean everyone else does. So get off your high horse of judgement blondie.” Thea said glaring at the screen.

 

“Don’t hold your breath.” Dinah muttered and Thea groaned.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor later that night. The three Queens walked down the stairs into the foyer and were greeted by Felicity._

_"Hey. How's everything going in there?" Oliver asked._

_Felicity smiled at Moira and Thea. "Good evening, Queens." Then she looked pointedly at Oliver. "Can I have a word?"_

_"Yeah." He said. He took her arm and led her off a bit. "I'm sorry if I overreacted a little bit earlier." He apologized._

_"Oh, you think?" she replied sarcastically. "Look, right now you need to apologize to your mother." She told him. "Not me."_

_Oliver looked at her, confused. "For what?"_

_"Your being wrong." She said sadly. Oliver frowned and walked over to joined his Mother and Sister at the entrance to the parlor-_

_The almost empty parlor._

_There was a three string orchestra playing classical music, there was a bar set up to serve drinks, and there was about six people in the large room._

“I knew it was a bad idea.” Thea groaned.

 

“The people in this city are not very…forgiving.” Dinah noted.

 

“That’s one way to put it.” Roy muttered.

 

_"I guess these days; I only draw a crowd when I'm on trial for murder." Moira said glibly._

_Thea's face fell; Oliver's was set in stone. Thea put a hand on her mother's arm. "Mom, you don't have to—"_

_"We have guests." Moira said, smiling determinedly. "However few of them there are." She walked in and began to greet the few people who had arrived._

“Well, she’s got class, I’ll give her that.” Roy said impressed.

 

_Thea stepped over to her brother. "This is not your fault, Ollie." She whispered to him as she walked into the room. She saw Roy, once again dressed in a sharp suit, and moved over to him._

_"How's your mom doing?" he asked._

_She forced a smile. "Oh, you know us Queen women- nothing gets to us." She said._

_"You must take after your dad." Roy quipped, and Thea chuckled._

Thea winced as Roy shifted uncomfortably. Tommy didn’t say anything, although that had mostly to do with the twin glares Laurel and Dinah were shooting him.

 

_He frowned as his phone rang. "Sorry." He said to Thea as he answered the phone. "Sin. What's up?"_

_Down in the Glades, Sin was looking at the ground in front of a chain linked fence. "I found Max."_

_Back at the party, Roy frowned. "Where?" he asked. His frown deepened. "I'm on my way." He hung up._

_"They find Max?" Thea asked._

_"Um, no." he lied. "She just wants me to stop by."_

“Liar.” Thea said coolly and Roy shrugged.

 

_I can come with you." Thea offered hopefully._

_"You should stay here. Your mom needs you." He told her truthfully. He kissed her on the cheek. "Ok, I'll call you later." Thea sighed as he walked off, and then moved on to mingle._

_Felicity was walking through the ballroom, doing her best to stave off boredom for the Queen's sake. She came to stand next to Oliver, not looking at him._

_"Time for a dance?" he asked her with a small smile._

_She glanced at him. "Not really feeling like dancing with you, Oliver."_

_"I know." Oliver turned back to the entrance. "And that is why I called him." Felicity turned around, and was surprised to see Barry Allen standing there. "FYI- they will card him at the bar." Oliver told her before he walked off._

Tommy, Roy, and Thea snickered while Diggle and Laurel laughed. Even Dinah couldn’t help the amused smile that crossed her face.

 

_"Hi." Barry said as he came up to her._

_"Hi." She said with a smile._

_"I was serious about not being able to dance." He told her. "But I'll hold your hands and sway."_

_Felicity chuckled. "Sold." She said, beaming. They awkwardly came together and started swaying to the music._

_Then he stepped on her foot_

_"Sorry." He said, and they both chuckled._

“He really is bad.” Thea noticed.

 

“He got better, at least for his wedding.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_Oliver walked up to the bar, where he found Isabel. He signaled for two shots of vodka._

_"I tried to warn you." She said, taking the shots and handing one to Oliver._

_"I tried to ignore you." He replied. They drank their shots; across the room, Moira watched them, concerned._

_"I am sorry, Oliver." Isabel told him, sounding sincere._

“Right.” Tommy said sarcastically.

 

“More like gloating.” Thea scoffed.

 

_Oliver nodded. "Yeah." He turned and walked back out into the room, passing his mother as she headed towards the bar._

_"Oliver threw you a lovely party." Isabel told her._

_"Oliver's a good son," Moira replied with a smile as she picked up a fresh glass of champagne. "If not the best judge of character." Her smile at Isabel could freeze fire. Isabel smiled back, absolutely predatory._

“And it’s the battle of the vixens.” Tommy joked and Thea made a disgusted face.

 

“That is my mom you’re talking about.” Thea reminded him and Tommy grimaced.

 

“Yeah, did not think that one through.” Tommy muttered.

 

_Sensing the tension, Oliver headed back over. "Is everything ok?" he asked._

_Isabel's smile widened. "Everything's going perfectly." She said, turning to go back out onto the floor._

“Why does that bring me a feeling of dread?” Tommy asked as he shivered.

 

“Because you’re not stupid.” Dinah told him.

 

_Five years ago-_

_The four castaways climbed down the sail into the interior of the sub. Shado and Oliver went in first. Slade made it halfway down, but his flagging strength finally failed him and he slid down the ladder and hit the deck hard. Oliver grabbed him and helped move him into the next compartment as Sara made her way down. Oliver helped Slade sit down as Shado and Sara started looking for the Mirakuru._

_Shado looked at Slade in worry. "He doesn't have long." She said plaintively._

_"If this miracle drug is onboard, then we need to find it now." Oliver said. He looked at his friend. "Slade, be back in a few minutes, ok?"_

_"I'll just get comfortable." Slade gasped._

“Man, he looks really bad.” Tommy noted feeling concerned for Slade.

 

“He got better.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“You don’t sound too happy about that.” Diggle noted and Dinah flashed a dark smile.

 

“Because the Slade that you’ve seen so far, the Slade that Oliver knew, died the moment he was injected with that thing.” Dinah told them and the time travelers had shivers go down their spines.

 

_"Come on." Oliver urged. The three made their way into the next compartment, but found nothing. They opened the hatch to the following compartment, entering what appeared to be a rudimentary sick bay. Shado shined her light around the compartment for a moment before the beam fell on a small wooden crate on the floor._

_"There." She said. She dropped to the floor and opened the crate. Inside was sectioned off into several smaller compartments, and reaching in to one, she withdrew a syringe, its needle sealed with a cork, containing a greenish liquid._

_"Mirakuru." She announced._

“Wow.” Tommy breathed as the time travelers stated in wonder while Dinah looked at it as though it were a plague.

 

_"I was never sure it was real." Sara admitted._

_"What happens if we give it to Slade?" Oliver asked her._

_"He needs a sedative in his bloodstream first." She said._

_Shado jumped up and started going through the cabinets. "They might have potassium bromide or barbital." She said. She moved to the opposite cabinets and rooted around. "Ohh." She withdrew a broken glass bottle. "It's empty." She said, dejected._

“Damn.” Tommy winced.

_"What happens if we give it to him without the sedative?" Oliver asked. "Sara!" he urged when she didn't reply immediately._

_"He'll die, for sure." She said sadly._

_"He's going to die anyway." Shado said. Suddenly there was a loud clanging sound. They all looked up in alarm. "What was that?" Shado asked._

_"Ivo and his men." Sara said in dread. "They're on the sub."_

“Shit, this isn’t good.” Diggle said alarmed.

 

_Present-_

_Moira stood in the now empty ballroom, staring out at the grounds. In the reflection of the glass, she saw a man approach._

_"Have you made contact?" she asked him._

_"Yes." He replied. "He said to tell you that your information was gratefully accepted."_

_"Thank you." She told him._

“What did she do?” Thea asked and Dinah winced.

 

“Handled Malcolm for a while…but she unintentionally set in motion events that would lead to Talia’s vendetta against us.” Dinah explained to their confusion.

 

_She turned and watched him walk out just as Thea and Oliver walked in._

_"Who was that?" Oliver asked._

_"Nothing to worry about." She told him with a smile. "Thank you for tonight, Oliver. It was a lovely party." She said warmly._

_Oliver sighed. "I'm so sorry that I put you through that." He started. She cut him off._

_"Oh, listen, I don't care what anyone else in this city thinks of me." Moira told them sincerely. "I only care what you two think."_

“S then I guess she should have told you the truth about Malcolm.” Dinah mused.

 

“I take it she didn’t tell us and we took it badly?” Thea asked and Dinah nodded.

 

“You went through a downward spiral for a bit. And Ollie…it was just the last straw for him, he was just done after that.” Dinah explained.

 

_Oliver's phone started to ring. He looked at the face and Saw Felicity's picture. He smiled at his mother. "And I have to get back to the office." He said ruefully. "Excuse me." He walked off, answering the phone. Thea turned to follow him out when Moira's voice stopped her._

_"Thea." Moira said, causing the younger girl to turn back. "There's something I need to tell you."_

_"Sure. What is it?" she asked._

_Moira walked up to her daughter. She thought about telling her, she started to tell her- but in the end, she just couldn't. "I love you." She said instead, pulling her in for a hug._

“Really? She still won’t tell me, even if just to make sure I’m on my guard?!” Thea demanded angrily.

 

“Are you really surprised?” Dinah asked carefully.

 

“…no.” Thea sighed after a moment.

 

_Thea smiled at her. "I love you, too." she replied. She turned and walked out of the ballroom, leaving Moira alone with her thoughts._

_The scene changed to the Applied Sciences building. Barry was on the phone with his furious boss, trying desperately not to be fired._

_"Yes." He was saying as Felicity worked on the computer, looking up every few moments in concern. "Yes, sir. I- yes, director, I know that this is not the first time. Yes, sir, I do value my job, very much." He assured the man. "Look, I will be on the next train. Mm-hmm. I'll be back tonight. Ok. Thank—" the other man hung up first. Barry sighed. "Well, my boss found out I don't have food poisoning. I need to get back to Central City if I still want to be employed. Which I do." He grabbed his bag and threw the strap over his shoulder before grabbing the handle of the suitcase. "Tell the SCPD that the sedative in the thief's blood is Ketamine." He told Felicity. "It's a schedule three controlled substance. It shouldn't be too hard to track."_

_"Yeah, I'll make sure they get it." Felicity said. "Thank you."_

“Right after Oliver gets it.” Roy said in a high pitched imitation of Felicity’s voice, causing everyone to laugh.

 

_"It was really nice—"Barry started._

_"Thank you for—" Felicity said at the same time._

_"- working with you." Barry finished after a moment._

_"-everything, We couldn't have done it—" Felicity said at the same time again. She paused._

_"Without you." She finished. They both chuckled._

_Barry stared at Felicity for a few moments, and Felicity thought he would make a move. Instead, he smiled warmly at her. "Good-bye, Felicity." Barry said._

_"Good-bye." She said, watching him walk out with a wistful smile._

_The scene changed to the Glades. Roy arrived as the cops were manhandling Sin, trying to force her behind the barricade._

_"Max! Get off, let go!" she was screaming in anger. "Max! Get off of me!"_

_"Hey! Let her go." Roy demanded. "Cut it out!" The cops practically shoved her at him before stalking off._

_"Stupid cops." Sin snarled. "They're saying Max OD'ed."she told Roy._

_"Was he using?" he asked._

_"No!" she said hotly. "He made extra cash donating blood. You really think the hospital would let him be a donor if he was an addict?" she asked._

“Yeah, that-that doesn’t make any sense, even for a cover up.” Laurel mused.

 

“It’s The Glades, who would bother looking into the death of some no name?” Roy said bitterly.

 

_Roy glanced around; all of the cops were busy elsewhere. He quickly slipped past the barricades and ran over to the body, taking out his phone and taking a quick picture. He noted the bloody tears running down his cheeks as he slipped his phone back into his pocket._

_"Hey." A cop said as Roy moved back towards the barricade. "Can't be here, kid."_

_Roy grabbed Sin's arm. "Let's go. He said, placing his arm around her shoulder and leading her out of there quickly. Officer Daily stood there and watched them leave._

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Tommy said uneasily.

 

“You’d be right to.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene shifted to the lair._

_"They found trace amounts of Ketamine in the thief's blood." Felicity told Oliver and Diggle as she walked in and headed for her computers. "It's a common surgical anesthesia derived from hydrochloric salt."_

_"Can you use that to track him?" Oliver asked._

_Felicity started running a search on the computer. "With the current concentration ratio in the blood sample, there's only one possible location with a large enough quality of the sedative that correlates with the amount of blood the stolen centrifuge can process." She pulled up an image on the screen._

_Diggle leaned in, frowning. "What is it? There's no sign." He said._

_"A.R.G.U.S. doesn't like to advertise." Felicity said. "It's a disaster bunker. Right on the edge of the Glades. A.R.G.U.S. has them all over the country. They store relief supplies- food, clothing…"_

_"Medicine." Diggle finished._

“It’s the perfect hiding place. No one would think to look there.” Diggle breathed.

 

“Whoever is behind this, they clearly know their stuff.” Laurel noted.

 

_"I'm on my way." Oliver said, walking over to the weapon's case and picking up his bow._

_"Oliver," Felicity said hesitantly. She opened the small case on her table and pulled out the bloodied arrow. "I can't believe I'm actually saying this." She said, walking over to him. "The way this arrowhead is bent, it means our thief's muscle density is at least 120 pounds per cubic foot. That's almost the same density as common concrete." She looked at him worriedly. "Your arrows may cut this guy, but they will not stop him."_

_"Well, I've beat someone like this before, Felicity." Oliver said confidently. "I can do it again."_

_"What if you can't?" she asked._

_The computer beeped, and Diggle glanced at the screen. "Oliver." He said. Oliver looked at the screen, which showed the alley outside the club. In the utility pole, a red flechette was stuck in it. Oliver frowned._

“So I’m calling him now. I have a feeling this won’t end well.” Roy mused.

 

_Five years ago-_

_As Sara battened down the hatches, Oliver and Shado knelt in front of Slade. Oliver held up the syringe. "Now thi-, it could save you; or it could kill you."_

_"By the looks on your faces, I'm going to die anyway." Slade gasped. He reached out and grasped Shado's hand, and Oliver stood and backed off to give them a moment. "Sorry." He rasped._

_"For what?" she asked._

_"For not telling you how I really feel." He admitted. He looked up at Oliver. "Do it." He ordered._

_Oliver dropped down, pulled the cork off of the needle, and plunged it into Slade's leg. He injected the Mirakuru, and then withdrew the needle. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then suddenly, Slade began to twitch, then spasm. He threw his head back and screamed in pain, and Oliver and Shado both tried to hold him down as bloody tears started to fall…_

“Damn, and Ivo spent all his time searching for that?” Tommy asked horrified.

 

“He had no idea what he was really looking for.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_Present-_

_Roy was pacing in the alley when The Arrow finally arrived. "What?" the vigilante growled shortly._

_"I need your help." Roy said. "A friend of mine's friend, well, the cops think he OD'ed, but we think he was murdered."_

_"Why?"_

_"Well, he wasn't an addict, for starters." Roy said, and then showed him the picture on his phone- Max, dead on the street, with bloody tears. "And this… this doesn't look like any OD I've ever seen."_

_Oliver looked at the picture in horror. "Stay away from that." He ordered._

_"You know something?" Roy asked. "What happened to him?" The Arrow remained silent, so Roy exploded. "You're the one who told me to be your eyes and ears on the streets. You know what, that is not good enough for me anymore!"_

_"Fine." Oliver ground out. "Then we're done altogether." He started to walk away._

_"I don't need you! I have friends that can help me." He yelled at his back. "You can't stop us." Roy turned and started walking down the alley._

_"Slow you down." Oliver growled. He spun, drew an arrow and fired, hitting Roy in the leg. He then turned and walked off, leaving Roy wounded and bleeding in the alley._

“Did he just shoot my boyfriend?!” Thea demanded outraged.

 

“Yeah, after he basically said he was gonna drag you into this mess. I would’ve shot him to. No offense..” Tommy said as he looked over at Roy.

 

“I will try not to be offended by that.” Roy said dryly.

 

“You would do that.” Thea glared at Tommy.

 

“Thea,” Dinah said and the younger girl looked over at her, “if someone had told me before the island that they were going to drag Sara into some dangerous mess, frankly, I would have killed them. Would I?”

 

“I would’ve.” Laurel nodded.

 

“It is instinct to protect your younger sibling. Honestly, when I first saw this memory, I was surprised Arsenal was still alive.” Dinah explained.

 

“Good to know.” Roy quipped as Thea turned back the screen, grumbling under her breath.

 

_The scene shifted to Queen Manor. It was late and Moira was pouring herself a nightcap when she heard the floorboards creak behind her. "And I thought it couldn't hurt to add extra security guards." She said dryly, turning to face Malcolm._

_“It hurt them.” He said, tossing their guns to the floor. “Have you told Thea yet?”_

_“No,” She said, putting the stopper back in the bottle. “You will not go near Thea, you will not speak to her, and you will never step foot in this house again.”_

_"I set you free, Moira." Malcolm seethed, moving closer. "Your life belongs to me."_

_Moira finally turned to face him. "I am through being afraid of you." She said._

_Malcolm chuckled. "You think you can stop me?" he asked with a smirk. "Even the Vigilante couldn't kill me."_

_"No, he couldn't." Moira admitted. "But I know someone who can. Ra's al Ghul."_

“Did she just…”Tommy trailed off as the time travelers stared at the screen in stunned disbelief.

 

“Wait for it.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Malcolm was taken aback. "How do you know that name?" he asked warily._

_This time it was Moira who smirked. "Well, I didn't. Until you mentioned Nanda Parbat." Malcolm stood there in stony silence as Moira continued. "The League of Assassins, however twisted their aims, believes very deeply in a code of honor. Your undertaking betrayed that code." She explained as if to a small child._

“So Ra’s has a problem when Malcolm attacking our city, but has no problem doing it himself?” Laurel asked incredulously.

 

“Lie she said, Ra’s has a very twisted code of honor. However, if it suited him, Ra’s was always willing to disregard that code.” Dinah explained.

 

_"You told Ra's I'm still alive?" he asked with a slight quiver in his voice._

_"He was so grateful to hear it." Moira revealed. "Because he so very much wants to kill you himself. So my advice to you, Malcolm: Run."_

_Malcolm smiled proudly at Moira- she had beaten him at his own game. "This isn't finished, Moira." He said as he turned and walked out of the room._

“So this set in motion the events that lead to Ollie killing Ra’s?” Thea asked and Dinah nodded.

 

“To be more accurate, Malcolm did after Moira told Ra’s he was alive. It would’ve been so different if she had told Ollie he was alive from the start.” Dinah mused and everyone looked at her sharply.

 

“Are you saying…” Tommy trailed off and Dinah nodded.

 

“Moira knew. She’d known since The Undertaking.” Dinah told them and They exchanged glances.

 

“How?” Thea asked.

 

“When Ollie went to talk to her after the interrogation with ‘The Hood’, the way he spoke, the way he held himself, it reminded her of the night The Hood paid her  visit. She put it together.” Dinah explained.

 

“Well, she always was a smart lady.” Tommy said dryly.

 

_The scene shifted to the depot. Oliver walked in, warily looking around. Hearing a noise, he glanced behind him- and barely dodged a large crate that was thrown into the shelves he had been standing in front of. He looked up and spotted Cyrus and started shooting arrow at him. Cyrus jumped down from the high catwalk, landing in front of Oliver. He swung with a wild haymaker that the vigilante ducked under. As The Arrow came up, he fired a cable arrow that wound a strong steel cable around Cyrus's neck and the support pole behind him, binding the man and holding him there._

_"Who are you?" The Arrow demanded._

_"Merely a follower." He replied._

_"Of who?! "_

_"My brother." Cyrus said._

_"Did he give you the Mirakuru? Did he inject you with it?!" Oliver demanded hotly._

_"No. He saved me with it." With that he ripped the cable in two and charged at Oliver, who fired an arrow into each of his feet, pinning him again in place._

“From where I’m standing, it looks like it just turned you into a monster.” Tommy muttered.

 

“Accurate description.” Dinah muttered.

 

_Cyrus groaned in anger and started swinging, but liver merely ducked under the swings and started belting him both with his fists and with his bow. Cyrus managed to land one shot that sent the bow flying, and that gave him a moment to rip out one of the arrows. Oliver sidestepped another punch and stepped behind Cyrus, kicking him I the back of his knee and sending him down. Cyrus batted him back and ripped the other arrow out and took the fight to the vigilante, blocking one hit, taking two more, then landing a solid punch to The Arrow's midsection that sent him sailing down the aisle. He rolled over and started to get up, but Cyrus was on him. One kick sent him sailing up into an air conditioning vent, and as he came down, Cyrus punched him hard that sent him into a shelf full of different medical supplies. Cyrus gave him one last glance and walked off. Oliver tried to get up, to move, to do anything- but then he spotted two self-injecting syringes that had pieced his leg. All he could do was open his com link before passing out._

“Ollie.” Thea breathed worriedly as Tommy and Laurel leaned forward, as worried as Thea was about Oliver.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Slade was still screaming, the blood was running down from his eyes like tiny rivers as Oliver separately tried to hold him still. He arched once more, gave one more scream, then a gasp, and then was still. Sara knelt down and felt for a pulse. She shook her head._

_"No." Oliver said, pounding on Slade's chest. "Please. Please!" Shado pulled him up and away and embraced him as they both started to cry. "Please."_

Diggle lowered his head, knowing what Oliver must be going through. In Afghanistan, he had lost countless brothers, the pain never got any easier.

 

“So the Mirakuru killed him.” Thea said sadly.

 

“In a way,” Dinah said vaguely and everyone looked at her curiously, “just keep watching.”

 

_A moment later, the pirates and Ivo bust through the hatch with weapons drawn. "Put down your weapons!" the new Captain screamed as Oliver and Shado looked on, defeated._

_Present-_

_Diggle and Felicity ran through the bunker, looking for their friend._

_"Oliver! Oliver!" Diggle was shouting, "Oliver!"_

_Felicity spotted him first. "Oliver!" she screamed, running over to him. She dropped beside him and felt for a pulse._

_"Is he alive?" Dig asked._

_"His pulse is weak, but it's there." Felicity said shakily. "Oliver! Can you hear me?" she forced his eyelids up to look at his eyes. "His pupils are dilated!" she looked around, and then she spotted the two syringes stuck in his leg. She yanked them out quickly and examined them._

_"What the hell was that?" Dig asked._

_"I don't know, it's coded." She scrambled up and ran to the computer to pull up what it was. "Damn it." She cursed when she saw that the computer was destroyed. "Damn it! I can't break into the dispensary files. I have no idea what he was injected with! Poisoned with." She corrected herself tearfully._

“Oh man, this is bad.” Tommy said fearfully as fear pulsed through him.

 

“He makes it out alive.” Dinah reminded them all, noticing similar worry on the faces of the other time travelers.

 

_"All right, we have no choice." Dig said, pulling out his phone._

_"What are you doing?" she demanded._

_"Calling 9-1-1." He said._

_"Dig, wait!" she shouted._

_"Can't wait!" he countered._

_"How are we supposed to explain this? Everyone's going to find out Oliver's the Vigilante!" she exclaimed._

_"Which won't matter if he's dead." He finished dialing, but she yanked the phone from his hand and shut it off. "Felicity, we can't save him!" he yelled._

_"I know, you're right… WE can't." she replied as a plan started to form._

_The scene changed to the Starling City Bus Terminal. Barry Allen was running in, late as usual. He round the ticket booth just as the man there was closing up. "One way to Central City." He asked, huffing._

_"It left ten minutes ago." The man replied._

“Tough luck kid.” Roy quipped, trying to break the tense atmosphere but it didn’t seem to work.

 

_Barry hung his head. "Of course it did." He said dejectedly. "When is the next one?" he asked._

_"In the morning." The man replied before turning off the lights and walking away. Barry resigned himself to spending the night in the deserted terminal, and he had just sat down on one of the uncomfortable wooden benches when he was struck with a tranq dart. He gasped in pain and reached up for it, but the tranquilizer was too powerful and after a moment he slumped over, unconscious._

“What the hell?” Roy asked alarmed, wondering who would want to kidnap the kid.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah said simply.

 

_A short time later, Barry started to wake up. As the world started to come back into focus, the first thing he realized was that he was not in the bus terminal anymore. It was an industrial building of some sort that had been converted. He winced at the bright overhead lights and turned his head, only to see a glass display case with a bare mannequin in it._

_He pulled himself up to a sitting position, groaning and rubbing his face. As he moved his hand away, he saw the weapon's case with the compound bow and rows of arrows. He gasped in surprise, which deepened when he continued to look around and spotted the vigilante, lying on a metal table, still as death. The hood was down and he was shocked to see the face of Oliver Queen, and then shocked again when Diggle moved to stand on the other side of the table, standing over his friend and looking at him, helpless. Finally, he was shocked a third time when Felicity walked up to him._

_"Please save my friend." She pleaded to his astonishment._

“So…let me get this straight,” Tommy said as the screen turned black, “she brought someone she JUST MET into Oliver’s hideout to save him? Does she have any idea how risky that was?”

 

“It was honestly the only option they had that didn’t involve exposing Ollie. And considering how it turned out, it was for the best. But yeah, I agree,” Dinah said as she aimed the remote at the screen, “we’ll watch one more, then dinner and bed.”

 

Everyone nodded as Dinah started the next recording.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Despite what certain people may want you to believe, Oliver was not jealous of Barry in this episode. And even if he was, that’s not why he acted this way. Oliver’s behavior in this episode is perfectly understandable of someone who has the trust issues that Oliver has. So whether Barry had this interaction with Felicity or not, Oliver likely would have acted this way either way. It had very little to do with Felicity.


	41. Three Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The viewers learn the identity of Oliver's greatest enemy.

_The memory set picked up where the last one left off. Oliver, now hooked up to a heart monitor and a saline drip, started convulsing on the table._

_"Hold him!" Barry ordered, running over to the table._

_"He's not going to make it." Dig said darkly._

_"He will." Felicity responded fiercely. "We just have to find out what's in his system."_

_Barry stared down at Oliver in a panic. "I-I-I usually only work on dead people." He stammered._

_"Barry!" Felicity shouted sharply, bringing his mind back into focus._

_"All right, I can think of four possible diagnoses for what's causing his body to react this way." Barry said, moving quickly around Oliver's body. "Make that three possible diagnosis." He pried open his eyelid and shined a penlight in, checking pupil dilation. "Two. Start chest compressions." He told Dig. As Diggle started the chest compressions, Barry ran over and grabbed a surgical dish with an empty syringe. He moved back to Oliver and stuck the needle in his arm, then withdrew a few CC's of blood. He pulled out the needle and examined the blood, swirling it around in the syringe. "Got it. He's suffering from intravenous coagulation." He announced._

_"What?" Diggle asked._

“Blood clot.” Dinah explained to the viewers.

 

_"His blood is unnaturally clotting. It's like maple syrup." Barry explained._

_"You can save him, right?" Felicity asked._

_Barry looked up, then around the room; searching for… he spotted what he needed and ran over to the corner of the room, picking up the box of rat poison._

“Is he seriously going to use rat poison my brother?!” Thea demanded angrily.

 

“That’ll kill him!” Tommy shouted.

 

“Not necessarily,” Dinah said and the time travelers looked over at her, “small enough doses can act as a blood thinner.”

 

_"Lucky you guys have a rat problem." Barry noted as he poured some into a beaker._

_"Are you kidding? That'll kill him!" Diggle exclaimed._

_"He dies if I don't." Barry said simply._

_"Felicity…" Diggle looked to the hacker_

_She paused only a moment before looking back at Barry. "Do it!" she ordered._

“Why I am I taking orders from an IT girl with no experience in, well, any really outside of the internet?” Diggle asked puzzled.

 

“Remember when I told you she had a disturbing amount of influence over everyone? Yeah, she had the most influence over you to be honest.” Dinah said and Diggle groaned.

 

_Barry poured in some saline and mixed the solution before drawing it into a fresh syringe. "Just the right amount of this stuff will thin his blood enough to get it circulating again." Barry said as he injected it into the line. Diggle continued the chest compressions as they waited for it to take effect._

_On the table Oliver began to regain consciousness even as his vitals continued to crash. His head lolled to one side as, for the first time in five years, he heard a familiar voice._

_"Let go, Oliver."_

“Who the hell is that?” Tommy asked, swearing the voice sounded familiar.

 

“Just keep watching.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"He's crashing." Diggle said in alarm, continuing the compressions._

_Oliver looked over and saw Shado standing there. "Don't fight anymore."_

“He’s hallucinating Shado.” Diggle realized and Dinah nodded.

 

_"Oliver, stay with me!" Felicity said in alarm as the alarms got worse._

_Shado held out her hand. "Stay with me." Oliver's hand reached out towards her…_

_The monitors were silent now. Oliver had passed out once more as the rat poison began to take effect. Diggle and Felicity were over at her station, and Barry was slowly peeling off a piece of evidence tape from his neck when Oliver shot awake. On instinct he reached out and clamped his hand around Barry's throat. Barry gasped and tried to get Diggle's attention; finally he succeeded._

“Woah!” Tommy said, surprised by Oliver’s reaction, as were those who had never gone to war.

 

“That is why you never sneak up on a soldier.” Diggle told them.

 

_"Oliver, let him go." Diggle shouted, running over and prying Oliver off of Barry. The young scientist collapsed back against a table as Diggle held a confused Oliver back._

_"Oliver!" Felicity said sharply._

“Is she seriously gonna get mad at him for something he did when he was unconscious?” Laurel asked angrily.

 

“You’d be astounded by the things she got mad at him for.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"What the…" he gasped slightly. "What the hell is going on?"_

_"You were injected with a strong-acting blood coagulant." She explained._

_"You would have stroked out," Barry said, then cleared his throat. "But fortunately you had a very effective blood thinner handy. Warfarin." He rubbed his throat. "Better known as rat poison."_

_"Kid saved your life, Oliver." Diggle told him._

_"This is the point in a lifesaving emergency where you thank the person that did the lifesaving." Felicity said warningly._

_Oliver looked at her incredulously. "You told him who I am." He accused._

_"Yeah, I did." She said bluntly._

_"That's not your secret to tell, Felicity." Oliver argued hotly. "I decide who finds out my identity."_

_"Well, we didn't have time to get your vote, what with you unconscious and dying." She said acerbically, moving around the table to stand in front of him._

_"What happens if he leaves here and goes right to the police?" Oliver asked accusingly._

_"He wouldn't do that." She replied._

_"I wouldn't do that." Barry added._

_"I trust him." Felicity stated._

_"I don't!" he exclaimed weakly._

_"What are you going to do, put an arrow in him?" she asked sarcastically._

_"I am considering it." Oliver threatened._

_"Don't worry, he's kidding!" Felicity said to Barry. Then she turned back to Oliver. "How is this any different from when your mother shot you and you came to me for help?" she asked._

_"Your mother shot you?" Barry asked. Oliver held up a finger in warning; Barry shut up. "Or when you brought Dig down here when he was poisoned with curare." Felicity continued._

“So…let me get this straight,” Roy began slowly, “she told someone she BARELY KNOWS Oliver’s secret, brought him into the lair, and is surprised when Oliver isn’t okay with it?”

 

“I agree with Roy,” Laurel said angrily, “This could easily backfire on them, Barry could go to the cops and expose Ollie.”1

 

“I think we’ve established by now that Felicity makes decisions that other people disagree with.” Dinah told him dryly.

 

_"The difference is that I did my homework on both of you!" he exclaimed. "I don't just tell people easily."_

_"I'm not going to tell anyone." Barry said, moving closer. "And you don't have to thank me, but you should thank her instead of being kind of a jerk." He added. Oliver moved towards him threateningly, but Barry held his ground. "Mr. Queen." He added._

“Wow, he’s known her less than two days and already she’s got him wrapped around her finger.” Tommy said surprised.

 

“Hal used to joke that Felicity was secretly an alien that was able to brainwash people into bowing down to her.” Dinah said and the time travelers snickered.

 

_Oliver looked ready to continue the argument, but his phone buzzed. He grabbed his phone from the table and looked at it. It was a text from his mother._

_::Can you please come home.::_

_Oliver sighed. "I have to go home." He said breathlessly. "That man that I fought in the bunker, he has what he needs to mass produce the serum from the island. And we have to stop him." He started shuffling towards the stairs._

_"He touched your skin when he grabbed your neck." Barry told him, holding up the tape. "I was able to absorb the residual oils from his skin, which, when added to a gel-based polymer, might be able to recreate his fingerprint." Oliver gave him a look then nodded slightly before he slowly moved off._

_Felicity came up behind Barry. "Never meet your heroes, right?" she asked. Barry sighed._

“Something Barry will soon learn the hard way.” Dinah mused.

 

“What?” Tommy asked.

 

“I’ll tell you later.” Dinah promised.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Oliver, cleaned up and dressed properly, walked into the parlor to see her mother decorating the Christmas tree. "Mom?" he said, getting her attention._

_"Oliver, thank you for coming home, sweetheart." She said wearily as she moved over to him._

_"Is everything all right?" Oliver asked; worried._

_"Well, I don't know." She started. "Your sister has locked herself in her room and she won't talk to me."_

“Okay, why?” Thea asked confused.

 

_"Don't worry, I'll talk to her." Oliver assured her._

_"Ok."_

_Oliver looked at the tree again, and it finally registered in his addled brain. "It's Christmas."_

_"Yes. But given the last gala that we threw, I think we're going to skip this year's Christmas party." Moira added with a smile._

“Probably a good idea.” Thea grumbled.

 

_Oliver chuckled, and then moved off to see his sister._

_A few minutes later he walked up to his sister's door and nocked. "Thea, its Ollie. Open the door." He yelled._

_"Not-not now, Ollie." She yelled back._

_"Speedy, open the door!" he yelled back, annoyed._

_"Is mom with you?" she yelled through the door._

_"No!" he exclaimed. He heard Thea walking towards the door; a moment later, it opened. "What's going on?" he asked._

_"I didn't want mom to see." Thea began._

“See what?” Tommy said suspiciously, over protective brother instinct kicking in.

 

_"See what?" Oliver asked, though he already had a sneaking suspicion. Which was confirmed a moment later when she opened the door wider, to reveal Roy lying on her bed, his pants leg cut and a towel laid out to catch the blood from the arrow still stuck in his leg. Sin was seated on the bed beside him, tending to the wound._

“Yeah, it would probably be hard to explain to my mom why my boyfriend has an arrow sticking out of his leg.” Thea said as Roy winced, clutching the leg Oliver had shot subconsciously.

 

_"What happened to him?" Oliver asked nonchalantly as he walked into the room._

“Like you don’t know.” Roy scoffed.

 

_"Vigilante decided to use him as target practice." Thea said. "You're right- the guy's a psycho."_

_Oliver stopped beside the bed. "Why didn't you go to the hospital?" he asked Roy._

_"In this city, an arrow's the same as a bullet if you want the cops involved." Roy said through gritted teeth._

“Yeah, that wouldn’t be too good for me, especially with my record.” Roy winced.

 

_"And mom actually likes Roy, but something tells me she'd revoke his tree trimming invitation if she found out he was messing around with the Hood." She said, that last part added sharply to her boyfriend._

_"Uh-huh." Oliver said. He looked over at Sin. "Hi." He took a towel from her. "Roy. This is going to hurt." He said as he climbed onto the bed._

_"My anger's dulling the pain." Roy said._

_"This will dull it better." Sin said, offering him a bottle of Vodka. He took it with a shaky hand and took a small sip._

_Oliver wrapped the towel around the shaft of the arrow, and then very slowly and very deliberately pulled it out._

“He’s enjoying this too much.” Roy growled.

 

“This is why it’s a good it’s a not to piss him off.” Dinah warned him.

 

_Roy groaned loudly in pain as Oliver set the arrow down and put the towel back on the wound. "Going to put pressure on it." He said, taking Roy's hand and placing it on the towel. "Right there." Roy took over, and Oliver slid off the bed and pulled out his phone. He quickly dialed Dig. "Diggle, I need you to come to the Queen Mansion." he said. "Roy's been shot. With an arrow." He added, glancing back at the trio. "It's a long story. Look, just bring the first aid kit to Thea's room." He said, cutting off Dig's lecture. "Thank you." He hung up and turned back to the three. "Roy, my driver, Mr. Diggle; he has medical training from his time in the army. He's going to patch you up." He said._

_"Thank you." Roy said weakly._

_"It's the least I can do." Oliver said awkwardly. "Look, I don't know what the three of you are up to, but maybe the vigilante was just trying to keep you safe." He offered._

_"By shooting Roy?" Thea asked incredulously._

_"I…I'm just saying. Maybe you should let this go." Oliver said. He walked out of the room and closed the door._

“Yeah, he needs to work on his persuasion skills.” Diggle noted.

 

“At least when he’s actually talking to people. Threatening them until they give in usually works.” Tommy shrugged.

 

_Sin looked at her friends. "So," she started. "Are you going to let this go?"_

_"No." Thea said firmly. "But now we're going to do things my way." She said, looking sternly at Roy._

“Oh and this is gonna end well.” Tommy said shooting Thea a look.

 

“Yeah yeah yeah, so sue me.” Thea rolled her eyes.

 

_Out in the hallway Oliver was walking back towards his own room when, from the corner of his eye, he spotted a woman walking round the corner down the hall. He moved down and turned the corner. "Mom!" he called out, but there was no one there. "Hello!" He looked down the hall in puzzlement._

_"Nǐ hǎo, qīn'ài de."_

_Oliver spun back around to see Shado standing in the hall. "Shado?" he said in disbelief. He moved closer and hesitantly reached out, touching her cheek tenderly. She smiled up at him as he rubbed her cheek gently. "You can't be here." He said sadly._

“What, Ghosts exist now to?” Diggle demanded as he looked over at Dinah.

 

“We’ve never come across ghosts, but it honestly wouldn’t surprise me.” Dinah sighed.

 

“So, what do you think this is? Is it a ghost?” Laurel asked curiously and Dinah was silent for a moment.

 

“I think this was his subconscious trying to tell him something. Something he didn’t want to admit, even to himself.” Dinah told them.

 

“What?” Thea asked curiously.

 

“You’ll see by the end of this.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"I had to see you. Had to warn you." Shado said._

_"Warn me?" Oliver asked._

_"You can't fight what's coming. Put down your bow." She told him gently. "Take off my father's hood."_

_"I wear that hood to honor your father." He argued softly. "And to honor you."_

_"If you want to honor me, stop fighting…and live. Or everyone you love will die."_

“Well, whatever he’s in denial about, it’s got him pretty afraid.” Diggle noted concerned.

 

“You have no idea.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"Ollie?" Oliver spun around to see Thea standing there. "Who were you talking to?" she asked. Oliver looked back, but Shado was gone._

 

_Five years ago-_

_The miracle had failed. Slade was dead. And now Oliver, Shado and Sara were at the mercy of a madman as Ivo and his men burst into the compartment._

_Ivo spotted Sara, standing frozen by the door. He grabbed her arm and shoved her towards Oliver and Shado. "Get over there!"_

Laurel sneered, glaring at the screen as everyone tensed.

 

_!" He shined his light down on Slade, and knelt down. He slowly reached towards his body and felt for a pulse, but found none. He noted the bloody tears, then saw the empty syringe on the ground and picked it up. He was examining it when the new captain walked back into the compartment, the wooden crate in his hand. "Mirakuru." He said, rising to examine the box. He looked at the rows of syringes in wonder. Then turned back to his men. "Take them." He ordered._

_A short time later the group was walking back through the forest towards the Amazo. Oliver, Shado and Sara all had their hands bound behind them, and Ivo led Sara at gunpoint personally._

_"Anthony, you got what you wanted. You can let them go." Sara said, trying to reason with the man. She turned back to face him. "If you ever cared about me." She pleaded._

_"But I do care about you, Sara." Ivo said. "Which is why I won't choose to kill you." Sara blinked as Ivo's insanity came to the front. "But he might."_

_Oliver, who had stopped with the rest, looked at the doctor in confusion as he forced both Sara and Shado to their knees._

_"What are you talking about?" Oliver asked in dread._

_"Time to choose, Oliver." Ivo said with insane glee. "Who lives, and who dies. But pick quickly, because in 30 seconds, I will shoot them both." Oliver stared at the two women in horror._

“What the fuck!?” Tommy shouted in shock.

 

“You sick bastard.” Roy seethed.

 

“He was gonna make Ollie choose who lived and who died?!” Thea asked angrily as Laurel was too stunned to even think.

 

“No, he knew who he wanted to kill. He just did it in a way that made Ollie feel like it was his fault.” Dinah said sadly.

 

_Present-_

_In Blood's warehouse, Cyrus gave the man himself an update as the scientist ran the blood, serum and sedative through the centrifuge._

_"The incubation process has begun. Serum will be ready for distribution in 48 hours." Cyrus told Blood._

_"Two days." Blood replied. "And we will be able to create a hundred more like you. And the people who run this city will see what real power looks like."_

_The scene changed to the Lair. Barry, who had recovered his earlier enthusiasm, was examining the costume in the display case. "I knew the Vigilante had partners." Barry said, moving to look at more of the gear around him._

_"He likes to be called the Arrow now." Diggle noted._

_"You three have messed with some really nasty people." Barry continued, picking up an arrow from the weapon's case. "The Doll Maker, Count Vertigo, Dodger, The Huntress."_

_"We weren't keeping score." Dig said._

_"I was." Barry replied._

“He’s like a kid meeting his favorite baseball tea,.” Laurel laughed, recovering slightly from her shock.

 

“He was still a newbie back then, he grew out of it.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"Barry." The scientist turned as Oliver walked into the lair. "The rat poison that you gave me- are there any side effects?"_

_Barry thought quickly. "Um, yeah, I think hallucinations, maybe." He said after a moment. "And excessive sweating. Are you sweating excessively?"_

_"You're hallucinating?" Felicity guessed worriedly. "What are you seeing?"_

_"A girl named Shado that was with me on the island."_

_Felicity sighed shortly. "Shado. Sara. How many women were you marooned with? Are you sure this wasn't fantasy island?" she quipped sarcastically as she moved back to her computers._

Diggle growled as he glared at the screen. How he ever became friends with this insensitive, rude person, he would never know.

 

_"You did train in a jungle or forest environment, hence the green." Barry said excitedly. Oliver gave him a look. "Hey, let me draw some blood, see what's up." Barry continued, back to business._

_They moved over to the medical station and Barry grabbed a syringe. "Hey, can I ask you something? Why no mask?" he asked as he drew the blood. "Not to tell you how to do your vigilante…ing, but the grease paint thing? It's a poor identity concealer."_

_"So find me a mask that conforms perfectly to my face and doesn't affect my ability to aim while I'm on the run." Oliver said wearily._

_"You should look into a compressible micro fabric." Barry suggested eagerly. "It could be great."_

“I heard about that, Military wants to do something with that, something about stealth uniforms.” Diggle mused.

 

_"Found Cyrus Gold." Felicity announced._

_"Who's Cyrus Gold?" Oliver asked._

_"The human weapon that left you nearly dead the other night." Dig replied dryly. "The kid did manage to pull his print off your neck."_

_"I've had facial recognition software scanning closed circuit cameras all over town." Felicity said. "He's at the corner of Delgado and 25th right now, but we're just about to lose him."_

_"What else is at that intersection?" Oliver asked._

_"A parking lot, a market, a motel." She said._

_"Could be where he's holed up." Diggle noted._

_"I got this." Oliver said, moving towards the weapon's case._

_"Oliver," Dig said, getting the man's attention. He moved in close and dropped his voice low. "Why don't you let me handle this one? It's just recon." He pointed out._

_Oliver sighed. "Fine." He said. "But I'm going as your back-up." The two walked out._

“Never thought I’d hear him say that.” Tommy said, surprised by how easily Oliver gave in.

 

“Even he knew how out of it he was.” Dinah said simply.

 

_Barry smiled at Felicity. "Don't worry." He said. "I'll figure out what's wrong with Oliver."_

_"You'd be the first." Felicity quipped._

“It’s called PTSD little girl.” Diggle growled, still angry about the Fantasy Island comment.

 

_The scene changed to the D.A.'s office, where a large vase of lilies had been delivered to Laurel. She looked at the card, 'Need an Alderman to go x-mas shopping with?' and smiled._

“Why is it that I always attract the bad boys?” Laurel groaned.

 

“We had a type. It was a Lance thing.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"Secret admirer?" a familiar voice asked._

_"No, actually, they're from my father." She lied. She looked up to see Thea and Sin walk in._

_"What brings you by?" she asked cautiously, knowing full well she had just tried to have the girl's mother sent to prison for life, or worse._

_"We need your help." Thea began, slightly reluctant. "Cindy's friend was murdered, but the police aren't going to investigate. They said that he OD'ed, end of story."_

_"Check this out." Sin handed Laurel the pamphlet about the blood drive. "He earned extra money donating blood. We found it in Max's apartment. They wouldn't have accepted his blood if he was using, right?" she added._

_"Max went missing the same day as the blood drive." Thea continued. "If he did donate blood there, maybe they at least know something that happened to him."_

_"I'll ask around." Laurel promised._

“Well, at least you went to the authorities.” Tommy admitted reluctantly and Thea smirked.

 

_"Thank you, Laurel." Thea said. She and Sin left, leaving Laurel with the pamphlet- and her flowers._

_The scene changed to downtown. Diggle got out of the car, leaving Oliver to watch the street. "If you get bored, I keep a book of crossword puzzles in the glove box." Diggle said._

_"That's not funny." Oliver said sourly._

_Upstairs, Diggle cautiously opened Cyrus's door. He had his pen light out and gun drawn, and he moved slowly into the apartment._

_'Ok, what do you see?' Oliver asked over his headset._

_"It's clean." Diggle replied. "Really clean." He looked around, and then noticed a book laying on the kitchen counter. "Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday." He read off as a shape moved behind him, unseen._

_"Christened on Tuesday." Oliver continued. "I know the poem. It symbolizes the seven stages of life- from birth to death."_

_"What stage is this guy in?" Diggle wondered. Then he heard the floor creek and he spun around to see Cyrus, in the faceless mask, right behind him. Dig brought up his gun, but Cyrus grabbed his hand and forced it away with contemptuous ease. The man squeezed, and Diggle's finger tightened reflexively firing off several shot into the room. He brought his other hand around and hit him hard on the face, but it had no effect. Cyrus punched him once and sent him flying across the room. Assessing the situation, Dig decided that discretion was the better part of valor, so he jumped up and jumped through the window, grabbing onto the fire escape._

“Damn this guy.” Diggle winced.

 

_Diggle scrambled down and dropped to the ground just as Oliver rounded the corner and skidded to a halt. Dig jumped in the car. "Go, go, go, go, go!" he urged, and Oliver took off, leaving Cyrus behind._

_Diggle gasped in pain. "He picked me up like I was nothing." He noted sourly._

_Oliver dialed the lair. "Felicity, call for back-up." He ordered._

_'On it.'_

“Who would he call in for backup?” Thea wondered.

 

_A short time later, Officer Lance came up to the roof opposite the stadium to find the Arrow standing there._

“Seriously? Dad is the backup?” Laurel asked incredulously.

 

“Not dad, the police.” Dinah corrected.

 

“Still, against this, that’s a pretty weak backup.” Diggle noted.

 

_"This about Sara? You heard from her?" he asked eagerly._

_Oliver sighed and activated the voice changer. "No." he said apologetically. "I'm sorry, this is," he sighed. "This is something else." He handed Lance a file. "Cyrus Gold. He robbed the Applied Sciences Division of Queen Consolidated last week. Detective, he's extremely dangerous." He added._

_"The CSI kid from Central City, he said this guy was like some kind of monster." Lance said as he flipped through the file._

_"He is." Oliver assured him._

_"Well, what is it, steroids?"_

_"Worse. It's—" he trailed off. Behind Lance, on a higher portion of the roof. He saw Slade Wilson standing there, glaring at him. "…it's…"_

“And now he’s seeing Slade.” Diggle noted.

 

“This outta be fun.” Roy said dryly.

 

_"Well, assuming I believe you, why come to me?" Lance asked curiously._

_"I've been compromised." Oliver admitted._

_"What does that mean?" Lance asked in confusion._

_"It means I'd be a liability. You have to take my word on this, Detective. Gather as many men as you can, and do not hesitate to kill Cyrus Gold. Because if given the opportunity, he'll do the same to you." He said in a rush, still glancing up at Slade. He then withdrew a grappling arrow and fired it into the roof, then jumped over the side, repelling down. Once he hit the ground, he threw back his hood and panted heavily._

“Damn, this is really messing with him.” Roy noted.

 

_Five years ago-_

_"You don't have to do this!" Oliver exclaimed. "You got what you came for! Just take it and go!"_

_Ivo pointed the gun at Shado's head. "10 Seconds."_

_"You freaking psychopath!" Oliver shouted._

_"History will make that judgment." He moved the gun to Sara "Five seconds." Oliver stared at the two women, torn. "Time's up." Ivo raised the gun._

_"No, no!" Oliver ran in front of Sara, dropping to his knees in front of her._

_"I guess you made your choice." Ivo said coldly, then turned the gun on Shado and fired once into her head._

_"NO!" Oliver screamed, then collapsed thee the ground. One more person he had cared about, dead._

“My god.” Diggle breathed as the time travelers stared at the screen in horror.

 

“This was Ivo’s plan,” Dinah said softly, “he wanted to kill Shado because she was the biggest threat. But he did so in a way that would convince Ollie it was his fault. A way to torture him psychologically for the rest of his life.”

 

“That bastard.” Tommy sneered.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to Queen Manor the next day. Oliver opened the door and was surprised to see Laurel._

_"Hi." He said._

_"Hi." She replied._

“Wow, you can actually feel the awkward.” Thea quipped and Laurel glared at her as the other time travelers snickered.

 

_"What are you doing here?" Oliver asked._

_"I came by to see Thea." She said._

_"Oh." He moved aside to let her in. "Go on in. She's upstairs in her room." He told her as he shut the door._

_"I noticed on the drive up that your house wasn't festooned with Christmas decorations." Laurel started._

_"Well, we didn't feel very much like festooning this year." Oliver admitted wearily._

_"I know what you mean." Laurel sighed. "I remember last Christmas, Tommy and I came here for your party. It was one of the best holidays I'd had in a really long time." She told him._

The atmosphere suddenly shifted. The time travelers had almost forgotten that Tommy was dead.

 

“Hey, none of that,” Tommy said noticing the sad looks on their faces, “I’m still here, aren’t I?”

 

“Yeah…you are.” Thea buried herself into his side and he wrapped his arm around her.

 

_"Anyway, I should probably go talk to Thea."_

_A few minutes later, Laurel was talking to Thea and her friends in her room. "I checked into the blood drive, and it's all legitimate." She said. "In fact, what Sebastian's done has helped save a lot of lives."_

_"So if the blood drive is on the up and up, then how are we supposed to find Max's killer?" Sin wondered, dejected._

_"There's one other thing." Laurel pulled out a file and handed it to Thea. "All of the blood donors at the drive were subjected to a psych evaluation by the Langford Institute."_

_"Is that, like, legal?" Roy asked._

_"It's not entirely out of the norm." Laurel replied. "And while someone at the institute might know if Max was on drugs, there's no way of finding out without a warrant. Which we're certainly not going to get." She added regretfully. "I'm sorry I couldn't be more help." She told Thea, who nodded her thanks as she read the file._

“Why aren’t we bringing this to dad? I mean, surely he could help with this.” Laurel asked as she looked over at Dinah.

 

“I was spiral down with Alcohol and prescription drugs. I wasn’t really thinking clearly.” Dinah admitted.

 

_"Uh, just messing around with something." Barry said._

_"Shouldn't you be trying to figure out what's causing Oliver's hallucinations?" she asked pointedly._

_"Sample's still being scanned." Barry said. "Shouldn't be too much longer." He looked at her as she sat back down at her computer. "You're really worried about him, huh?" he asked knowingly._

_"He takes crazy chances. Even when he's not hallucinating about beautiful island girls." She said, annoyed._

_"Hmm." Barry hummed. "The other night, I asked you if you liked Oliver." He asked leadingly._

_"I told you. I don't." she said at once._

_"I remember." Barry said. "But if you did I could see why. I mean, Oliver Queen. He is a billionaire by day and saves the city by night."_

_Felicity chuckled. "Sounds like you want to date him." She teased._

_He laughed lightly. "I just have a little experience with liking someone who doesn't see you the same way." He admitted, staring at her, but seeing another face in his mind._

“Yeah, unrequited love sucks.” Tommy mused and Laurel flinched while Dinah chuckled lightly.

 

“It was worse for Barry Tommy. He had a thing for his foster sister.” She told him.

 

“Huh?” Tommy said confused.

 

“After what happened with his mom, his best friend and her dad took him in. Barry fell in love with her but never found the courage to tell her.” Dinah explained.

 

“And how’d that turn out?” Tommy asked wearily.

 

“He told her, she didn’t feel the same way. They tried a few years later but eventually, Barry realized he loved more as a sister than anything else. He met someone else a few years later, got married.” Dinah explained.2

 

_Suddenly he glanced at his watch, and then jumped forward to turn on the news._

_'Protests continue into the final countdown for tonight's ignition of S.T.A.R. Lab's controversial particle accelerator.' The broadcaster was saying. 'S.T.A.R. Lab's founder Harrison Wells promises a new era of scientific advancement is at hand.'_

_"I guess I won't be back in time to see them turn it on." He noted glumly._

Dinah burst out laughing at that, causing the time travelers to look at her startled.

 

“Something you want to share?” Roy asked.

 

“Just irony is all. You’ll see before this ends.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD, where Lance was trying to convince his old partner of what happened at the Applied Sciences building, and who had done it._

_"I know, it sounds crazy." Lance was saying._

_"Human weapons?" Hilton asked incredulously._

_"Look, his name is Cyrus Gold. He's the one that broke into Queen Consolidated last week. He's the one that robbed the blood bank. And he killed all those people."_

_"Where are you getting all this intel?" Hilton asked suddenly. At Lance's silence, he sighed heavily. "Oh, man, what's a matter with you? Talking to the Vigilante's what got you demoted in the first place." He told his friend._

_"Look, we take a small squad." Lance said. "McCarthy and Evans from SWAT, Jones. We can bring this guy down."_

_"I promised Jeannie I'd take her Christmas shopping." Hilton dodged._

_"Lucas. Please." Lance begged._

_Hilton sighed again. "Fine. But you get to call Jeanie and tell her I'm not taking her shopping." He said pointedly._

_"Hey, sir." They looked over to see Daily. "I don't mean to overstep, but could you guys use an extra man?" he offered_

“That traitorous bastard!” Laurel hissed as Dinah winced, knowing what was to come.

 

_Hilton walked off to get his gear. "Grab a vest, Officer Daily." He told his fellow officer._

_A few minutes later, Blood got a call at his warehouse lab. 'The police are onto Gold.' Daily told him. 'They're looking for him. I made sure I'm in the loop.'_

_"We are too close to let the police interfere." Blood said, and then hung up. He looked over to Cyrus. "Brother Cyrus. The police are eager to meet you. Introduce yourself." He ordered._

“That bastard rated them out, gave Blood a heads up!” Diggle snarled.

 

“As despicable as Daily’s actions are, I’m not sure it would have changed the result,” Dinah mused and the time travelers looked at her startled, “against someone with Mirakuru, the SCPD were out of their league. Frankly, it’s nothing less than a miracle that dad survived this.”

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. While they were watching the countdown, Barry looked over at Felicity. "So, any plans for Christmas?" he asked._

_"Lighting my menorah." She replied glibly. She smiled at Oliver as he walked in and grabbed a tennis ball. "Hey." She said warmly._

_"Hi." He replied._

_"How are you feeling?" she asked at once._

_"Fine. Just," he smiled tightly. "It's a little bit crowded at my house, and I wanted to come down here to get a little privacy."_

_"Yeah." Felicity rose from her chair. "Come on, Barry. We can watch the countdown at Big Belly Burger."_

_Barry rose to follow, but paused and looked back at Oliver. "Your blood analysis is almost done." He told him._

_"Thank you." Oliver said. The other two left, and Oliver walked over to the weapons case. He grabbed his bow and an arrow and stepped back into the center of the room. He bounced the ball once, and then tossed it up into the air. He let it bounce away once before nocking the arrow and firing it-_

_And gasped when it was caught by Slade Wilson._

“Holy crap.” Tommy said startled.

 

“Was Slade really there?” Thea asked stunned by the fact Slade had caught the arrow.

 

“No. It was a hallucination, but we are seeing things from Ollie’s point of view.” Dinah explained.

 

_"What's the matter, kid?" Slade asked with a sneer as Oliver stood there, dumbfounded. "You look like you've seen a ghost."_

_The scene changed to a building in the Glades. Lance, Hilton, Daily and the other officers approached the door on the side with their guns drawn and flashlights out._

_"Are you sure he's in?" Lance asked a female officer._

_"Yes, sir. Sector car spotted Cyrus Gold entering." She replied. "He hasn't left."_

_"Safeties off." Lance ordered. One of the SWAT men popped the lock off the door, and the small team entered. They looked around what looked to be a carpentry shop, shining their lights and trying to find the suspect._

“Run, run.” Laurel breathed, fear for her father and his fellow officers.

 

_Suddenly a sawblade flew through the air and impaled one of the SWAT officers._

_The other cops looked up just as Gold dropped down between to cops. He shoved the female officer hard, throwing her across the room and into several barrels. He grabbed the second one's arm, twisting it and forcing the shotgun away. He kicked a desk, sending it crashing into another officer, who was sent flying into a wall. Gold broke the arm he was holding, then picked the SWAT officer up and threw him across the room like a ragdoll before vanishing into the darkness._

_Hilton and Lance walked over to the female officer. Hilton knelt down and felt for a pulse, then shook his head mournfully at Lance when he found none. The two officers then moved back into the shop to find Gold._

“Damn, he really is a monster.” Roy said stunned by the brutality.

 

_As Lance moved in deeper, suddenly several boxes fell onto him, sending him to his knees. And then Gold was there, grasping him by the neck and picking him up one-handed, pinning him to a stack of wood. Lance threw a few ineffectual punches, but then spotted something- a ring of keys on his belt. Lance ripped them free just as Hilton came around and opened fire on Gold. Cyrus dropped Lance, who fell to the ground, unconscious._

_Hilton looked in vain for Gold, who had once again vanished into the shadows- but then he was there. He grabbed Hilton's gun hand and twisted, the pain sending Hilton to his knees. Slowly he forced the gun back, so that it was under Hilton's chin- then pulled the trigger, killing the cop._

Laurel let out a yelp, putting in her hands over her mouth as tears started forming in her eyes. Hilton had been a family friend of her family since she and Sara were little girls; he was something of an uncle to her and Sara. Thea reached out and took her hand as Laurel cried. No one said anything for a moment then Laurel wiped her eyes, regaining control of herself and nodded at Dinah. Dinah looked at her for a moment to make sure she was okay before unpausing the recording.

 

_The scene changed back to the Lair. "This is a nice place." Slade was saying as he waved the arrow around. "It's a bit more comfortable than the fuselage on the island."_

_"You're not real." Oliver said bluntly._

_"Neither are you." Slade said, walking up to the display case and staring at the hood. "You told everyone when you started this crusade that it was about making up for your father's sins. That was a lie." He snapped the arrow and dropped it to the ground. "This charade is to atone for your sins." He accused._

_"You're dead." Oliver said plaintively._

_"You are not a hero." Slade shot back. "Or a friend. Or a brother. You are nothing." Oliver turned away from Slade. "Do not turn your back on me, not again." He thundered._

“So what is this hallucination trying to do?” Diggle wondered.

 

“He is a manifestation of Ollie doubts and his guilt over what happened to Slade.” Dinah explained.

 

_"You're gone." Oliver said softly._

_"Wherever I am It's time you joined me." Slade rushed Oliver and sent him tumbling into one of the tables._

_Oliver looked back in shock, and then swung his bow, aiming for Slade's head. Slade ducked, blocked another hit, and then sent Oliver stumbling into another table. Oliver hit on his injured ribs and gasped. "They say a coward dies a thousand deaths." Slade continued. "But even that wouldn't be enough for you."_

_"I tried to save you!" Oliver protested. "And her."_

_"But you couldn't." he replied, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Just like you couldn't save this city."_

_Enraged, Oliver rushed Slade. The older man easily blocked his attacks, deftly disarming him before striking Oliver with his own bow. Oliver was sent flying over a table, knocking a computer monitor down as he tumbled over it to the ground. Slade stalked forward, flipping the table out of his way and hauling Oliver back to his feet. "The island didn't make you strong, kid." He hissed. "It revealed you to be weak." With that, Slade threw Oliver through the glass display case. He crashed to the ground, landing heavily on the mannequin. Oliver gasped in pain, then raised his head, looking around the Lair for Slade-_

_But the apparition had vanished._

“Woah.” Thea breathed.

 

“That was…” Tommy trailed off.

 

“Intense?” Laurel said and he nodded.

 

_The scene changed to the waterfront shopping district. Laurel and Sebastian were walking along the pier after a night of shopping._

_"Thank you for being my shopping guide." Blood said, then noted Laurel's distracted look. "Are you ok?" he asked._

_"Uh, yeah, it's just, um, can I ask you a question?" Laurel said suddenly. "It's about the blood drive you sponsored."_

_"Of course. It's a wonderful cause." Blood said. "Especially with the underfunded hospitals we're dealing with." He looked at her curiously. "What about it?"_

_Before she could ask a question, her phone rang. She sighed in annoyance, gave Sebastian an apologetic look, and answered it. "Hello?" her face suddenly fell. "What?! Ok, I'll be right over." She hung up the phone._

_"What happened?" Blood asked._

_"My father." She started as tears started to fall. "Um He's in the ICU. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, I have to go. I'm sorry." She repeated as she ran off, leaving Blood behind._

“If I had asked him, do you think he would’ve been honest? Think he could’ve made us see things his way?” Laurel asked curiously and Dinah thought about it.

 

“No,” Dinah said after a moment, “He was a monster, no doubt about it, but he wasn’t stupid.”

 

_The scene changed to the Lair, where Oliver was seeping up the broken glass._

_"What happened in here?" Felicity asked as she and Barry returned. "Did someone break in?"_

_"No." he said shortly._

_A computer beeped, and Barry went over to it as Felicity took a seat at her station. "Your blood analysis is done." Barry told him. "Good news."_

_"So you know what's in my system?" Oliver said hopefully._

_"That's the thing- your blood's clean." Barry said. "There's nothing wrong with you."_

_"Then why am I hallucinating?!" he demanded._

_"I don't know." Barry replied quickly. "But whatever your problem is, it's not pharmacological. It's psychological. It's in your head."_

_"It's in my head." Oliver finished with him. He sighed._

“He’s seeing  Ghosts from his past,” Diggle realized, I’ve seen it happen with a lot of guys that I served with, it’s even happened to me.”

 

“So how does he stop it?” Roy asked curiously.

 

“He needs to listen to the message they’re trying to give him.” Diggle explained.

 

“Great.” Tommy said sarcastically.

 

 

_"Oh, my God." Felicity looked at her screen in horror. "Oliver." She called out._

_The scene changed to Starling General ICU, where Laurel sat by her father's bed, waiting for him to wake up. As Lance groaned and started to move, Laurel moved in closer._

_"Dad!" she exclaimed tearfully._

_"Honey. Honey." He reached over and grasped her hand. "Well, I can wiggle my toes; it must be a good sign." He looked at his daughter. "I'm all right, honey, I'm fine." He assured her. "How's Lucas, is he all right?"_

_Laurel looked at him sadly. "I-I'm sorry."_

_Lance stared at her. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly. Then he realized, and his tears started to fall. "I got to call Jeannie. I got to call his wife." He said weakly_

Laurel put another hand to her face, trying not to cry. Thea’s hand tightened on hers and Laurel smiled at her gratefully.

 

_"No, Dad, I'll do it." Laurel said through her own tears. "You just stay here. Get some rest." Laurel walked out of the room, nodding to Officer Daily, whose arm was in a cast as she pulled out her phone. Before she could dial, she looked up in surprise as Sebastian Blood walked towards her. "What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised._

_"Wanted to make sure your father was ok." Blood said sympathetically._

“Which would be fine if it wasn’t your fault he’s hurt.” Laurel said shortly.

 

_"He is." She assured him._

_"I wanted to make sure you were, too." Blood said. He pulled her gently into a hug, glancing over her shoulder at Daily, who nodded subtly at the alderman._

_Back in Lance's room, The Arrow climbed in through the window. "How are you, Detective?" he asked softly._

_"I'm alive. Unlike most everyone else in my unit." The cop replied bitterly._

_"I'm sorry about your partner." Oliver said._

_"I took him in there."_

_"Because of me." Oliver said sadly._

_Lance gave him a look. "I hate to disappoint you, but not every death in this city is on you." He reached over to the nightstand and set a key down. "I got this off Gold." He told him. "Hopefully you can do something with it." The Arrow reached over and picked the key up. "I didn't believe it at first, but this guy, I mean, it's like he's not human."_

_"He's human." Oliver assured him._

_Lance struggled to sit up. "Well, then you can kill him. For Hilton. And me." Lance said harshly._

 

“Wow, never thought dad would condone killing someone.” Laurel said surprised.

 

“It was Hilton.” Dinah reminded him and she nodded.

 

_The scene changed to the lair later that night. Oliver sat in front of the grinder, sharpening an arrow head while his mind wandered._

_"I think those are sharp enough." Diggle called out._

_Oliver pulled the arrow away and shut off the grinder. "Apparently I'm not." He said ruefully. "Diggle, do you think I'm losing my mind?" he asked plaintively._

_Diggle moved closer to Oliver. "No more than the rest of us." He assured him._

_"I saw Slade Wilson." Oliver began. "Slade was my friend on the island, and like Shado, he is dead because of me. Mr. Lance just told me that not every death in this city is my fault." He sighed. "Fine. There are plenty that are."_

_Dig contemplated his friend for a moment. "When I got home from Afghanistan, I saw a ghost, too." He admitted. "Survivor's guilt. Why us, not them." He explained._

_"I know why." Oliver argued._

_"Then the 'why's' not your problem." Diggle told him._

_"How'd you make your ghost go away?" he asked._

_"I figured out what they were trying to tell me." Dig said._

_"Which was?" Oliver asked hopefully._

_Diggle smiled sadly at him. "That's for me to hear, Oliver." He said. "You have to figure out what yours is trying to tell you."_

“What are they trying to tell him?” Thea asked curiously.

 

“You’ll see.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"Guys, we got something here." Felicity called out. The two men headed over to her. "I scanned the key Lance gave you, and traced its serial code back to the manufacturer."_

_"This particular key fits a locked gate somewhere on Crescent Circle in the Glades." Barry stated. Oliver nodded, and then reached for his bow._

_"Where are you going?" Felicity asked worriedly. "You can't go out there in your condition."_

_"I have to stop this." Oliver said._

_"Oliver, Gold left you half dead, which is 50 percent better than how he left Detective Hilton." She said in a rush._

_"Felicity," he cut her off. "I don't have a choice. I'll come back." He said._

_"Promise me." She begged._

_He gave her a sorrowful look, and then moved off._

“He thinks he’s gonna die.” Laurel realized and Dinah sighed.

 

“The first time he fought someone like this, he only beat them through a combination of luck and circumstance. And he didn’t do so well against Gold before, did he?” Dinah asked grimly.

 

_The scene changed to the Langford Institute. Roy smashed the window on the door and unlocked the door. He hobbled in on his bad leg, and then went to the file cabinets._

_He ripped open a drawer and rapidly flipped through the files until he finally found a folder with Max's picture on it. He flipped through the file, looking for any kind of evidence. Closing the file, he looked at Max's picture. He lifted it to see if anything was on the back- and there was, a large black stamp that read 'Mirakuru'. A noise sent Roy scurrying of cover behind a desk, and from another office, the Doctor from the warehouse appeared. He looked around, but seeing nothing, he returned to the office and carried on with his task- pouring gasoline all over the floor in preparation of torching the place._

_Roy jumped up and ran into the office, shoving the doctor into a wall hard and taking out through the back door. He ran down the hall- but at an intersection was clotheslined by Gold. Roy landed hard, and passed out as Gold loomed over him wearing the black featureless mask._

“I’m next.” Roy realized.

 

“Yeah, you are.” Dinah nodded.

 

_When he awoke, he was strapped to a chair in the warehouse lab. Behind him stood Gold, sans mask; to the left stood Doctor Langford, who opened the centrifuge to reveal a dozen glass vials filled with the Mirakuru concoction. Langford took out a vial and slipped it into an empty hypo._

_"It's ready." Langford said as he handed it to the third person in the room, Brother Blood._

_"Is this where you killed Max Stanton, hmm?" Roy asked as the masked man approached. He eyed the needle fearfully. "What are you doing? If you stick that in me, I'll kill you." He threatened._

_Blood grabbed Roy by the throat and forced his head to the side. "No, Brother Roy. You'll kill for me." He said ominously as he stuck the needle in and injected the Mirakuru. Roy screamed in pain as the drug started to take effect…_

“Shit.” Roy said as the other time travelers looked at him worriedly.

 

_Suddenly there was an explosion. A large hunk of the ceiling fell into the room, and from the hole dropped The Arrow. Langford clumsily drew a gun to shoot the vigilante, but an arrow to the leg took him down. Oliver drew another arrow and held it on Blood._

_"Brother Cyrus told me he killed you." Blood said._

_"Guess he's not as strong as you'd hoped." The Arrow growled. "Where'd you get the Mirakuru? Who gave you the formula?!" Oliver demanded._

_"It was a gift." Blood said, holding the hypo almost lovingly as Roy screamed in pain. "A gift I would use to save this city from itself."_

“Maybe he is insane.” Dinah said idly.

 

“Who’d he get it from?” Diggle asked curiously.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah promised.

 

_Cyrus rushed Oliver, who turned and fired his arrow. The arrow hit Gold in the shoulder, but didn't slow him down at all. Oliver grabbed the line he had rappelled down on and swung around it, hoping to land a kick to his head- but Gold grabbed him by the leg and tossed him across the room. He hit the concrete wall, indenting the concrete, and then collapsed to the ground._

_Roy continued to writhe in pain as the bloody teas started to fall, and Blood leaned down close, watching the process eagerly._

_Across the room, Oliver grasped desperately for his bow, grabbing it just as Gold kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him sliding across the floor. He bounced off a concrete pillar, and then crashed into a desk. He shook his head to clear it, looking up as Blood felt for a pulse on Roy._

_"Another failure." Blood said, disappointed._

“I died?!” Roy shouted stunned as the time travelers stared in shock.

 

“Arsenal was dead for a minute there. But Ollie brought him back.” Dinah explained.

 

_Oliver collapsed back down to the ground, seemingly defeated. How would he explain this to Thea? Would he get the chance?_

_"Get up, Oliver."_

The time travelers stiffened in stunned disbelief. Could it be…

 

_Oliver looked up to see Tommy Merlyn standing before him. "Tommy?"_

_Tommy knelt down beside his friend. "You're not going to die down here." He told Oliver._

_"Tommy, I'm sorry." Oliver said sorrowfully. "I let you die."_

_"You didn't let me die, Ollie." Tommy said forcefully. "You fought to save me. Because that's what you do. What you have always done. You fight to survive." He looked down at Oliver determinedly. "I know I called you a murderer, but you are not. You are a hero. You beat the island. You beat my father. So fight, Oliver." He ordered. "Get up and fight back."_

“I was his third Ghost.” Tommy said softly and Dinah nodded.

 

“Deep down, Ollie knows that he is a hero, or at least has the potential to be one. You were the manifestation of this, even if he can’t admit that to himself.” Dinah explained.

 

Tommy simply smiled, happy to have helped out his best friend one last time, even if he was just part of Oliver’s subconscious.

 

_"Kill him." Blood ordered._

_Cyrus rushed in to kill Oliver, but he jumped up out of the way. He landed a punch, ducked Gold and punched again. He then let loose with a furious combination, sending the stronger man stumbling back. He ducked another wild swing, and then hit a reverse crescent kick, sending Gold stumbling back to the centrifuge. Oliver spun, drew an explosive arrow and fired at the centrifuge, blowing it up. The resulting detonation destroyed the device, sent more of the roof crashing down, crushing Langston, and sent a spray of chemicals into Gold's face. The man screamed in pain as the chemicals began eating away at the skin. He fell back against the wall just as more concrete came crashing down on top of him, killing him._

“Wait a go Ollie!” Thea cheered.

 

“That’s my boy!” Tommy shouted gleefully.

 

Roy smirked as Diggle smiled and Laurel sighed in relief.

 

_Blood, enraged but helpless, took off, leaving Oliver alone- except he wasn't. Oliver dropped down besides Roy, whose chair had tipped over and quickly cut his bindings free. He pulled him away from the chair and started chest compressions. "Come on, Roy." He muttered. "Hey. I am not leaving anyone else to die!" he yelled. "You're strong, kid. Come on! Come on!" he said in time with the compressions. "Come on, Roy! Fight." He grasped his head in both hand and shook him. "Come on, fight!" he shouted._

_Suddenly Roy began gasping, then coughing. Oliver sat back, relieved._

Everyone relaxed, seeing Roy was okay. No one was more relieved than Thea, who was surprised by this greatly. She snuck a look over at Roy. Maybe he wasn’t so bad, she decided.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Roy began stirring as a familiar voice penetrated the fog on his mind._

_"Roy?!" his eyes opened, and the first thing he noticed was that he was in a comfortable bed. A quick glance around showed it to be Thea's room, and the girl herself called out his name as she and Sin rushed into the room._

_"Hey, Roy!" Sin said in relief._

_"Where have you been?" Thea demanded in a panicked tone. "I've been looking all over for you!"_

_"I was…" his mind flashed back to the man in the mask giving him the injection. "I was running down another lead." He told her. "It didn't pan out."_

You should’ve told me.” Thea grumbled.

 

“Thea, I was kidnapped by some guy in a skull mask, injected with some crazy substance, and I have no idea how I got out of there.” Roy deadpanned.

 

“…Okay, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.” Thea admitted and Roy smirked.

 

_"I thought you were chasing after the Vigilante again." She said, almost in tears. "I got so scared. I thought something happened to you."_

_"Hey," he grasped her hand. "Hey, don't worry. I'm alive."_

_The scene changed to a high rise downtown. A man sat in a well-appointed office, watching a news broadcast of Sebastian Blood's announcement to run for mayor._

_'I want to serve the people of Starling, not the men and women who think they own it.' Sebastian was saying in the previously taped conference. 'Together, we can help rebuild our city into a place where there are no elites and no oppressed. Where we are all brothers and sisters.' The man turned off the TV as Blood himself walked into the office._

_"So your campaign begins." He said._

“No way.” Tommy breathed.

 

“Is that…” Laurel trailed off.

 

“It can’t be.” Diggle said in shock.

 

_"The city needs a leader." Blood said. "And putting the copycat hoods up to assassinating the mayor was just the first step."_

“That was all his doing?” Laurel asked angrily.

 

“Almost everything that’s happened In Starling City since The Undertaking was because of him.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

_He took a few steps closer to the desk. "The Vigilante..." he began. "He destroyed the centrifuge and the serum along with it."_

_"I will arrange for you to receive another sample of my blood, and then you can begin to mass produce the serum again." The man said. "When I ask you not to confront the Vigilante, you will listen. Remember, your mask can be worn by another." He warned._

_"You know who he is under that hood, don't you?" Blood asked._

_"I know exactly who he is." Slade Wilson said. "He's my friend."_

_"That's why you don't want him dead." Blood said in realization._

_"Death would be a release from this life, and his sentence is yet to be carried out." Slade said. "I am going to tear everything he cares about away from him."_

_In the hospital, Lance stared at Hilton's badge mournfully._

_"Destroy those who choose to follow him."_

_Roy sat up in Thea's bed and threw off the blanket. He stared at his leg unbelievingly, as it has fully healed._

_"Corrupt those he loves."_

_In the Lair, Felicity stared at her screen._

_"And once he has lost everyone and everything he values- I will drive an arrow through his eye." Slade finished._

“I thought you said he died?” Laurel said as she looked over at Dinah.

 

“In a way, he did. The Slade Wilson that had existed prior to the Mirakuru died the moment he was injected. All that was left was a monster wearing his face.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“I don’t understand why is he after Ollie? What did Ollie ever do to him?” Thea asked completely confused.

 

“Asked and answered.” Dinah said as the recording continued.

 

_Five years ago-_

_On the sub, Slade suddenly awakened, fully healed._

_"Shado…" he looked around. Suddenly, he knew she was in trouble. "Shado!"_

_Slade ran up the sail and back to land, running through the woods at incredible speed. He arrived at the small clearing and grabbed the first man he saw, throwing him back against a tree where he nearly folded in half. He attacked the other two men, killing them with his bare hands as Ivo fled into the forest. He stared down at the AK-47 he had taken off of one of the soldiers, then snapped it in half like it was a twig. The new captain clubbed him on the back with the butt of his rifle, but all that did was piss Slade off even more. Slade punched the man through the chest, then withdrew his hand and let the man drop to the ground, dead. Oliver and Sara looked on in surprised horror as Slade stared at his blood fist._

_He looked down and saw Shado lying there, dead, and dropped to the ground next to her. He gently picked up her body and held her close, the blood from her head wound smearing across the side of his face. He looked to Sara and Oliver. "Why?" he asked plaintively._

_"I…" Oliver started._

_"Ivo just shot her." Sara said, cutting him off. "He didn't say why."_

_"Whoever did this to her is going to suffer." Slade promised._

“So he’s after Oliver because he blames him for Shado.” Diggle realized and Dinah sighed.

 

“He found out what happened from Ivo, who twisted it to make it seem like Oliver chose to let Shado die. And Slade wasn’t willing to listen to Oliver tell the whole story.” Dinah explained.

 

“If Oliver had told him the truth…would it have made a difference?” Diggle asked and Dinah thought for a moment.

 

“Possibly,” Dinah conceded, “but it’s also possible that it would’ve created the same result, only sooner. Mirakuru, it twists the mind in a way that only someone who’s been through it can understand. It’s impossible to know.”3

 

_Present-_

_Oliver clambered down the steps into the Lair into a welcoming hug from Felicity._

_"Still have a ghost problem?" Dig asked._

_"No." Oliver said. "I got the message." He pulled away from Felicity. "But we… we have other problems." He said, walking over to the weapons case and putting his bow away._

_"Wouldn't be us if we didn't." Dig noted wryly._

_"Roy was injected with the serum." Oliver revealed._

_"Oh, my God, is he ok?" Felicity asked._

_Oliver sighed. "He's alive." He said. "But we are going to have to keep an eye on him."_

_"And Cyrus Gold?" Dig asked._

_"Died on Saturday, buried on Sunday." Oliver said. "But he was working with someone. I saw him; he wore a mask with the image of…of a skull." He looked to his friends. "He's trying to mass produce the serum to build an army."_

_"For what?" Dig asked._

_"You're a soldier. What's the primary purpose of an army?" Oliver asked._

_"War."_

_Oliver nodded, and then noticed the silence. He looked around and noticed there was something- or someone missing. "Where's Barry?" he asked._

_"He went back to Central City." Felicity said._

_"Oh."_

_"Wanted to get home in time to see them turn on the particle accelerator." She said. Her phone rang, and she looked down at it and smiled when she saw who it was. "I should take this. Hi." She said as she answered the call. "Hey. Did you make it?"_

_"I made it back to Central City in time, but I missed the cut off in line at S.T.A.R. Labs." Barry said from the Central City Police Precinct. "I was late, as usual." He swiped his I.D. card at the door to his lab, unlocking the massive doo which he then slid open. "But in spirit of not being late again, uh, if you ever decide that Oliver Queen isn't the guy for you;" he walked through his lab, under a light shower of rain that was leaking in from the faulty skylight, "if you decide that you want to go on a date with someone else, um…" he smiled to himself. "You should know that that guy, he'll be on time."_

“Thank god that never happened.” Thea said relieved.

 

_Felicity smiled "Good to know." She said warmly._

_"Oh, hey, and I left something for Oliver." Barry added. "I hope he likes it."_

_"Bye, Barry." Felicity said, looking down on her desk at the small box Barry had left._

_"Bye, Felicity." Barry said. He hung up the phone and tossed it onto his desk, then turned on his computer and opened his TV app. He tossed his coat onto his chair as he watched the live broadcast from the lab._

_'I'm Linda Park and we're live outside S.T.A.R. Labs despite the inclement weather, which is only going to get worse.' She was saying. 'The torrential downpour has driven away almost all the protesters though S.T.A.R. Labs CEO Harrison Wells has assured us that the storm tonight will in no way affect the particle accelerator, which is up and running smoothly.'_

_Barry took a news clipping about the Cyrus Gold case and walked over to his board that held a pull down map of Central City. He raised the map, rolling it back up to reveal his 'wall of weird', news clippings of dozens of strange and unexplainable crimes that had happened over the years dating back to 1999- the year that Nora Allen was murdered. He stared at the old article pensively as the lightning flashed and thundered boomed outside._

_'Wait, we are now being told to evacuate the facility.' The reporter was saying, drawing Barry's attention back to the news. 'The storm may have caused a malfunction to the primary cooling system. Officials are now trying to shut down the particle accelerator, but so far have been unable to regain control of the system—" Suddenly, the power went out. Barry looked up over the top of the monitor to the city outside, and though he couldn't see S.T.A.R. Labs, he most definitely could see the explosion as the particle accelerator blew- a massive yellow burst, flowed by a shockwave that passed through the city in a flash. He looked around his lab, and for the first time noticed the water leaking in from the skylight. He walked over, grabbing the chains to close the shutters, but a sudden charge of static electricity seemed to flow through him. He looked around, and to his unbelieving eyes the chemicals in the beakers on his shelves started to swirl and float. He glanced back up at the skylight, and a moment later, lightning struck._

_The blast shattered the glass and hit Barry straight in the chest, sending him flying back into the shelves. The floating chemicals splashed onto him as he fell, and he landed unconscious on the metal shelves. As he lay there, red energy seemed to flow under his skin from his hand up to his brain. And in the darkness, with rain pouring in through the shattered skylight, The Flash was born._

“What the hell just happened?!” Diggle shouted as the y all stared in shock, worry, and disbelief.

 

“The particle accelerator exploded,” Dinah said and they looked at her, “it released unknown energies into our world. It gave people special abilities. For example, in nine months, Barry would be able to run a mile in a minute.”

 

“Really?” Tommy asked in awe and Dinah nodded.

 

“Yes and he was one of the good ones. There were many others…who did not share Barry’s values.” Dinah said and Diggle groaned.

 

“Criminals with super powers, just what we need!” Diggle growled.

 

_Back at the lair, Oliver opened the box to reveal a green domino mask. He looked at it approvingly._

_"Even the Arrow deserves a Christmas present." Diggle said._

_"Here." Felicity said, taking the mask and placing it on his face._

_"How do I look?" he asked._

_She smiled at him as she stepped back to admire the mask. "Like a hero." She told him softly._

_Oliver nodded, and then put his hood back up, preparing to go back out to patrol._

“Much better disguise then grease paint.” Tommy nodded approvingly as the screen faded to black.

 

“Okay guys, let’s get dinner then head to bed. We’ve had enough for one day.” Dinah said as she stood up.

 

Later, after dinner, Diggle entered his room. As he did, he spotted the file Dinah had told him about on his bed. Diggle walked over to his bed and picked up the file. Sitting down on the bed, Diggle opened it and began to read.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Was anyone else annoyed about how Felicity all but dismissed Oliver’s objections to her telling Barry his secret? I mean, she told someone she met not even two days ago and is surprised Oliver is not okay with it? I mean, I get this was the best option they had and all, but if this were anyone else but Barry Allen, this could have gone so wrong.
> 
> 2: Sorry WestAllen fans, but I see them as more brother/sister then as a couple. They do not seem to have the chemistry two people who have feelings for each other should have. And it doesn’t really help that Barry calls Joe Dad or how Joe calls Barry My son. I mean, even on that meet the family date with Joe’s girlfriend, Barry was there. How do you suppose the introductions went? ‘Hey guys, this is my daughter Iris and my sons Wally and Barry. Oh, and Barry and Iris are dating. It’s not weird.’ Yes Joe, it is Freaking Weird! 
> 
> 3: A lot of people blame Sara hiding the truth about Shado from Slade for Slade’s fall from grace. I admit, there is logic to that argument. There is a chance Slade could have been saved if he had known the truth from the beginning. However, it’s just that, a chance. With how Mirakuru twists the mind, it is just as possible that Slade would have turned on Oliver earlier. There is no way to know for sure if telling Slade would have changed his fate.


	42. The darkest day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time travelers see the day that put Dinah in charge of the plan to change the future.

The next morning, Tommy walked into the dining hall and quickly spotted Diggle sitting at a lone table. Noticing he looked upset, Tommy walked over to the table.

“Hey, you okay?” Tommy asked as he sat down.

“No.” Diggle said stiffly.

“Well, what’s wrong?” Tommy asked concerned.

Diggle pulled out a file and slide it across the table. Tommy picked it up and opened it. As he read, Tommy became more and more horrified.

“According to that file, Hive targeted Andy because his criminal activities interfered with their own. Instead of killing him, Damien Darhk captured him and used some drug to brainwash Andy into becoming one of his foot soldiers. Ghosts, the file calls them,” Diggle said glumly as Tommy stares at the file in shock, “but even without the drug, Andy was still loyal to Darhk. He is the one who helped him get his powers back, which led to Thea dying. He pulled a wool over my eyes and I trusted him. And I ultimately kill him.”

“This is…this is messed up man,” Tommy said as he put the file on the table, “I’m sorry Dig.”

“I guess I never really knew him.” Diggle sighed.

“I’m sorry John,” the two looked up to see Dinah walk into the room and sit down at the table, “I know this can’t have been easy for you…but you had to know.”

“Yeah, I guess I did,” Diggle sighed, “at least now I know the truth.”

“The truth about what?” Thea asked as she, Laurel, and Roy walked into the room.

“I’ll tell you later,” Diggle said, not wanting to talk about it anymore as Tommy handed him the file back, “s, let’s eat and get back to the recordings.”

“Not yet,” Dinah said as she stood up, “come with me, there’s something I want to show you.”

Exchanging confused glances, the time travelers followed Dinah out of the dining hall. Dinah led them into the memory room and they watched as she walked over to Cerebro and started pushing buttons.

“I think it’s important that you all understand what it means if you fail to change the future. I’m going to show our last mission before everything changed.” Dinah said as the room around them changed.

It looked like they were in some military plane. And they weren’t alone. Oliver stood not five feet from them, dressed in a newer, sleeker version of his Arrow suit with the hood down. He was older than in the recordings, and he also sported a goatee. And he wasn’t the only one there.

Dinah was by Oliver’s side, looking at the others. Arsenal sat not far from them, clutching his bow tightly with an extreme expression on his face. Leaning against the wall, Barry, dressed in a red spandex sit with a lightning bolt on the chest and a red cowl handing back, had his arms crossed with a determined look on his face. In a white uniform with a baton, Sara sat next to Arsenal, a visible tension between the two. And in the pilot seat was Batman with Nyssa in the co-pilot seat.

“We’re almost there.” Batman called back and everyone stood up.

“Alright, Clark, you read me?” Oliver tapped the comms piece in his ear.

“Yeah. We have eyes on them. I don’t think they’ve spotted us yet.” Kal said and Oliver nodded.

“We’re almost there. We’ll meet up when we get there,” Oliver promised before turning to his team, “Alright; you all know what’s at stake here. If we don’t stop this here and now, then a lot of people are gonna die. We need to stop this now.”

“Oliver, I have business with my sister.” Nyssa said as she stood up and walked over to him.

“Get in line.” Arsenal said darkly.

“Both of you, enough. There is too much at stake here for personal vendettas. You can either put it aside, or you can stay on the plane.” Oliver snapped.

“So, what’s going on here?” Diggle asked as they watched the memory.

“Slade and Talia had gathered some of our worst enemies, called themselves The Injustice League. Sort of a dig at us, since the media calls us The Justice League. The managed to get a high powered weapon, a satellite with a plasma cannon, and they were going to use it as a means to destroy New York city.” Dinah explained.

“What, why?” Laurel asked aghast.

“It was very pro-vigilante. There was a control module that they were using to control the satellite and we were going to shut it down. Anyway, you better watch.” Dinah said.

Soon after she finished speaking, something happened. The League seemed to have trouble standing. No, they time travelers realized, the plane was going down.

“What’s going on Bruce!?” Memory-Dinah demanded as they struggled to keep their feet steadied.

“I don’t know, I plane’s going down! It’s not responding to the control!” Batman shouted.

“We can’t do anything for it, jump!” Oliver ordered.

“There was a flutter of movement as the others grabbed the parachutes. Arsenal notched an arrow and jumped out the door, shooting off the arrow, which opened up into a parachute. Batman, Nyssa, Sara, and Barry all jumped out with parachutes while Oliver grabbed M-Dinah around the waist and followed his teammates out. Without a parachute, Oliver shot off an arrow and, like his protégée before him, it exploded into a parachute. Within a few minutes they were all on the ground.

“Long time kid!”

Everyone whirled around to see Slade appear, dressed in a black suit, a sword at his side and a crazed smile on his face. His hair was mostly grey now with streaks of black still visible. Oliver notches an arrow as everyone else draws their weapons.

“Get inside the factory,” Oliver ordered and it was at this the time travelers noticed the factory behind the League, “stop him, no matter what.”

“But Oliver-” Arsenal began.

“This is not up for debate. Go!” Oliver barked.

Reluctantly, The League started running towards the factory. As they did, Slade roared as he rushed towards Oliver. Oliver fired an arrow at him but Slade dodged, trying to swing his sword at Oliver but Oliver used his bow to block.

“Hey, where’s the fight go?” Roy asked as the scene changed to inside the factory.

“This is my memory and I wasn’t there for the fight.” Dinah explained.

They had not gotten an inch into the factory when Barry suddenly blurred in front of them. Diggle’s shock was short-lived as stopped a yellow blur with his fist. The blur was revealed to be a man in a similar costume to Barry, but it was yellow instead of red.

“Thawne.” Barry snarled.

“Who’s that guy?” Thea asked, surprised by the venom in Barry’s voice. 

“Eobard Thawne. Speedster, time traveler, and the man who killed Barry’s mother.” Dinah explained.

Barry growled as he pushed Thawne back. It was like a lightshow, the two speedsters only visible as flashes of red and yellow.

“Come on, let’s go!” M-Dinah barked and the League moved on.

They didn’t get far when Arsenal whirled around, using his bow to knock away a knife. A woman with black wavy hair and a Cheshire cat mask wielding two Sais jumped down from a railing and twirled her weapons.

“Hello lover. How’s our baby?” She asked mockingly.

“Cheshire.” Arsenal narrowed his eyes.

“Meet your baby momma Roy.” Dinah said and Roy gapped.

“Really?” Roy managed and Dinah shrugged.

“Ollie and I told you it would end badly. You didn’t listen.” She said simply.

Cheshire rushed him but Arsenal whirled around, using his bow to block her. With a well-aimed kick to her abdomen, Cheshire was sent flying.

“Go! I got this!” Arsenal shouted before rushing Cheshire.

The remaining four members of the League rushed up the stairs and came upon a computer. They stopped, looking around. It seemed…too easy. Suddenly, Sara whirled around, throwing a knife. A man with a winter coat and what looked like a high tech assault rifle wearing sun glasses dodged it and took aim.

“Long time Sara.” He smirked.

“You guys get going. Bruce, stop this thing, I’ll got him.” Sara said as she rushed the man, who fired and she dodged, the beam leaving a trail of ice in its wake.

“Who is this guy?” Laurel demanded and Dinah sighed.

“Lenard Snart, or at least a version of him. It’s a long story.” Dinah said at their looks.

Batman rushes over to the computer and began typing. As he frantically tries to get into the mainframe, Nyssa and M-Dinah whirled around, taking out their weapons. Talia stood behind them, a vicious smile on her face.

“Hello little sister.” Talia said as she drew a sword.

“Talia.” Nyssa said in a voice as cold as ice.

“Still mad that I defiled your husband?” Talia raised an eyebrow.

With a roar of rage, M-Dinah lunged for Talia with Nyssa not far behind. Talia kicked M-Dinah in the stomach, sending her flying and then she crosses swords with Nyssa. 

“You disgusted me.” Nyssa hissed.

“And you are a disgrace to father’s legacy.” Talia said bored.

Talia kicked Nyssa in the shin then, with Nyssa momentarily distracted, forced her sword down. She forced Nyssa’s sword out of her hand and Nyssa screamed in pain as she felt her hand being severed. Nyssa was on her knees, clutching her wrist were her hand had once been.

“Good god, she did that to her own sister?” Diggle asked horrified as the stunned time travelers continued to watch.

“This surprises you?” Dinah asked.

Talia raised her sword to decapitate Nyssa when M-Dinah screamed, sending her flying into the wall. With Talia seemingly unconscious, M-Dinah rushed over to Nyssa.

“Are you okay?” She asked concerned.

“I-I shall live.” Nyssa said shakily staring where her hand had once been.

There was a scream and the two looked towards its origin. They were horrified to see Sara was ice cover her chest as Snart stood over her with his gun aimed at her. Before he could do anything, an arrow went through his chest. Snart gasped before his gun clattered to the floor and he fell back, dead. Arsenal lowered his bow, looking at Sara in horror. M-Dinah rushed over to her sister and cradled her head in her lap.

“It’ll be okay Sara, it’ll be okay! You’ll be okay!” M-Dinah said as tears filled her eyes.

“It’s…too…late…Laurel.” Sara said before the light left her eyes.

As M-Dinah cried in agonizing pain and grief, a sobbing Laurel tried to run over but Dinah held her back.

“Calm down Laurel, this has already happened. The only thing you can do is watch.” Dinah whispered in her younger self’s ear.

Laurel nodded, tears still running down her face as she stopped struggling, watching M-Dinah cry out in pain as Arsenal and Nyssa watched with their own sadness. Thea walked over to Laurel and took her hand, hoping to offer comfort. 

Batman stood up and walked over to Nyssa, scooping his wife up in his arms as he shot a glare at Talia.

“We have to go. I set the satellite for self-destruct and this place is gonna blow in five minutes. Come on!” Batman snapped.

“I can’t leave her. I can’t…I…” M-Dinah could form words.

“I got her,” Arsenal walked over and picked Sara up into his arms, “Let’s go.”

The group ran down the stairs and saw the lightshow that was Barry and Thawne fighting. Somehow, a blue portal opened up and the two speedsters became visible, not noticing the portal as they traded punches at their speed while running.

“Barry look out!” Arsenal shouted but it was too late.

Barry looked up and saw the portal. He tried to stop but blue lighting struck out and got the speedsters. They screamed, Thawne getting sucked n first. Barry tried to run away but it was no use. Barry screamed in pain as pieces of his suit were blown off, the lightning bolt on his chest flying off before Barry was sucked in and the portal vanished.

“What the hell was that?” Diggle demanded as they all stared stunned.

“The Speed-force. It’s what gives all Speedsters their powers. Barry and Thawne unintentionally opened a portal into it and were sucked into it during their fight. They have been trapped there for the last four years and we don’t know how to get Barry out.” Dinah said sadly as M-Dinah walked over and picked up the lightning bolt, which Laurel recognized as the one in the memorial room.

“Let’s go, we don’t have a lot of time.” Batman ordered.

“But Barry!” Arsenal protested.

“There’s not a lot we can do for him if we’re dead!” Batman growled.

Reluctantly, the group ran outside and saw Oliver and Slade were still fighting. Both looked exhausted and were breathing heavily.

“This is it kid. This is where our story ends!” Slade said with a psychotic laugh.

The two rushed each other, Slade with his sword in hand, Oliver with an arrow. They reached each other and Oliver jammed his arrow into Slade’s chest at the same time Slade ran his sword through Oliver’s chest. 

“Ollie!” M-Dinah cried out.

“No!” Arsenal shouted.

Thea dropped Laurel’s hand, putting her hands over her mouth as tears started to fill her eyes. Tommy gapped at the scene, shock, horror, and pain written across his face. Laurel stared, pain filling her entire being. First Sara and now Ollie? Was this her fate if she didn’t change the future, to lose then again?

Oliver, with his last bit of strength, twisted his arrow and Slade couched up blood before falling back, dead. Oliver stumbled, falling to his knees. M-Dinah dropped the lightning bolt and rushed to her husband, wrapping her arms around him.

“Ollie! Stay with me, please! I can’t lose you to!” She said with tears running down her face.

“It’s…too…late…Laurel,” Oliver gasped out, unknowingly echoing Sara’s words minutes earlier, “our plan…to change the future…your responsibility…now...Love….you…always…”

Oliver then slumped against M-Dinah’s shoulder, the light leaving his eyes as he took his final breath. With tears streaming down her face, M-Dinah let out a scream of agonizing pain the likes of which no one had ever heard before as the factory blew up behind them.

Dinah pressed a button and the room returns to normal. But those from Starling City were obviously shaken. Laurel had her hands over her mouth, which muffled her cries as she sobs hysterically. Tommy, with a dazed look on his face, falls to his knees, shock and pain filling him. Thea was crying hysterically and latched onto the nearest person, this being Roy. Roy looked a little freaked out but wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed into his shoulder, despite his discomfort. Dinah exchanged a look with Diggle and he nodded, hearing her unspoken message. The two then walked out, leaving everyone to grieve.


	43. Grief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy, Laurel, and Thea all come to terms with what they have seen in their own way with help for others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, before we get on with the chapter, I want to talk to you about the latest episode of Arrow. While I myself have not watched it, I know what happened from four different people.
> 
> So, apparently, Prometheus (the big bad of the season, if you didn’t know) apparently kidnapped Oliver and wanted him to confess to some big, dark secret. Finally, after a while, Oliver does: Apparently, the reason he killed in season one wasn’t because he thought it was necessary, but because he wanted to. More than that, he liked it. Yeah.
> 
> Well done Guggenheim, you’ve finally done it. You’ve finally destroyed Oliver’s character completely. How does this destroy Oliver’s character, you ask? Well, this means in season one, when Oliver was telling Deadshot and Helena he was better than them, he was being a hypocrite, if Oliver was telling the truth. And it also means that whenever he said ‘I’m not a killer’ or ‘I don’t want to kill’, he was lying. Since Oliver’s character development was thus based on a lie, it means that all of Oliver’s character development is now pointless. Moreover, it completely retcons Oliver’s character, since he gave no hint that he enjoyed killing and even seemed to hate it at times. 
> 
> But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, this is the same man responsible for everything wrong with the Green Lantern movie and the Percy Jackson films. He is just the worst writer I have ever seen. And he just seems plain incapable of treating Oliver like the protagonist of his own show. He would really just like Oliver to be seen as this uncontrollable monster who likes to kill. Why? To make the villain more understandable? Whatever Marc, whatever.
> 
> Back on topic, Oliver did not seem to enjoy killing whatsoever and for him to say he liked killing is just completely and utterly out of character and beyond a stupid writing decision. It’s been a pattern since Guggenheim took over for him to assassinate Oliver’s character, but this is taking it so far that it honestly raises the question on whether Guggenheim really is insane. Since the definition of insanity is ‘doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’ I guess we have our answer. 
> 
> Marc Guggenheim is a poison; he destroys every project he touches. I mean, look at Arrowverse, really look at it. Flash is basically a joke right now, Arrow is so far beyond redemption that it’s not funny, Supergirl isn’t doing much better, and while Legends seems to be doing better, look at season one and the recent stupid decisions of the main characters and you’ll see it is probably not going to last. I am dropping every show in the Arrowverse as of this moment and will never watch anything that Guggenheim writes again because, chances are, its gonna suck.

So do you think they’ll be okay?” Diggle asked Dinah as they waited outside the room.

 

“After that, I don’t think anyone could be okay,” Dinah sighed, “I hated doing that to them…but they needed to know.”

 

“Why didn’t Kal and Kara stop that? They could have, they were there.” Diggle said angrily and Dinah sighed.

 

“They were preoccupied. Kal’s arch-enemy, Lex Luthor, and Hank Henshaw, an enemy of Kara’s, held their attention. By the time they dealt with them, it was too late.” Dinah explained.

 

“Man, this is messed up. I just…I never thought the future could be like this.” Diggle snapped as he ran a hand over his face.

 

“Back then, neither could I.” Dinah said grimly.

 

The door to the memory room opened and the other four viewers emerged. Roy walked out first, his shirt wet in various spots. Although he didn’t seem overly concerned about that. In fact, he glanced back as the next person emerged.

 

Laurel emerged, her arms around the distraught Thea. Both still had traces of tears on their faces and were still visibly upset. Thea face was smeared with her running mascara mixing with her tears while Laurel’s hair was a complete mess.

 

The last to come out was Tommy. He looked as though he had aged a century. He had a stern, intense look on his face. With the gaunt look of his face combined with the three days of stumble built up on his chine, Dinah flashed back to when she had walked into his office after their breakup.

 

 _“Wow, you really look like your father. I never thought so before, but I saw him in you just now.”_ She had said then.

 

“I have to use the restroom.” Tommy said stiffly as he walked down the hall, Dinah watching him concerned.

 

In the restroom, Tommy was washing his hands when he looked up and the moment Slade impaled Oliver flashed through his mind. Feeling a sudden swell of fury, Tommy punched the mirror. The mirror shattered and blood stained the glass as Tommy pulled back his injured hand but it wasn’t enough. With an angry roar, Tommy whirled on the stalls and suddenly attacked the metal structure. It would have been comical if it wasn’t so sad.

 

Suddenly, some reached out and grabbed his arm. Tommy was thrown back, landing hard on his back. Looking up, Tommy saw Conner standing above him, looking down at him with an unreadable expression.

 

“Calm down.” Conner told him calmly.

 

“Shut up!” Tommy shouted, too emotional to think rationally.

 

Tommy jumped up and rushed Conner but Conner easily side stepped him. As Tommy ran passed him, Conner whirled around and grabbed him, restraining him as the emotional Merlyn struggled.

 

“I know how it feels,”” Conner told him empathetically, “but this isn’t helping.”

 

“What would you know, huh?!” Tommy shouted angrily.

 

This was the wrong this to say. Conner’s calm demeanor disappeared and he snarled, letting Tommy go. Barely this happened before Tommy was elbowed from the back and punched in the stomach. Tommy fell to his knees, clutching his stomach.

 

“He was my father,” Conner said angrily as Tommy looked up at him, “he was my dad, mine. He raised me, he trained me, and he saved me. I looked up to him, he was my hero. Then he was gone and I had to step up, be the man of the house. I had to help Dinah through her pregnancy, I had to help raise my little sister, I’m the only father she knows, I had to become the next Green Arrow. So I’ve gone through everything you’re going through and more. But you acting this way is an insult to my dad’s memory. He always said you were a good man…but frankly, I don’t see it.”

 

“I’m sorry.” Tommy said calmly and Conner nodded stiffly.

 

“Don’t apologize; I don’t want your apologies. You know how I coped when my dad died? I chose to live up to his example, live my life the way he did, by helping others. Maybe instead of having a break down, you should do the same thing.” Conner said before he turned and stormed out.

 

“So how’d I do?” Conner asked as he saw Nyssa waiting for him outside.

 

“I think your father would be very proud.” Nyssa told her nephew and Conner grinned.

 

In her room, Thea sat on her bed, wrapped in a ball as she cried. Hearing someone knock, she wiped her tears before untangling herself and throwing her legs over the side of her bed.

 

“Come on.” Thea croaked.

 

The door slid open to reveal Roy standing there awkwardly.

 

“Hey,” Roy said awkwardly as he walked in, the door shutting behind him automatically, “You okay?”

 

“I just watched my brother get murdered by his best friend turned arch enemy. Okay is not the world I would use to describe myself right now.” Thea said in a choke voice.

 

“Right, stupid question,” Roy winced as he sat down next to her on the bed, “look…when my mom died, I fell in with a bad crowd, I grieved by becoming a gangbanger, which was not very healthy.”

 

“Your point?” Thea asked stiffly.

 

“My point is that when my mom died I was alone. But you’re not. You have Tommy, you have Laurel…you have me to, if you want,” Roy said awkwardly and Thea looked up at him, “And this hasn’t happened yet. That’s why we’re here, to prevent that, so-mph.”

 

Roy was cut off as Thea grabbed his head and brought his head down to hers, kissing him fiercely. Roy gave in for a minute, returning the kiss before he realized what was happening. He pulled back slightly, breaking away from her as they caught their breath.

 

“Thea, you’re feeling vulnerable right now. I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.” Roy tried to do the right thing.

 

“Make me forget, please.” Thea begged brokenly.

 

Roy hesitated for a moment before he leaned down and kissed her. Thea dragged him down and they ended up in a tangle of limbs on her bed.

 

In the women’s bathroom, Laurel stood in front of the sink, sobbing her eyes out. The door opened and Laurel looked up and, through her teas, saw Dinah close the door behind her.

 

“Hey.” Dinah said softly.

 

“Hey.” Laurel sniffed as she wiped her tears off on her sleeve.

 

“Laurel, I know what you’re going through.” Dinah told her calmly.

 

“How could you.” Laurel said stiffly and Dinah smiled dryly.

 

“Because I’m you, sixteen years in the future. If anyone understands what’s going through your head, it’s me.” Dinah pointed out.

 

“Do you…miss them?” Laurel asked and Dinah smiled sadly.

 

“Every day. The first few months after they died, when I wasn’t watching Ollie’s memories, I was thinking about that day, seeing if there was anything I could have done differently, something I could have done that would’ve saved them.” Dinah explained.

 

“Was there?” Laurel asked hesitantly.

 

“No. Slade and Talia played there cards right, I could not have done anything differently that would’ve saved them. If anything, I would’ve made things worse. That day was gonna end with Ollie and Sara dying no matter what anyone did.” Dinah said and Laurel was crushed.

 

“So nothing we do makes a difference.” Laurel said glumly and Dinah smiled.

 

“It can…if you show Ollie a better path,” Dinah said and Laurel looked at her confused, “everything that happened, that led up to that day, happened because Ollie kept those he loved at arm’s length, he listened to people who gave him bad advice, he made a lot of wrong choices. Don’t let him push you away, let him in and he will let you in. This doesn’t have to be fate.”

 

“I just…I don’t want your future Dinah.” Laurel told her.

 

“Then don’t, make your own future.” Dinah advised her.

 

“So….thanks.” Thea told Roy as they lay in bed together.

 

“Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I’ll take it.” Roy quipped and she giggled.

 

“Look…this isn’t exactly how I wanted this to go.” Thea admitted and he looked at her sharply.

 

“But you wanted this to happen?” Roy clarified.

 

“All I know is, these past couple days…I like you.” Thea admitted.

 

“I never thought I would say this about a Queen, but I like you to.” Roy admitted and she smiled.

 

Before either could say anything further, a knock at the door startled them.

 

“Thea, you okay?” Diggle’s voice came through the door.

 

“I’m fine.” Thea said her and Roy panicking at being found in this position.

 

“Well, Dinah wants us all to meet in the viewing room, says she understands if we don’t have an appetite.” Diggle said.

 

“Okay, I’ll be there soon!” Thea said and they heard the sound of Diggle’s footsteps retreating.

 

“Well that was close. I don’t really like the idea of your brother finding out about this,” Roy said, noticing Thea’s wince, “hey…we’re gonna save him, okay? That’s why we’re here.”

 

“Yeah.” Thea nodded once, realizing her brother’s life was at stake for the first time.

 

Later, Roy and Thea joined the others in the viewing room.

 

“Hey, where were you Roy? I tried to find you.” Diggle questioned as Roy took his seat by him.

 

“I got lost, thisp lace is like a castle.” Roy shrugged and Dinah smirked, g=having a feeling what he was really up to.

 

“Then I ran into him and told him that Dinah wanted us here.” Thea covered and Dinah’s smirked widened, as Laurel smirked as well, figuring it out.

 

“Well, let’s get on with this.” Tommy said impatiently.

 

Dinah simply nodded as she started the next recording.


	44. Blast Radius

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An Arsonist strikes Starling City and Team Arrow scrambles to stop it. The viewers learn another downside to Oliver bringing in Felicity and more disturbing details about Blood's past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, breaking news on the Arrow front: apparently, Katie Cassidy is returning next season as a series regular. Don’t get too excited just yet.
> 
> She is not returning as our Laurel, she is returning as Black Siren. Even if you like her, still don’t get excited. And I’m gonna tell you why.
> 
> Katie Cassidy was treated like fucking crap by the Arrow writers the first time she was a regular. While Laurel undoubtedly had some of the best character development out of the main cast, it was all for nothing. I mean, after she became Black Canary, she had really no storyline save for bringing back Sara, which was really just a set up for Legends of Tomorrow. And then, they kill her off, which made absolutely no sense, because literally every other character would have made more sense to kill off. And the moment before her death scene, her final scene before she dies, they used her as a prop to glamorize Olicity, to shove it down our throats just that little bit further. 
> 
> And honestly, this season just made it worse. I mean the flashback to her final words to Oliver, basically telling him to give her mantle, which she worked so hard to earn, to some complete stranger. And then they brought Black Siren to Arrow. And it was the biggest insult to Katie’s portrayal of the character on Flash they possibly could have done. She was reduced to a one-dimensional villain, becomes this week character in front of Prometheus when she should be able to fry his ass, and having her taken down by Felicity. Good god.
> 
> Now, with all that said, why would anyone think they would treat Katie any better this time? Because it’s pretty obvious they are incapable of treating Katie Cassidy decently. They have proven it over and over again over the last three years. It is only a ratings gig. Nothing more, nothing less. Stay away from Arrow, Katie Cassidy fans, don’t be fooled.

_The memory set opened down in the warehouse district. A man was driving through a sawmill, dodging around stacks of equipment and lumber, when suddenly he slammed to a stop. Ahead of him, just stepping off of his motorcycle, was The Arrow. The man snarled and hit the gas, while at the same time pulling out his Desert Eagle and firing out of his window._

_The shots all went wide, the massive .50 cal handgun impossible to control with one hand while driving. Oliver just stood there, unmoving, before finally drawing an explosive arrow and firing it into the car's engine. The warhead exploded, sending a show of sparks up that blinded the driver, and the car swerved off to the left flipping over on some pipes before sliding on its roof into a stack of wood._

_The Arrow approached the car cautiously, drawing another arrow. He peered into the car, only to find it empty. He looked up to see the man limping rapidly into the mill and followed. He stayed on the catwalks, following cautiously behind the driver, ducking behind steel posts as the man turned and fired. He ran up a gantry to the top of a crane and watched as the man reloaded his gun. Then, as soon as he looked up, Oliver fired a bolo arrow at the man's feet. The compressed high-tension wire wrapped itself around the man's ankles, and Oliver jumped off the platform, pulling the line taught as he dropped. The man was lifted eight feet into the air by the time that Oliver landed softly on the ground, and he released some of the line to bring him down eye-to-eye. He grasped the man's hand and twisted, putting pressure on his wrist._

“Sucks to be you.” Roy said dryly.

 

_"Whoa, oh, ahh! Ahh!" the driver screamed in pain._

_"The man in the skull mask, who is he?!" the Arrow demanded._

_"I-I don't know!" the man protested._

_"You're the biggest street dealer in Crescent Circle." The Arrow replied. "You know everything that goes on over there. Who is he?!"_

_"I ain't seen the guy before! A skull mask, are you freaking kidding me?! Come on, man, I'm still on parole!" he protested fearfully._

“Slade is smart; he would probably order Blood to keep out of sight of regular drug dealers. Going after drug dealers is pointless.” Diggle noted.

 

_"Not anymore." The vigilante replied, before slugging him into unconsciousness._

_The scene changed to the Lair. Diggle was watching the news at Felicity's desk when Oliver walked in._

_'A spokesman for the Central City mayor's office confirmed the lack of any damage or radioactive fallout from the explosion that rocked S.T.A.R. Labs five weeks ago.'_

_"Is Felicity not back yet?" Oliver asked the bodyguard._

_"She said she wanted to spend a few more days with Barry." He replied._

_"Any improvement in his condition?"_

_"Still comatose." Diggle reported._

“Barry was in a coma?” Tommy asked alarmed and Dinah nodded.

 

“The lightning injured him pretty badly, plus the combined stress of his developing superpowers, put him into a coma for nine months.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“Hey, what happened to your hand?” Thea suddenly asked, noticing her brother’s hand was wrapped in bandages.

 

“I punched a mirror.” Tommy deadpanned and no one had a response.

 

_"How'd it go out there tonight?"_

_"Same as every other pointed conversation I have with these lowlifes in Crescent Circle." Oliver said in aggravation as he put up his bow. "Nobody has seen a man in a skull mask. But he's still out there."_

_"Oliver, for the past five weeks, you've pushed yourself pretty hard looking for this guy." Diggle pointed out._

_"He has the Mirakuru, Diggle!" Oliver exclaimed. "I mean, you saw what it took to kill one guy that had been injected. We practically had to drop a building on him. So imagine ten or a hundred, imagine a thousand."_

The five time travelers felt shivers go down their spines as Dinah grimly mused how they wouldn’t have to imagine it soon.

 

_"You said Roy was injected." Dig pointed out._

_Oliver sighed. "Yeah."_

_"I've just never seen you spooked like this before." Dig said._

_"That should tell you something." Oliver said pointedly, before grabbing his jacket and walking off._

“Yeah, it really should.” Roy pointed out and Diggle nodded absently.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Sara and Oliver stood silently as Slade finished placing the final stone on the rock cairn that contained Shado's body._

_"Shado always told me that I wouldn't die here." Oliver said, looking down at the fresh grave. Next to it were the graves for Robert Queen and Yao Fei, each with a log laid on top with the name carved into it._

“Dad.” Thea whimpered as Laurel grabbed her hand, looking misty eyed herself as Tommy looked down in sadness.

 

_"But looking back, I realized that she never once said that about herself. I just hope she's with her father now."_

_Slade stood wearily. He held Shado's hood to his nose, breathing in her scent one last time. He started to walk past Oliver, but then paused. "Here, kid." He said after a long moment, holding the hood out towards Oliver._

_Oliver looked down at the hood. "She'd want you to have that." He told Slade._

_"You're the one she cared for." Slade said mournfully. Oliver finally tuned to look at him, then after a moment took the hood. The older man walked off into the woods._

_"Slade…" Oliver said, turning towards the other man and moving to go after him._

“Don’t do it Ollie.” Thea pleaded as fear coursed through the time travelers, wondering if this was the moment that Slade would turn against Oliver.

 

_Sara grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Hey, Ollie, just give him space." She advised._

_"I can't keep lying to him, Sara." Oliver said tersely. "I need to tell him how Shado really died."_

_"Ivo killed Shado." Sara said plainly. "He pulled the trigger."_

_"Because I chose to save you." Oliver shot back. "He needs to know the truth." He started to move off again._

“Ivo really has him convinced that it was his fault.” Diggle noted and Dinah noted.

 

“Behold, the birth of his guilt complex.” Dinah sighed.

 

_"Wait, Ollie, he-" Sara grabbed his arm again._

_Oliver jerked it free. "Get off me." He growled._

_"He has the Mirakuru in his system now." Sara reminded him._

_"What does that have to do with anything?" Oliver demanded._

_"Look, the Japanese, they experimented on hundreds of men working to develop Mirakuru. And I read the research. The people who died? They were the lucky ones. The ones who survived, they were deformed. Either their bones or their minds." Sara explained worriedly as Oliver looked back at her, suddenly unsure. "They became someone else."_

“Just like Slade.” Laurel said and Dinah nodded.

 

“Just like Slade.” Dinah repeated.

 

_Present-_

_It was evening at the D.A.'s office. Working late, Laurel felt the need for a little pick me up. She reached into her purse and withdrew a prescription bottle, quickly popping the top and shaking out a pile, which she downed dry._

Laurel sighed, ashamed as she avoided looking at the others.

 

_She picked up her coffee to wash the taste out of her mouth when Adam Donner walked in._

_"You summoned me here for a drink?" he asked, looking appreciably at her snug, short maroon dress. "You certainly look dressed for it."_

_"No, I have a date." She informed him, sitting back down behind her desk._

_"What are you working on?" Donner asked._

_"Something to do with Sebastian Blood." She told her boss._

_"Aka the next mayor of Starling City?" Donner asked to clarify._

_"Well, maybe he shouldn't be." Laurel replied._

_"What does that mean?"_

_"I've just been doing some investigating." Laurel explained. "Blood had a connection to the Langford Psychiatric Institute. The one that burnt down under very mysterious circumstances."_

_"Do the police suspect arson?" Donner asked._

_"No. They're saying that it's inconclusive." She said._

_"But Blood also knew Cyrus Gold- the man that shot and killed four police officers."_

“It truly is a statement to the incompetence to the police when a junkie lawyer puts it together before any of the police.” Dinah mused.

 

_"Laurel, where are you going with this?" Donner asked._

_Laurel sighed. "I don't know." She admitted. "But I do have to go. I'm going to be late." She said, grabbing her purse._

_"So who's the lucky guy?" Donner asked._

_"Sebastian Blood." Laurel said with a smile._

“Oh great.” Laurel groaned.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant, where Oliver was on the stage giving a toast for the same man._

_"…He's the man we need to see in the mayor's office. " Oliver was saying. "So, please, join me in our efforts to send Starling's favorite son there. To Sebastian Blood." Oliver raised his glass. "Sebastian for Starling."_

“How does Oliver not see this man for what he is? He’s usually smarter than that.” Diggle said surprised.

 

“He was a little preoccupied with the Mirakuru in his city.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_Blood walked onto the stage and shook Oliver's hand. "Thank you, Oliver." He told the other man as Oliver made his way off the stage. "And not just for your support, but also for your friendship. And thank all of you for coming." Blood told the crowd. "You know, when Oliver calls me a son of Starling City, it feels like the literal truth." Blood continued. "I was a street orphan, and this city raised me as one of its own. I am the man that I am today because of my Starling City family. So it's time that I start to give back. So thank you all for your support." He raised his glass as the crowd started to applaud, then made his way off the stage to glad-hand with the crowd._

“Sure likes to hear himself talk, doesn’t he?” Roy drawled.

 

_Oliver watched as he first made his way to Laurel, kissing her lightly._

“Well, hopefully this makes him jealous enough to look into Blood.” Thea said hopefully as Laurel flushed.

 

“You’d thin, but no.” Dinah said causing Thea and Tommy to groan.

 

“The one time I want him to be jealous over Laurel, the one time!” Tommy complained.

 

_"Nice speech, Ollie." Thea said, coming to her brother. "Who knew you cared so much about politics?"_

_"Well, I care about the city, and Sebastian has become something of a friend." Oliver admitted._

_"He's got a way of doing that, apparently." Thea said, looking as Blood put an arm around Laurel's waist. Her double meaning was clear._

_"That's very cute." Oliver told her, looking at her with a wry grin. "Speaking of which, how's Roy?"_

_"Handsome, brooding, usual." Thea said. "Why is my boyfriend such a topic of interest?"_

_"Well, Thea, his idol put an arrow in him, and I just… wanted to make sure there weren't any lingering issues." Oliver said, trying to hide his unease._

_"Oh, my God. Now that I think about it, you know, he did something completely out of character this morning." Thea said suddenly._

“What?!” Tommy demanded concerned as Roy sat up straighter, panic flooding his mind.

 

_"What?" Oliver asked, worried._

_"He showed up for work on time." Thea said sarcastically._

“That is not funny.” Roy said breathlessly as he leaned back into his chair.

 

“I thought it was pretty funny.”  Thea shrugged.

 

“You would.” Roy teased and Thea smiled flirtatiously as Tommy watch through narrowed eyes.

 

_Oliver chuckled in reply._

_"Thea!" Moira walked up to her daughter, all smiled. "Oh, it's- it's just wonderful." She told her, hugging her._

_"Proud to do my civic duty." Thea said modestly._

_"No, I'm the one who's proud." Moira said. "You've taken Oliver's…hobby, and turned it into a successful business."_

_"Hobby?" Oliver said, slightly insulted._

_Moira kissed him on the cheek. "Oh, sweetheart." She said with a chuckle. She and Thea moved off into the crowd, leaving Oliver standing there with an incredulous smile on his face._

“If I didn’t know she already knew, I would think she actually thought he was incompetent.” Laurel mused.

 

_"Oliver." He turned around to see Blood and Laurel walk up. The two shook hands. "Thank you so much for your kind words." Blood said._

_"I'm just speaking the truth." Oliver replied._

_Blood smiled, but then someone caught his eye. "Oh, forgive me, a friend just walked in." he said. He took his leave of Laurel, leaving her with Oliver as he went back to the crowd._

_"Hi." Laurel said._

_"Hi." Oliver replied. The two hugged. "Glad you could come."_

_"Sebastian invited me." Laurel said._

_"Yes, I hear the two of you have been spending a lot of time together." Oliver noted._

_"We're just friends." Laurel stated firmly._

_"Does he know that?" Oliver noted the look on her face. "Uh-oh. What's holding you back?"_

_Laurel looked over at the bar as Blood talked to some of the donors. "Sometimes I feel like I don't know the real Sebastian." She admitted. "He reminds me a little of you that way." She added._

“There are certain similarities between Oliver and Blood.” Diggle noted.

 

“Both put on masks, both have a secret identity, both fight for the city in their own way.” Roy mused.

 

“Except my brother isn’t a psychopath.” Thea grumbled.

 

_Oliver forced a smile as he sipped his champagne._

_The scene changed to a location in the financial district. A man sat in his car, staring up at a building._

_"Freedom. Liberty. Justice. Long have the people of this city suffered under the shackles of a corrupt government. Slaves to self-interested politicians and their lobbyist puppeteers." He rambled to himself. "I declare war on them all." He held up his phone and pressed a button, and suddenly the building exploded as the man watched on with a smile._

“An arsonist.” Diggle said in alarm.

 

“Who’s also a social terrorist. This is good.” Roy drawled.

 

_Later that night, Oliver and Diggle slipped away from the party and headed down to the Lair._

_"Anyone in the building?" Oliver asked._

_"Cleaning crew and a group of bankers working out a late night deal." Diggle replied._

_"Can you patch me into police and fire?"_

_"I'm on it." Diggle said, taking a seat at Felicity's computer. He started working._

_After a few moments (much longer than usual), Oliver looked down at his partner. "Diggle…"_

_"Hey, man, this is not my thing." Dig protested._

“Man, his tech skills have really rusted.” Laurel noted worriedly.

 

“That’s another down side to having Felicity on the team. She would not let anyone else on the computers and wouldn’t teach the others how to hack. So, if she was unavailable, we were pretty much useless on the computers.” Dinah explained.

 

_A moment later, the speakers flared to life._

_'It's too hot. We're falling back.'_

_'You've still got people on the 5th floor!'_

_'It's too hot! We're pulling back!'_

“Man, this must be really bad.” Laurel said, worried for the people in the building.

 

_Oliver scowled, then turned and grabbed his bow._

_A short time later, as the firefighters fought back the flames The Arrow rushed into the building, making his way up to the fifth floor._

_"Help!" A woman screamed. She rounded the corner, coming up short when she ran into the Emerald Archer. "Gary's still back there." She pleaded, coughing._

_"Get to safety." He ordered her._

_The woman ran for the fire stairs as Oliver ran deeper into the office. He spotted Gary and moved over to him. He shifted the debris that pinned the man. "Give me your hand." He ordered. Gary reached out and The Arrow grabbed his hand, and then pulled him free. The Arrow looked up as the ceiling started to give way, then hauled Gary to his feet and move him to the exit. A moment later the ceiling came down._

“Well that was a close one.” Tommy said wearily.

 

_"Thank you." Gary said to the vigilante. The Arrow nodded and moved back into the shadows as the firemen finally made their way into the room. He climbed out the window and shot a line to the opposite building, then stood watching as the firefighters got the fire under control._

_Five years ago-_

_Slade, Oliver and Sara made their way through the forest, towards and uncertain location. Oliver caught up to Slade and looked at him worriedly._

_"Hey." He said, looking at his silent friend. "You ok?" Slade remained silent. "Where you going?" he asked._

_Slade finally stopped and turned back to Oliver. "To the plane, to get geared up." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world._

_"For what?" Oliver asked._

_"Ivo is still out there." Slade said. "I'm going to find him, and when I do, I'm going to cut pieces off him."_

_"You can't." Sara said, finally catching up. She was carrying the crate of Mirakuru. "Ivo has a ship full of men, of killers. And I don't care what you did before, you can't take them all out." She reminded him. "Your only play here is to find safe ground and wait him out."_

_"Well, of course you would say that." Slade seethed, stalking towards the woman. "You were working for him. You're probably still working for him!" Sara backed up, terrified._

“Slade was a different person almost from the moment he was injected.” Dinah said as the time travelers all watched horrified.

 

“Yeah, an unstable psychopath.” Diggle said dryly.

 

_"Hey, hey!" Oliver yelled, placing a hand on his chest and trying to hold him in place. "She's not." He assured him._

_"Get out of my way, kid." Slade growled._

_"Look, let's just take it easy—"_

_"I said," Slade slapped his hand away and grabbed him by the throat. He lifted him in the air with one hand easily. "Get out of my way." Oliver gasped for air as his vision began to dim…._

“Shit.” Roy said.

 

“He’s even turning on Ollie. And he doesn’t even know about what happened to Shado yet.” Laurel said as a shiver ran down her spine.

 

_Present-_

_Oliver walked into Queen Consolidated the next morning._

_"You ok?" Diggle asked in greeting. "Long night?"_

_"Yeah." Oliver replied heading into his office. "News report said the bomber didn't steal any money."_

_"I think this guy just wants to make a statement." Dig said, handing a tablet to Oliver. "That went online an hour ago. His manifesto. 300 pages of anti-government hate." Oliver glanced at the vitriol. "You think this psycho's any way connected to our psycho in the skull mask?" Dig asked._

_"This guy has a completely separate agenda." Oliver stated. "He's a lone wolf, but we need to find him before he finds his next target."_

_"I'd start with the bomb." Dig suggested. "Everyone's unique. Maybe we can get some kind of signature on the guy. But the bomb residue is with the SCPD."_

_"Fortunately we have an in with one of the officers at the department." The two men looked over to see Felicity walking into the office._

“She’s back. Yay.” Tommy said sarcastically.

 

_"I thought you were staying in Central City for a few more days." Oliver said in surprise._

_"I got a news alert about the bombing." Felicity explained. "Caught the first train out this morning."_

“So, a madman on the loose with a serum that can make a super human army isn’t important enough for her to be there, but an arsonist is?” Laurel said confused.

 

“Felicity often let her personal relationships take precedence over her obligations to the team.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"Good. We need you here." Oliver told her, not unkindly._

_"How's Barry?" he asked._

_"Ah, he's still sleeping." She said. "I prefer sleeping to coma, 'cause coma sounds, you know, not fun." She took a breath. "I'll reach out to detective Lance." She said, and then headed back to her desk._

_The scene changed to Blood's campaign office. Sebastian handed some paperwork to an assistant, and then smiled as he saw a welcome face in his doorway "Hey. Did we have a lunch today?"_

_Laurel smiled back at him. "No. I was just in the neighborhood. Thought I'd stop by." She said. "But if this is a bad time, I mean, I can always come back."_

_"Oh, no, not at all, they're still setting up out there." Blood replied._

_"Wow." Laurel said, walking into his office. "This is pretty impressive for a street orphan."_

_"Are you suggesting I spread it on a bit too thick last night?" Blood said with a teasing grin._

_"No." Laurel said quickly._

_"It's just Laurel, if there's something on your mind, give it voice." Blood said, raising from his seat and donning his jacket. "I don't bite. I promise."_

_Laurel took a breath. "You know my father's with the department." She began._

_"Yes."_

_"He said the suspect that he was investigating when he and his partner were attacked was a man named Cyrus Gold." She revealed._

_Blood nodded, and then sat on the edge of the desk. "Cyrus Gold was a preacher at the orphanage where I was raised." He explained. "Cyrus was a very good friend to me- like an older brother. Or even a father figure, to be honest. He was the first person I said a word to, and this was after a month of not speaking at all."_

_"You talk a lot about being an orphan, but you don't talk about your parents." Laurel asked gently. "Did you know them?"_

_"My father was a very unhappy man." Blood revealed after a moment. "One night he came home soaked in whiskey. He lost his job again, so he broke my mother's arm. I tried to stop him, but he threw me off. And the next thing I saw was my mother holding my father's gun in her hand. And I watched her shoot him." He revealed to Laurel's shock. "She panicked. Ran and was gone before the police even arrived. It was the last time I saw my parents."_

“I can’t believe it, I actually feel sorry for him.” Tommy said incredulously.

 

“Don’t feel too sorry for him,” Dinah said and Tommy looked over his shoulder at her, “there’s more to that story.”

 

“Of course there is.” Laurel grumbled.

 

_"I'm so sorry." Laurel said shakily._

_"I don't know Why Cyrus' life took the turn that it did, I'm sad to say." Blood said, rising from the desk. "All I know is that he helped a very young, very frightened boy find his voice again." An assistant knocked on the doorframe to get his attention; the press was waiting. He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. More later?" Laurel smiled and nodded, and Blood exited the room. After he left, Laurel did her best to compose herself, fighting back her tears of sadness for his suffering._

“He really is good.” Laurel said disgusted.

 

_As she did, she spied something on his desk. Looking out the windows and seeing that Blood was occupied with the press, Laurel moved closer to the desk and looked at a stack of invoices on his desk. One was marked from St. Walker's Hospital, and addressed to someone named Maya Resik. Laurel filed the information away in her mind, placed the invoice back down, and headed out of the office._

_The scene changed to Verdant. Roy was moving boxes in the store room when Thea walked in._

_"Didn't hear you come in." she said._

_"Yeah, sorry, I- I got here early." He replied, grabbing another box. "I just want to get these crates unpacked before lunch."_

_"Are you ok?" she asked._

_"Yeah, I'm fine." He said dismissively. "Just…I haven't been sleeping much lately. I got a lot on my mind."_

“Like the fact you were injected with a super human serum?” Thea said dryly and Roy simply shrugged.

 

_Thea sat down on a keg. "You want to talk about it?" she offered._

_"Talk about what?" Roy said, still shifting boxes._

_"Whatever's been going on with you the last five weeks." Thea clarified._

_"Look, I'm fine." Roy protested shortly._

_"Ever since the Arrow shot you, you've been acting really weird, Roy." Thea said. "With me, with everything."_

_"This isn't about the Arrow." Roy protested._

_"Is it me?" she asked. "Is it us?"_

_Roy set the box down hard and spun back towards her. "Look, I really just want to get through this, ok?" he said hotly._

_"Ok." Thea said sadly, rising from the keg. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."_

_Roy sighed as she turned to walk out of the room "Thea." He called out, stopping her. "You do help." He told her. "Every day. And honestly, right now you're the only thing that's keeping me together."_

_Thea exhaled. "I do what I can." She said._

_"How did I get to be so lucky?" Roy asked._

_"You…stole my purse." She said with a grin._

_"Hmm." Roy grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in. The two started making out passionately, each trying to dominate the other. Thea wrapped her legs around Roy's waist, and he picked her up with ease, spinning around and pinning her to the shelves. They started to grind against one another, their passions escalating, the shelves shaking more…_

“I don’t wanna see this!” Tommy complained as Thea flushed while Roy simply smirked.

 

_Then a box full of empty glasses toppled off the top shelf. Roy saw it out of the corner of his eye and spun around again, pushing Thea out of the way and raising an arm to block as the box crashed into his head and arm. He fell to the ground, momentarily dazed._

_"Roy?!" Thea exclaimed from the floor where she had fallen._

_Roy looked up at his girlfriend, shaking his head to clear it. "Thea, are you ok?"_

_"Yeah." She scurried over to him. Roy sat up, holding up his arm to see a large, jagged piece of glass sticking out of it. He stared at it, incredulous._

“Man, that stuff really works.” Tommy said impressed.

 

_The scene changed to the roof of the SCPD. Lance climbed the stairs and looked around the empty roof, then turned to look out over the city. He paused for a moment, sensing someone else on the roof, and a moment later the tell-tale sound of the voice changer turning on told him who it was._

_"You know, most cops, they meet their informants in the backseat of a cruiser or maybe a coffee shop or something, but-" Lance was saying as he walked towards the vigilante. For the first time, though, the other man didn't turn his face away. Suddenly he saw why. "What's with the mask?"_

_"Gift from a friend." The Arrow replied._

_"You got friends?"_

“Yeah, we all hang out at the vigilante club house.” Dinah said sarcastically sending the time travelers into bouts of laughter.

 

_"Did you bring me what I asked for?" the vigilante asked tiredly._

_After a moment, Lance handed over a small evidence bag. "That's a sample of everything the CSU collected from the blast. There's melted glass, multiple explosive fragments, and trace residue, and it looks like nitroglycerine. Which means that we're dealing with more than just a basement nutjob."_

_"Someone with training." The Arrow concurred. "Thank you, Detective." He turned and walked off, ready to shoot a line to the next building, when Lance's voice stopped him._

_"I need a favor, too." The Arrow turned back around. "The son of a bitch who killed my men, my partner…"_

_"He's dead." Oliver told him._

_"And whoever tipped him off, told him we were coming, he's doing just fine." Lance replied._

“Damn bastard.” Diggle grumbled as thought of Daily.

 

_"What do you need?"_

_"Cell phone records for every cop in my precinct."_

_"You think there's a leak in the department?" Oliver asked, surprised._

_"I think those phone records are the only way to know for sure, and your blonde friend, she's pretty good with computers." Lance stated._

_Oliver considered for a moment. Finally, he nodded. "I'll ask her—" he was cut off as a massive explosion rocked the top floors of a building downtown. The two men watched in horror as the flames rose high into the night's sky._

“Shit, that son of a bitch has struck again!” Diggle snarled as they all stared in horror.

 

_Lance yanked his radio off his belt. "DC-52 to Central, 10-80, downtown!" He called out as he headed back down the stairs._

_Oliver was moving as well, hitting his com link. "He's hit again."_

_"Starling City Municipal Building." Diggle said after a moment._

_"Give me a location." Oliver demanded._

_"I'll give you one better- I'm checking the surrounding cell towers." Felicity said. "There was a GSM spike of 3,800 megahertz two seconds before the blast. That frequency's way outside the approved frequency for U.S. carriers." she typed rapidly into her computer, and soon she had a lock on the signal's source. "Signal's moving. I think he's mobile."_

_"Give me an intersection!" Oliver commanded, taking off at a dead run for his bike._

_Several minutes later, The Arrow was blasting down the road on his Ducati as Felicity directed him._

_'Right in front of you, 400 meters.' She told him over the com line. Oliver looked and saw a white panel van sitting at a stoplight._

_"I see him." He said._

_In the van, the bomber saw the bike approaching. Panicking, he hit the gas and sped through the red light, narrowly avoiding getting hit and sending cars skidding out of control. The Arrow was right behind him, deftly avoiding the obstacles. He started to gain, but then the van made a hard left onto a side street._

_'Turn left on 67th.' Felicity said._

_The two sped down the streets, bobbing and weaving in and out of traffic. The bomber looked in his side mirror to see the Vigilante gaining, and reached into a bad on the passenger seat. Withdrawing a grenade, he pulled the pin and waited a few seconds before throwing it out the window. On his bike, Oliver saw it coming and hopped off the seat and hung over the side, using the bike to shield him from the explosion as he let it carry him past while his boots started to smoke from the asphalt._

_He hopped back on the seat and gunned the engine, racing to catch up again. In the van, the man grabbed a smoke grenade and tossed it out. Oliver raced forward, blowing through the smoke cloud- but the van was gone._

_"Felicity, I've lost him."_

_"What?" she said. Suddenly, the signal dropped off the screen. "Me, too, hold on." She typed frantically, trying to re-acquire. Finally she did. "Got him. Bank left on Gerrard Street. You're almost right on top of him." She said._

_Oliver raced forward, taking a hard left- then skidding to a stop in front of a bus. He flipped up his visor and looked around in aggravation. "It's not him, Felicity." He growled. "You picked up the wrong signal."_

“That is very, very unusual for her.” Laurel noted confused.

 

“As I said earlier, she forgets that there are people just as smart as she is sometimes.” Dinah explained.

 

“And it cost Oliver and the city.” Roy noted displeased.

 

“Wouldn’t be the first time, wouldn’t be the last.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"What?" she said; flabbergasted. "I thought- he must have scrambled the signal." She realized with a sinking feeling in his stomach._

_"It doesn't matter." Oliver sighed angrily. "He's gone."_

_A short time later, Oliver stormed back into the lair. "What happened?" he demanded._

_"He's using cellular technology to detonate his bombs." Felicity said morosely from her computer. "Clearly, his expertise extends to obscuring that signal."_

_"Felicity, your expertise was supposed to trump his." He said angrily._

_"Excuse me?" she said, rising from her chair. "If you have something to say to me, Oliver, say it."_

_"People are dying." Oliver replied. "So I would like you to pull your head out of Central City and get back in the game."_

_"Sure, right after you get yours out of your ass." She replied, pissed._

_"Excuse me?"_

_"All right." Diggle said, trying to defuse this bomb. "Maybe we should just take a breath here."_

_"No, wait," Felicity said. "I want to know, what exactly was that crack about Central City meant to imply?" she demanded._

_"When the first bomb went off, you weren't here." Oliver stated. "And when the second bomb went off, you sent me the wrong way."_

_"After you didn't catch him in the first place!" she shot back._

_"Don't blame me because you didn't have it tonight." Oliver said snidely._

“Okay, why is Oliver being such a jerk? Is he-is he jealous?” Tommy asked incredulously.

 

“No, he’s angry and frustrated. He’s had a long couple of weeks with no progress on the Mirakuru and you see how much that freaks him out. This is just giving him an outlet.” Dinah explained.1

 

_Felicity stared at him for a moment. "I need some air." She said finally._

_"At the risk of me getting my head knocked off," Diggle said after Felicity had walked off, "Playing the blame game's not going to help us catch this son of a bitch."_

_"Neither is doing things halfway." Oliver snapped._

_"Is that what you think's going on here, Oliver?" he asked. "You think she was distracted? She wasn't giving it her all?"_

_"She almost ran me into a bus, Diggle." Oliver said peevishly. "What do you think?"_

_Diggle looked at him hard for a moment. "I think you didn't have a problem with Felicity's performance until she met Barry Allen." He said, and then turned to follow Felicity out of the lair, leaving Oliver alone to stew._

“So it started early then.” Dinah noted.

 

“What started early?” Diggle asked confused.

 

“You becoming Oliver and Felicity’s number one advocate.” Dinah said and Diggle groaned.

 

“Really?” Diggle groaned and she nodded.

 

“When Ollie’s relationships with her become increasingly toxic, you either ignored it or were in denial. You encouraged the relationship even at the expense of Ollie’s relationships with his friends and family. Thankfully, Ollie had enough self-respect to end it after she became emotionally abusive.” Dinah explained.

 

“If I ever become that way, someone please hit me.” Diggle said as he turned to the other time travelers.

 

“I’ll go it.” Roy volunteered.

 

_Five years ago-_

 

_Slade was still holding Oliver up, choking the life out of him._

_In a blind panic, Sara dropped the crate of Mirakuru and picked up the first thing she could find- a large, thick tree branch- and swung as hard as she could, hitting the soldier in the chest. The impact did little to hurt Slade, but it did seem to knock him out of the red haze of anger he was in. He promptly dropped Oliver, who gulped down large breaths of air as Sara stood over him, holding the branch defensively. Slade looked around, finally coming out of his daze._

“Thank you Sara.” Thea said relieved as they all released a breath they didn’t know they had been holding.

 

_"I'm sorry." He said, looking around frantically. He staggered back into a tree, and slid down it until he was sitting on the ground. He stared at his hand- the same hand that had punched through a pirate's chest, the same hand that had almost killed his friend._

_Sara relaxed somewhat. "You're not well, Slade." She told him gently._

_"Hey," Oliver rasped, getting his attention. "It's the Mirakuru. It's messing with your head."_

_Sara looked around. "It's going to be dark soon." She said. "We should make camp." Oliver nodded absently, still staring uncertainly at Slade._

“I’d sleep with one eye open.” Diggle said unnerved by Slade’s instability.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to the SCPD Lance walked into the squad room, rubbing his arm._

_"What's going on? You ok?" Officer Daily asked, noticing his discomfort._

_Lance grimaced. "Yeah, it's just, arm still hurts when it's cold and I lost the pain meds that the doctor gave me." He said._

_He looked at Daily's formerly injured arm. "How's yours healing up?" he asked._

_"Ah, you know, good days and bad." Daily replied._

“A lot less than you deserve, you traitorous son of a bitch.” Roy sneered.

_Lance nodded. "I'll see you later." He said, seeing a familiar face. He walked over to her and smiled. "Hey."_

_"Pretty crazy." Laurel said._

_"Yeah." Lance agreed. "You doing all right?"_

_"I thought I could use your help, if you have a second." Laurel said._

_"You being at the DA's office now, it's almost like you joined the family business. Come on." Quentin said with a smile, leading her over to the corner of the room._

_"I'm trying to find someone named 'Maya Resik'." Laurel began. "I searched the Internet, the DMV records, social security," she sighed. "Nothing."_

_"Why are you looking for a ghost?" Quentin asked._

_"Sebastian's paying her bills." Laurel explained. "A woman who doesn't seem to exist; I find that suspicious."_

_Quentin gave her a wry look. "Thinking that your boyfriend's up to no good, that's typically more my thing than yours." He joked._

_"Oh, he's not exactly my boyfriend." Laurel said._

“And thank god for that.” Dinah grimaced as Laurel nodded, looking disgusted.

 

_"Well, that makes digging into his life a little less fun, then." Lance said. Laurel smiled and turned to leave. "Hey, Laurel." He said, stopping her. "If I bring you something back, you know I'm going to want to know why." He reminded his daughter._

_Laurel smiled tightly. "Of course you are." She said, before turning and walking off._

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Oliver walked in to the darkened house to find his mother seated in the living room, watching as Sebastian Blood held a press conference._

_'Over the last few days, our resolve has been tested.' Blood was saying on TV. 'But all of you continue to prove that the only way we keep on-"_

_Moira looked up and smiled as Oliver walked into the room. "Ah, you're just in time to see the show." She said._

_"What's he doing?" Oliver asked._

_"Bringing the city together." Moira replied. "And if I'm not mistaken, campaigning."_

_'Tomorrow night, I am holding Starling's first ever unity rally at City Plaza. We are going to show the world that the people of this great city will not back down to terrorists.'_

_Oliver stared at the screen incredulously. "He's committing suicide and he just invited the entire city to join him."_

“Has he lost his mind?!” Tommy shouted.

 

“For someone who wants to save this city, he certainly doesn’t seem to care that much about the people in it.” Laurel said disgusted.

 

_"Sebastian's your friend. Can't you talk him out of this, Oliver?" Moira asked._

_Oliver sighed. "Well, he won't listen to me."_

_The scene changed to Blood's campaign headquarters later that night. Sebastian was the last one in the building, working late at his desk when suddenly the power went off. Sebastian looked around in confusion, one hand still holding the phone that had just gone dead, when a voice suddenly spoke from the darkness._

_"Sebastian Blood." Blood slammed the phone down and reached under his desk, grabbing the gun that was mounted there as The Arrow stepped into his office. "This rally tomorrow night, you need to call it off." The vigilante ordered._

“If he won’t listen to Ollie, maybe he’d listen to The Arrow. Not a bad idea.” Laurel noted.

 

“If Blood wasn’t a power hungry sociopath.” Thea snarled.

 

_"The Starling City vigilante paying a visit to wave me off. I'm flattered." He said. Realizing he wasn't here for the man in the skull mask, he let go of the gun._

_"This event, Mr. Blood, you might as well be painting a giant bulls eye on your chest." The Arrow said._

_Blood composed himself, sitting up straighter in his seat. "This city needs to come together." He said. "And I need to show them how."_

_"You won't be able to show them anything if you're dead." Oliver pointed out._

_"Every night, you risk your life for the people of this city." Blood stated. "How can you expect me to do any less?"_

“Um, because he’s not endangering hundred, thousands of innocent people?” Roy said as though Blood was stupid.

 

_"And what about the lives of the people coming to your rally?"_

_"This rally is about Starling City standing up and declaring with one voice that living afraid isn't living." Blood said heatedly. "I won't send a contrary message to people telling them to stay home, to stay scared. I've made my decision."_

_"That's the thing, alderman whatever happens tomorrow night, it's not up to you." The Arrow said, melding back into the shadows. A moment later, the power came back on. Blood blinked, looking around the suddenly bright office, but the vigilante was nowhere to be seen. Satisfied, he sat back down, contemplating._

“Bastard.” Diggle sneered.

 

_Across town, an older woman stepped into a toy shop on the edge of the downtown shopping district. The man behind the counter looked up from his work and smiled warmly. "Ah, Mrs. Fazekas." He said in greeting. He reached under the counter and pulled out a box. "The train set for your nephew just came in. He's going to love it." He assured her._

_Mrs. Fazekas smiled. "Oh. You are a miracle worker, Mr. Scheffer." She said. "How much do I owe you?"_

_Mark Scheffer, the mad bomber, smiled. "$50 even. Forget the sales tax."_

_"Are you going to the alderman's unity rally tomorrow night?" she asked._

_Mark smiled. "I wouldn't miss it." He assured her._

“Psychopath.” Thea sneered.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver and Diggle were watching the news broadcast about the Unity Rally as Felicity worked at her station._

_'…Gathered here despite the rash of bombings that have plagued the city, some have called Sebastian Blood's unity rally a cynical and dangerous PR stunt for his mayoral campaign. But the crowd continues to grow.'_

_"Tried to get him to stand down." Oliver complained._

_"He seems as stubborn as you when it comes to fighting back." Dig noted wryly._

_"Or everything." Felicity muttered._

“I know that Ollie was a jerk, but maybe, instead of being all childish and petty, she should talk with him like an adult instead of throwing a temper tantrum like a five year old.” Thea snapped.

 

“You hit it on the marble. While Felicity may be extremely smart, she has the emotional maturity of a five year old.” Dinah explained.

 

_"Hey, is this how it's going to be with you two from now on?" Dig asked wearily._

_Oliver sighed. "Maybe we should just head down to the rally."_

_"Maybe we won't have to." Felicity said suddenly. She turned to face them. "I analyzed the bomb remnants we got from Lance. The design's identical to the bombs used by an anti-government militia group called the Movement. Lucky for us, they have a very active and hackable message board." She pulled up the board to show them. "One of their most prolific fans has an IP address right here in Starling."_

“Finally, some good luck.” Diggle said relieved.

 

_"Tell me." Oliver ordered._

_"The computer's in a local souvenir shop. The whackadoo in question goes by the username Shrapnel."_

_"You want back-up?" Dig asked._

_"No, I need you at the rally." Oliver decided. "Cover our bases." Dig grabbed his gun, Oliver grabbed his bow, and Felicity took a long breath as the two men headed out._

_The scene changed to the SCPD. Laurel walked in and found her dad rifling through a large stack of paper. "Is this all for me?" she asked._

_"No, for me." Quentin said absently. "SCPD phone records."_

_"Why are you going through the department's phone records?" she asked._

_Instead of answering, Quentin pulled her away. "Um, so I checked up on your not exactly boyfriend." He said, dodging her question._

_"And? Did you find anything?" she asked excitedly._

_"Yeah, it turns out he's a hell of a guy." He said. "Covers the expenses of his dear aunt- your Maya Resik."_

_Laurel froze, pondering. "If Sebastian has other family, then why was he placed in an orphanage?" she wondered._

_"Well, maybe 'cause Aunt Maya is nuttier than a Snickers bar." Quentin said. "She's a patient at St. Walker's Hospital. It's a mental institution, it's the kind you don't check out of. Now, listen, you going to tell me what this is all about?" he asked, concerned._

“Something tells me there’s more to the story then that.” Roy noted.

 

“Because there is.” Dinah told him.

 

_Laurel sighed. "Something about him just seems off." She said._

_"Laurel, there is nothing sinister about a guy who is covering the expenses of his only living relative." He said defensively. "The truth is, it's kind of nice."_

_"Listen, I gotta get to City Plaza. Pike wants all hands at this unity rally." He looked at her worriedly. "You're not going, right?"_

_Laurel shook her head. "No, I need to look into this more." She said._

_Quentin sighed. "Laurel, he seems like a good guy and you deserve good, Ok?" he said. "So stop looking for reasons to talk yourself out of it. Please." He pleaded, wanting his daughter to be happy. She nodded, and he turned and headed out, not noticing her still pensive look._

“I wasn’t being paranoid, was I?” Laurel asked and Dinah shook her head.

 

“It was instinct, correct instinct, as it turned out. Something we inherited from dad.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene changed to the rally. Blood was walking through the Plaza as the reporters tossed questions at him._

_"Alderman Blood, is this not dangerous?" one asked._

_"I'm afraid so." He replied._

_"Why are you gathering all these people here to be targets?" another asked._

_"Please, I'll get to all of your questions later." He promised, moving through the crowd and thanking the people for coming. In the crowd, Diggle also moved, looking for threats._

_Across town, The Arrow walked into the souvenir shop. He looked around, walking cautiously, looking for threats._

_'Boom.'_

_In an instant his bow was up and an arrow drawn and ready to fire as dozens of laser sensor beams flared to life._

_'You're dead.' The voice on the speaker continued. 'Or will be if you take one more step or move a single muscle. And then you'll miss the show.' A TV flared to life, showing the coverage of the rally. 'Candidate Blood's unity rally. Already rigged with 50 pounds of RDX high explosives. Not unlike what's packed inside the drywall of my store. This city thinks Sebastian Blood can keep them safe.' Oliver glanced at the screen, and his mouth went dry as he saw Thea and Moira standing on the stairs of the plaza. 'Tonight, they learn that the only thing politicians care about protecting is their jobs.'_

“The bastard!” Tommy snarled, worry for The Queens shooting through him.

 

“That’s one word to describe him. Psychopath is another.” Laurel sneered as she took the hand of a frozen Thea, hoping to offer her comfort.

 

“It really is.” Roy agreed, shooting a worried look at Thea.

 

_"Felicity." Oliver growled into his mic._

_"Here." She said. "Did you get him?"_

_"No." Oliver replied quietly, still holding his bow and not moving a muscle. "He said he rigged the Plaza with an explosive device."_

_"Oliver, it's crazy-town there." Felicity said, looking at the feed in the Lair. "That bomb could be anywhere."_

_"I can narrow that down. Get me Diggle." He ordered._

_Felicity connected him in an instant. "Go." Diggle said._

_"Shrapnel said he ringed the perimeter with RDX." He told his partner._

_"I'm on it." Dig said, moving to inspect the plaza._

_"You're heading to the Plaza, too, right?" Felicity said._

_"Not yet." Oliver replied, sweating. "I need you to pull me up anything you can on the store. Blue prints, permit schematics, anything."_

_"What's going on?" she asked as she started pulling up plans._

_"Shrapnel left behind a surprise." Oliver told her. "Said he packed the drywall with explosives, but the trigger needs to be—"_

_"Would need to be hooked up to some sort of power supply." She interrupted. "That's assuming that the detonator's connected to the store's electricity and not something independent like a car battery. I know, not helpful." She continued scrolling through the plans. "You sure you want me doing this? My head might not exactly be in the game." She added bitterly._

“Okay, really, just really?” Thea asked angrily.

 

“Out of all the times she chooses to call him out for his behavior, it is now, when he’s standing on a bomb?” Laurel demanded angrily.2

 

“What the hell is wrong with this girl?” Tommy demanded.

 

“She’s an emotionally unstable control freak.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"Felicity!" he snapped._

_"The building was built in the seventies." She said, ignoring him. "That's good news. The wiring in a lot of construction back then is defective. So if you sever one wire, it will blow fuses in the entire building and shot off power to the bomb."_

_"Hold tight." He said. "I see a fuse box."_

_"Oliver, be careful." She said worriedly._

_In the shop. Oliver slowly adjusted his aim, careful to make sure the laser sensor on his arrow head followed the shaft and the bow itself, the beam never breaking. His shot finally lined up, he fired. The box exploded into sparks._

_In the lair, the line suddenly burst into static. "Oliver?" Felicity said, panicked. After a few moments of silence, she tried again. "Oliver?" she said brokenly._

_"It's all right." Oliver's voice suddenly came back on, the line reconnected. In the shop, the box sparked, but the sensors were as dead as the power. "I'm all right." He assured her. "Get to the rally. Help Diggle. I'm on my way." He ordered. Taking one last glance around, he turned and ran out of the shop._

“Oh thank god.” Thea said as she sighed in relief, along with the other time travelers.

 

_At the rally, Diggle was moving around, checking the lighting and sound equipment, looking for the bomb. On the stairs, meanwhile, Thea and Moira were walking down, looking around the plaza._

_"Thea, I really don't think coming here was a good idea." Moira said worriedly._

_"It's gonna be fine." Thea assured her mother. "Let's just go find Roy."_

_Down in the plaza, Sebastian Blood made his way onto the stage to a loud ovation._

_"Please, please." He said, waving his arms at the crowd to quiet them. "You're the ones who deserve an ovation. Eight months ago, this city survived a devastating attack- but we rose up." Out in the Plaza, Moira looked around nervously. The last thing she needed was to be recognized in public as a perpetrator of said attack. "You rose up and banded together, just like we are tonight." Lance looked around, looking for anything suspicious. Dig was up behind one of the standing speakers, and popped the back off an access port to find a phone connected to a large amount of RDX._

“Thank god, you found the trigger.” Thea said relieved.

 

“Yeah, but can I disarm it before he sets it off?” Diggle asked doubtfully and no one had an answer.

 

_"Dig, I'm on site." Felicity announced over the coms as she came on to the scene._

_"I'm on the east side." Dig told her. "Think I found the trigger."_

_"And prove to the world that we cannot be broken." Blood continued. "That the people of this city are too strong. And that no bomb and no earthquake is strong enough to tear us apart." Thea, in front with Moira and Roy, nodded in agreement._

_"Oliver said that the whole place was ringed with explosives." Felicity said as she came up to Diggle._

_"It's in the sound equipment." He told her, and then indicated the phone. "And this is the trigger."_

_"Shrapnel activates it by cellular transmission." Felicity said._

_"Listen, we don't have to disarm it, just disable it." Dig noted._

_"I can do that." Felicity said, then added, "I think. I hope."_

_"Listen, you be careful." Dig said as she examined the device. "He probably put in a safeguard. Tampering with it will set off a dead man's switch."_

“Oh man, this isn’t good.” Tommy said worriedly as everyone tensed.

 

“What was your first clue?” Roy snapped.

 

_"That's a really depressing term." She said absently. "And a little bit sexist."_

_"Step away." They turned to see Shrapnel standing there. In one hand he held a phone; in the other a gun. "Or we all know how this ends."_

“And now things just got worse.” Thea groaned.

 

_Dig suddenly rushed Shrapnel, but he was too far away. Shrapnel fired, hitting Dig in the shoulder, and the bodyguard went down just as The Arrow pulled up to the scene. The shot had sent people running and screaming, and the police grabbed Blood and pulled him off the stage. Shrapnel pulled a grenade out of his coat, pulled the pin, and threw- but the Arrow was faster, shooting the grenade and causing it to detonate in mid-air._

“Thank god Ollie was there.” Thea sighed in relief but no one relaxed.

 

_"Dig!" Felicity screamed, dropping down next to the wounded man as Shrapnel took off. The Arrow followed close behind._

_Down in the plaza, the explosion caused a steel lighting tower to break free from its moorings, and Thea watched in horror as it fell right towards her mother. Roy, without hesitation, ran to Moira and pulled her down, protecting her with his body. The steel framework smashed into Roy's back, but the boy didn't flinch. To Thea's astonished horror, Roy pushed back, lifting the heavy framework enough to push Moira clear. He then stood and ran free, shrugging the tower off like nothing. Thea ran to her mother and hugged her fiercely. "Mom!" she exclaimed._

“Thank you Roy.” Thea sighed in relief, happy her mother was safe.

 

“Don’t mention it.” Roy shrugged.

 

_"I'm ok. I'm ok." She told her daughter. Thea moved back and looked at Roy in shock as the boy himself stood, stunned by what had happened._

_In the upper plaza, Shrapnel was running from The Arrow as the vigilante pursued him on his bike. He turned and fired, missing, but causing Oliver to swerve and duck. He kept firing as he ran, but The Arrow finally caught up to him, skidding his bike into the terrorist and sending him crashing to the ground. The Arrow skidded to a stop, then spun his bike around to face the mad bomber before climbing off, readying his bow._

_Shrapnel staggered to his feet. Oliver drew an arrow back as he turned to face him. In his hand was a detonator connected by a wire to something in his jacket. "Drop the bow!" he ordered. "I've got charges planted all over Starling. I drop this stick, they all blow." He threatened. The Arrow stood their silent, not moving an inch. "Did you just hear what I said?"_

_"Yep." The Arrow replied, adjusting his aim slightly and firing. The arrow sliced through the cord, disabling the trigger. Shrapnel looked down at the cut cord in stunned amazement, and even as he futilely pressed the trigger again and again, The Arrow calmly walked up and smashed him in the face with his bow._

“Well that…was surprisingly easy.” Tommy noted.

 

“Yeah, pretty anti-climactic if you ask me.” Diggle noted.

 

“He was skilled with explosives and computers not much else.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant later that night. Roy was sitting at the bar of the empty club, watching the news as Shrapnel was led away in cuffs when Thea walked up to him._

_"Hey." He said, rising to greet her. "How's your mom?"_

_"She's fine. Just a little shooken up." Thea replied. "You saved her."_

_"I got lucky." Roy said quickly._

_Thea shook her head. "That wasn't luck." She said. "That was impossible."_

_"You know those stories of mom's lifting cars to save their kids? Things you can do when adrenaline hits." Roy tried. "It was… it was one of those."_

“That is a really bad excuse.” Tommy noted.

 

“It would’ve been so much easier just to tell me.” Thea pointed out.

 

“I was probably going out of my mind, freaking out.” Roy defended himself.

 

_Thea sighed, and was about to let it go when she saw something else that astounded her. "Your arm." She exclaimed, grabbing his arm that had been cut earlier. "There's not even a mark." She said, staring at the unblemished skin._

_Roy yanked his arm free. "It's…I heal fast. It's fine." He lied._

“You really need to learn better excuses kid.” Diggle told Roy, who nodded absently.

 

_"Right." Thea said unbelievingly._

_"I'm kind of tired." Roy said. "It's been a long night, you know. I gotta go." Roy hurriedly walked past her to the exit._

_"Roy." Thea tried, but her boyfriend ignored her as he walked out of the door._

_Meanwhile downstairs, the team was watching the news after patching up Diggle._

_"With you dropping fewer bodies, Starling City should probably build a bigger jail." Felicity noted absently from her seat in front of the computers. Oliver said nothing as he replenished the arrows in his quiver._

_"Another night of skull mask hunting?" Diggle asked. His arm was in a sling as he draped his coat over his wounded shoulder._

_"Not exactly." Oliver said, turning to his partner. "How's your shoulder?"_

_"Oh, just a through-and-through." Dig replied with a grin. "Walk in the park."_

_"Still, Diggle, you should go home and get some rest." Oliver said. Dig nodded and headed out. As he climbed the stairs, Oliver glanced at Felicity, who was still staring at the news. He turned back to his worktable and steeled himself for what would come next. "I'm sorry." He said quietly._

_Felicity slowly looked over to Oliver, who was staring straight ahead. "Are you apologizing to me or were you talking to your quiver?" she asked sarcastically._

_"I didn't snap at my quiver." Oliver said, finally looking at her. He rose from his seat and walked over to the hacker._

_"You kind of more than snapped." Felicity pointed out._

_"I know. And I'm sorry." Oliver said again._

_Felicity was silent for a long moment. "I understand that this Mirakuru thing has you freaked and I have been in Central City a lot." She said quietly._

_"Felicity, it's not that." Oliver interrupted. "When you are there, well, it just made me realize how much I need you here. In the beg-" he paused for a second, and then started over. "In the beginning, I was just gonna- I was gonna do all of this by myself. And now with you and Diggle… I rely on you." He admitted._

“Maybe a little too much.” Diggle noted concerned.

 

_Felicity rose from her chair and gave him a warm smile. "Does that mean I have a shot at employee of the month?" she joked._

_"No." he said at once. "Because you're not my employee. You're my partner." He told her. "Barry's gonna wake up. And when he does, you will be there." He promised her._

_Felicity laughed lightly. "I finally have a guy who's interested in me and he's struck by lightning, ends up in a coma." She sighed. "Typical."_

_"Well, maybe he's dreaming about you." Oliver suggested._

“Barry wasn’t really dreaming about anything. IT was like he just black out, he told us later.” Dinah said absently.

 

_"You know, actually there's conflicting cases about whether coma patients can in fact dream normally or they're more like hallucinating." Felicity rambled. Oliver cut her off by placing his hand on her shoulder. "Thank you." She said. Oliver smiled, nodded, then turned and walked off._

_Five years ago-_

_Sara and Oliver were laying on the cold ground, trying to get some sleep when suddenly their radio crackled to life._

_'Sara. Sara, I know you're listening.' Their heads shot up at the sound of Anthony Ivo's voice. 'Answer me.'_

_Oliver grabbed the radio. Sara reached out for it, but Oliver silently shook his head._

_'This is very simple, Sara.' Ivo continued. 'I know you and your new friends have the Mirakuru. You know I will lay waste to this entire island to get it.'_

_"Get Slade." Oliver told Sara, who jumped up at once to go grab their sentry._

_'But it doesn't have to be that way. All I want is the serum. In exchange, I'll promise you and your friends safe passage off this island, I promise. Within 10 days, you and your new friends could be making port in Shanghai. The alternative is I send my men into the jungle to take the serum from you. They'll be under orders not to kill any of you. Instead, you'll remain alive enough for me to indulge my scientific curiosity. Think about it, Sara.' The radio clicked off, and Oliver tossed it to the ground. He dropped his head into his hands and contemplated what the doctor had said._

“I highly doubt that Ivo would do as he says.” Diggle noted.

 

“Yeah, it’s more likely he would’ve shot all of them once they did. Or tried to shoot Slade, and Slade would’ve killed him, taken over the boat, and used it to get home.” Dinah agreed.

 

_"He's gone." Oliver looked up at Sara as she ran back to the camp_

_"What?" he said in surprise._

_"Slade's gone and he took the Mirakuru with him." She said worriedly as Oliver looked back, helpless._

“Oh this isn’t good.” Tommy said worriedly.

 

“Why does Slade want the Mirakuru?” Laurel narrowed her eyes.

 

“Ollie was never really sure, but I just put it down to Slade not thinking clearly at the time and his mind being warped by the Mirakuru.” Dinah explained.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to St. Walker's Hospital. A doctor was escorting Laurel down a long hallway to visit Maya Resik while telling her the rules._

_"You can ask all the questions you want, but I wouldn't count on getting anything back." She advised the lawyer. "She probably won't even know you're there." She unlocked the door and let Laurel in. "I'll be down the hall if you need anything." She told Laurel before closing the door._

_Maya sat in the corner, singing to herself softly in Spanish. Laurel approached slowly, as not to startle the woman. "Maya? I'm here to talk about your nephew." She started. The woman gave no reply, merely continued singing softly. "Maya, my name's Laurel Lance. Maya?" she knelt down in front of the woman. "I'm here to talk about your nephew. Maya?" she listened to the song, and tried a different approach. "Maya, que Chico? Que Chico? Sebastian?"_

_Maya finally looked up. "Sebastian." She said._

“Her nephew’s name gets a reaction…I have a bad feeling about this.” Diggle noted uneasily.

 

“You’d be right to.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_Laurel smiled in relief. "Yes, yes. Sebastian Blood."_

_The scene changed to Blood's campaign office. Sebastian was standing in front of the TV, watching the coverage of his earlier speech at the rally._

_'There will always be those who seek to harm us, but it will not weaken us. It will only make us stronger.'_

_Suddenly the power went out._

_"Well done, alderman."_

_Blood turned to see The Arrow walking into the room. "Thanks to you." He admitted._

_"Still a very big risk to take." The Arrow pointed out._

_"Tonight we both stood up for Starling City." Blood said, rising to stand in front of the vigilante. "You and me, we can save this city, if we work together."_

“Oh god, please tell me Ollie isn’t gonna get in bed with him.” Thea pleaded.

 

“Would you like the truth or a lie?” Dinah asked.

 

_Back at the hospital, Maya was suddenly nervous._

_"Maya, can you talk to me about Sebastian?" Laurel asked, even as Maya pressed herself deeper into the corner. "It's ok. You can trust me." She told her. "Ok? Sebastian is my friend."_

_Suddenly Maya reached out and grabbed onto Laurels hands tightly. "Sebastian is the devil." She said hotly. "He the one who put me here. He made everybody think I'm insane."_

_"But why would he do that?" Laurel asked._

_"He killed his father." Maya said. "And I was there. I saw it."_

_"Oh, my God." Laurel said, realization crashing down on her. "Sebastian isn't your nephew, he's your son."_

“He killed his own father…then pinned it on his mother, made everyone think he was insane.” Diggle realized.

 

“This guy really is a monster.” Roy said uneasily.

 

“A monster my brother is now in bed with.” Thea said worriedly.

 

_In the office, Blood held out his hand to the vigilante._

_"Don't trust a word he says." Maya begged her. "You can't trust Sebastian Blood."_

_And in the campaign office, Sebastian Blood and The Arrow shook hands._

“I think Ollie could have used that advice five minutes ago.” Tommy said grimly as the screen faded to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Despite what certain people will claim, Oliver was, again, not jealous. He’d spent weeks looking for a man with access to a serum that, quite frankly, freaks the hell out of him with no progress. And while it is true that he did not like the fact Felicity had spent so long in Central City, it was not due to jealousy. His hacking skills had rusted to the point of being almost non-existent due to relying on Felicity so much, which made his search for Blood that much harder since Felicity was in Central City so much . He’s had a couple bad weeks and took it out on Felicity, we’ve all had days like that, haven’t we?
> 
> 2: Admittedly, Oliver was a jerk to Felicity in this episode. But, out of all the times for Felicity to call him out on it, she did so while he was standing on a bomb? And when his family was in danger? Just really Felicity?


	45. Blind Spot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laurel learns the results of her drug abuse as Oliver looks into Blood. Roy learns the down side of Mirakuru and how he first hooked up with Oliver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I realized I made a pretty big mistake in an early chapter. In chapter one, I put Olivia’s age as seven when I meant to put it as three. I am sorry if this has caused any confusion, I have now fixed it.

 

Dinah pressed play and the next recording began.

_The memory set opened to a man walking through the rain up the stairs to St. Walker's Hospital. He walked into the hospital and was greeted by one of the nurses._

_"Welcome to St. Walker's, alderman." She said, and then added conspiratorially, "Or should I call you Mayor?"_

_Sebastian Blood smiled at the nurse as they walked. "Thank you for letting me come by so late."_

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Tommy said uneasily.

 

“You should.” Dinah sighed.

 

_"Well, I can imagine how busy your schedule is." She said. "It's really great of you taking the time to come and visit your aunt." She paused outside Maya's room. "Her health has taken a bad turn."_

_"Of course." Blood said with a smile. "She's family."_

“Which obviously means so much to you.”  Roy said sarcastically.

 

_Inside the room, Maya sat on the edge of her bed, praying with a rosary as the other two walked in. "Maya, look who came to see you." The nurse said. "It's your nephew, Sebastian."_

_Maya looked up from the rosary. "Don't go. Please." She pleaded._

“But of course she will, because Blood has everyone fooled.” Diggle groaned.

_"We'll be fine." Blood said, patting the nurse on the arm. "Thank you." She stepped out and closed the door, and then Blood approached his 'aunt'. "Still worshipping the old Gods, I see." He said mockingly._

_"They're the last thing I have from your father's." Maya shot back. "They protect me."_

“I don’t think they’ll protect you from this monster.” Tommy said sadly.

 

_"You were supposed to protect you." Blood said. "A friend of mine, Laurel Lance, came by to visit you a couple days ago. Do you remember her?" he asked._

_"She's muy Linda." Maya said with an absent smile._

_"Yes, she is." Blood agreed. "What did you both talk about?"_

_"Nada. Nothing." She claimed._

_"You know I don't like it when you lie to me." Blood said with an edge to his voice._

_"I told her the truth." Maya said after a moment's hesitation. "That you- you kill him. Your father. Mi esposo! I don't know what came over me." She said tearfully. "I am so, so sorry. I hurt you, mijo."_

_"Esta bien. No te preoccupes." He said quietly._

_"But you are my child, my son." Maya protested. "And I hurt you."_

_"I forgive you, mama." He said, rising from his seat on the bed. He walked over to his mother and kissed her on the top of the head. "I forgive you for everything." He whispered. He walked out of the room leaving Maya sitting there, crying softly._

_A short time later, Maya had repositioned herself by the bed and was saying her prayers while counting on her rosary. "La luz de dios me rodea, amor de dios me envuelve, El poder de dios me protege, la presencia de dios vela por mÃ ."_

_She lay back against the bed- and then suddenly the man in the skull mask was there. "Los dioses estÃ¡n muertos." He said. Maya screamed-_

_Then said no more._

“He just frightened his own mother to death.” Laurel said as a chill went down her spine.

 

“And you still think this guy isn’t evil?” Thea demanded as she whirled on Dinah.

 

“I never said he wasn’t evil. But no one who is evil ever thinks they are evil.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene changed to a factory in the Glades. Roy's stolen merchandise buyer Louis was standing in an old factory, his foot pinned to the floor as the vigilante fired arrows all around him._

_"Oh! Ah! Oh, please!" Louis screamed in terror. "I don't know anything!" he stammered._

_The Arrow shot another arrow near the man, hitting the industrial tank beside him. "The man in the skull mask." He growled. "Where is he?"_

_"I don't know what you're talking about!" Louis yelled._

_Another arrow, this time near his leg. "He's been experimenting on people in the Glades. He's leaving a trail of corpses with blood running from their eyes."_

_"No, no, no, no, no. I deal in stolen merchandise, that is it." He protested. Another arrow, near his groin. "Ah, ooh, please!"_

_Over the coms, Felicity said 'Ask him what color his shoes are.'_

“…What?” Tommy asked confused.

 

_Oliver paused in confusion. "What?"_

_Back at the Lair, Felicity sat behind her computers, listening to the interrogation. "You want this guy to take a polygraph via Bluetooth, cool, but I need to hear him establish a base line." She explained. "I need to hear him tell the truth just once."_

_Oliver sighed in annoyance. "What color are your shoes?" he growled as menacingly as he could._

_Louis looked at him in confusion. "What?" he looked down to check. "They're blue!"_

_Felicity stared at the screen, and sighed in defeat. "He's not lying."_

_Back in the factory, Louis looked back up. "Please-" he started to plead, but the man was already gone._

_Later that night, Oliver stood on the room of a building looking out over The Glades. "He's out there." He whispered. "Somewhere."_

_'Come home.' Felicity said over the coms. 'We can't do any more tonight.'_

“For once, she’s not wrong.” Dinah admitted.

 

_Five years ago-_

_The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver and Sara had made their way back to the plane, looking for Slade._

_"Slade? Slade!" Oliver yelled, doing a quick search of the wrecked plane. He sighed in disappointment when he realized it was empty. "Thought maybe he'd come back here." He told Sara._

_"He has the Mirakuru serum in his bloodstream." She reminded him. "He's not thinking clearly." Oliver stopped and looked down. On the deck lay the skeleton of the Japanese soldier they had carried back for Shado to look over. "So what do we do now?"_

_"I don't know, Sara." Oliver said, annoyed. He looked around and saw the motion tracker. He picked it up and saw that it was still working. "The sensor grid is still active. So at least we're going to know if Ivo and his men come back to the island." He told her._

_"So we just sit here and wait?" Sara asked._

_"Well, do you have any other ideas? 'Cause right now, I'm open to suggestions." He shot back._

_"We find Slade, and…" she swallowed. "Maybe we consider Ivo's offer."_

“Is she insane?!” Thea cried as the time travelers stared at the screen incredulously.

 

“No, just brainwashed.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Oliver glared at her. "What?"_

_"Look, if we get the serum back from Slade, then we can go home." Sara said, trying to reason with him. "And I can try to talk to Ivo. I can get him to listen to me."_

_Oliver stood and moved right into Sara's face. "Like he listened before he shot Shado in the head?" he spat._

_"He's just tired, and he's frustrated." She said defensively. Oliver scoffed. "You don't understand what finding the Mirakuru serum has meant to him."_

_"You're right, Sara, I don't understand." He said. "And I don't get how you can even consider trusting him after what he did!"_

_"He's not evil." She protested. "He kept me safe on that ship for over a year. And I mean, not just safe, he taught me things. And I learned a lot." She added softly._

_"I learned a lot, too." Oliver said quietly, staring hard at his former lover. "This island taught me that you can't trust anyone."_

“Ollie…” Thea said sadly as they all stared at the screen solemnly.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to the D.A.'s office. Laurel walked in and sat down at her desk. She reached into her purse and pulled out a pill bottle- her father's oxycodone. She stared at the bottle for a moment before popping the top off and shaking a pill out._

Laurel avoided looking at the other time travelers while Dinah winced, ashamed as her past actions. Tactfully, no one said anything.

 

_"Ms. Lance?" Laurel looked up in surprise, quickly moving her hands under her desk, out of view of her assistant, who was standing there. "I have a call for you on line two." She said._

_"Thank you, Katherine." Laurel replied. Katherine walked off and Laurel quickly downed the pill dry._

_Then she reached over and picked up her phone. "Laurel Lance." She announced as the call connected._

_'This is nurse Downey from St. Walker's.' a woman on the other line said. 'You asked me to call if there was any changes in Maya Resik's condition. I'm sad to report she passed away.'_

_Laurel froze in shock. "What?" she asked._

_'Her heart gave out on her, poor soul.' The lady said._

“And no one finds it a little suspicious that she dies just after Blood pays her a visit?”  Tommy asked incredulously.

 

“Our taxes dollars at work.” Roy drawled.

 

_Several minutes later, Laurel took her theory to Adam Donner. "You think Sebastian Blood, the saint of Starling City, killed his own mother?" he said incredulously._

_"He was the last person to see her alive." Laurel argued. "That isn't a coincidence."_

“Thank you.” Tommy said.

 

_"He's a devoted nephew visiting a sick relative. You're right, that's very, very suspicious." Donner said sarcastically._

“Man, he’s got everyone fooled pretty good.” Diggle noted grimly.

 

“He was a master of deception.” Dinah said darkly.

 

_"He didn't go there to visit her." Laurel said. "He went there to kill her; to cover up the fact that as a child, he killed his father. Maya Resik told me what happened."_

_"From inside a padded room, right?" Donner pointed out._

_"He had her forcibly committed." Laurel shot back. "She tells me the truth and then two days later has a heart attack. You don't find that strange?"_

_"Well, for one thing, there's no record that Maya Resik was even Blood's mother, and according to the hospital, she was in the late stages of heart disease."_

“Practically the perfect cover up.” Diggle noted grimly.

 

_"I need you to call in a favor with Judge Carlin." Laurel begged, not willing to let this go. "Get a search warrant for Sebastian's campaign headquarters, his phone records; I-I have to start somewhere."_

_"Laurel, this isn't some casual request." Donner said. "I'm the ADA who took Vertigo on live TV. I take a shot at Sebastian Blood and miss, my career is done."_

_"Adam! Please." She begged._

_Donner shook his head. "I'm sorry, Laurel." He said. "You're on your own." He told her, walking out of his office and leaving a disappointed Laurel alone._

“Damn!” Laurel cursed.

 

“Yeah. I realized that if I wanted to stop Blood, I had to go outside the law.” Dinah said.

 

“You mean…” Laurel trailed off and Dinah nodded.

 

“Well, this should be interesting.” Roy said dryly.

 

_The scene changed to the alley behind Verdant. Roy was taking out the recyclables when Oliver, in civilian clothes, walked up to him._

_"Hello, Roy." He said pleasantly._

_Roy looked up and scoffed. "Lurking in an ally." He said, closing the lid on the bin and heading back towards the side entrance. "That's not at all creepy."_

_Oliver chuckled. "When I ran the club, I learned all the secret entrances." He joked as they walked._

“Especially because you made all the secret entrances.” Roy said dryly.

 

_Then he turned serious. "I never got a chance to thank you for saving my mother's life." He said. Roy stopped and looked back at Oliver. "Thea told me. She said that you were very brave."_

_"I did what anyone would have done." Roy said awkwardly._

_"Not anyone." Oliver admitted. "It takes a lot to run towards danger, not away from it."_

“He’s right Roy. That wasn’t nothing. It was bravery, it was selflessness, you should be very proud of yourself.” Dinah told Roy who looked uncomfortable with the attention.

 

_Roy paused again and looked back. "That sounded like praise." He noted. "I thought where I was concerned, you didn't approve."_

_Oliver smiled. "Thea said that you also got hit by some falling debris." He continued. "How are you feeling?"_

_"Actually, it mostly missed me." He lied. "I'm fine. Look, I got to get back to work." He said hurriedly, moving quickly back into the club. Oliver watched him go, worried._

“You’re a terrible liar.” Thea told Roy.

 

_The scene shifted to the Lair, where Felicity had pulled up the clubs surveillance cams on her monitors to watch Roy._

_"Has Roy mentioned anything about the man in the skull mask who injected him?" she asked._

_Oliver sighed. "Roy is not the kind of guy who is comfortable discussing his feelings."_

_"Not like you and me." Diggle noted. Oliver glanced over at Dig, who wagged his eyebrows._

“Speaking from experience.” Laurel said dryly as Tommy snickered.

 

_"Don't yell at me, but I really think we need a new plan on how to find this creepy mask guy." Felicity noted. "Scaring the crap out of low-lifes isn't yielding results."_

_"Felicity, I am open to any and all suggestions." Oliver said, frustrated._

_"Oliver, maybe we're over thinking this." Dig said. "What if the mask simply got wind that you were after him and decided to skip town?"_

_"He didn't go to all the trouble of recreating the serum and testing it on people just to walk away." Oliver argued. "He is still out there, and we need to locate him."_

“Ironic how he’s searching for a man who’s right in front of his eyes.”  Tommy said dryly.

 

_Suddenly the Arrow's phone rang. Felicity reached down and grabbed it out of habit. She looked at the screen, and then handed it over to Oliver. "Lance, for the Arrow." She said._

_Oliver took the phone. "Yes, Detective?"_

_"Can we meet?" Lance asked from the SCPD._

_"What is it?"_

_Lance looked up at his daughter disapprovingly. "Someone wants to talk to you."_

“And now hell has frozen over.” Roy quipped.

 

“I’d be offended if it wasn’t justified.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_The scene changed to later that night. Laurel stood on a roof, watching the train go by as she waited for the vigilante to show up. Several minutes after the appointed time had passed; she finally heard the familiar sound of the voice changer behind her._

_"Hello, Laurel." The Arrow said._

_"You're late." Laurel said, annoyed as she turned to face the Emerald Archer._

_"I had to circle around to make sure there wasn't a SWAT team waiting for me again." The Arrow shot back._

“Burn.” Thea said as Dinah and Laurel winced as one.

 

_"That's fair." She said. "Trust me, I wouldn't have asked my father to put me in touch with you if I had any other choice."_

_"What do you need?" he asked._

_"Sebastian Blood." Laurel said without further preamble. "He's about to be the new mayor of Starling City."_

_"I know who he is." The Arrow said._

_"No, you don't." she shot back. "No one does." She walked towards the vigilante, holding out a file. "A few weeks ago, I was approached by your groupie, Roy Harper, and his girlfriend." Oliver took the file and continued to walk past her, careful to keep his face hidden. The mask might work on her father, but he had doubts about it working on someone who had known him so intimately. "They asked me to investigate the death of Max Stanton."_

_Oliver froze, remembering the death in question. "You think Blood was involved in Stanton's death?" he asked._

_"Blood, or a man that works for him named Cyrus Gold." She explained. Oliver looked at the picture in the file, and sure enough it was the same man who had nearly killed him. "Gold killed four cops, including my father's partner, Lucas Hilton." Laurel continued. "Blood and Gold knew each other from the orphanage that Blood was raised at. He would do anything to keep the truth about his past hidden. Including murdering his own mother."_

_"Why would he do that?" Oliver demanded._

_"To cover up the fact that he killed his father." Laurel stated. Oliver turned back to her, stunned. "I tried going to the DA. No one will believe me. I swear to you, Sebastian Blood is dangerous. And you're the only person in this city who can stop him." She pleaded._

“Well, this should be interesting.” Diggle muttered.

 

“What should?” Laurel asked confused.

 

“Well, because of the way he feels about you, Oliver is more willing to give the benefit of the doubt, even if what you say sounds insane. It should be interesting to see how he handles this, especially if Blood can somehow cast doubt on your credibility.” Diggle noted.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated the next day. Oliver, Felicity and Diggle sat in the conference room while Felicity collated all the information she had gathered._

_"Laurel was right." She announced. "I hacked Blood's cell phone records. The alderman and Gold have stayed buddies since Zandia orphanage."_

_"So what? They kept in touch." Diggle argued. "Doesn't exactly mean that Sebastian Blood is the man in the skull mask."_

_"His last name is Blood. That can't be a good sign." She noted._

“Um, I don’t think someone’s last name should mean they’re bad.” Laurel pointed out.

 

“Yeah, I would love to see that hold up in court.” Dinah said amused.

 

_"Felicity, he's dedicated his life, risked his life to help the people of the Glades. And in his spare time, he's a murderer trying to create an army of human weapons?" he tried, point out how ridiculous it sounded._

“When you say it like that, it does sound pretty crazy.” Tommy mused.

 

_"You're a personal bodyguard who fights crime at night with his billionaire boss." She countered. "Not a lot of people show their real face in public."_

“You know, she actually has a good point.” Thea said surprised.

 

_Diggle nodded, and then turned back to Oliver. "Oliver, what are you thinking?"_

_"Laurel gave me a case number to start with." He said, rising from his chair. "We need to know if Sebastian really killed his father, then we figure out if there's a chance he has the Mirakuru formula."_

_"I'm on it." Felicity said._

_"And what if this is just another trap, set by Laurel?" Diggle asked. "She could be setting you up, and this time, you wouldn't have Sara to save you." He pointed out._

“That is also a very good point.” Tommy noted.

 

“I’d be offended if you didn’t have reason to believe that.” Laurel sighed and Diggle nodded.

 

“Still, with what’s at state, that’s a risk Oliver has to take.” Roy pointed out.

 

_. Oliver nodded, but had no answer._

_The scene changed to the Glades down by the tracks. Roy was pacing by a low concrete wall when Sin walked up._

_"Asking a cute girl to meet you down by the tracks, Harper? Good thing Thea and I are tight." She joked._

_"I have to show you something." Roy said seriously._

_Sin baked off, holding up her hands. "Easy there, tiger." She said with a grin._

_Roy walked up to a short concrete pillar and punched it. His fist burst through the solid concrete like it was sand._

“Whoa.” Thea said stunned as Roy stared at the screen in shock.

 

“Seeing is believing, huh?” Dinah asked and Roy nodded.

 

“You know, if it weren’t for the nasty side effects, the Mirakuru could’ve been something great for our country to defend itself against threats.” Diggle mused.

 

“If only.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Sin's grin fell of her face immediately. She reached out and grabbed his hand, examining it. "You're not even bleeding!" she exclaimed. "When did you start juicing?"_

_"I'm not." He said._

_"Then how do you explain what I just saw?"_

_Roy started walking, lightly grabbing Sin by the shoulder and pulling her along with him. "You remember that night around Christmas when I went missing?" he asked._

_"Yeah, Thea and I were pissed." She replied._

_"I never told you guys what really happened." He began. "You were right about your friend Max. He didn't OD, he was murdered. He was injected with something, and I was injected with the same thing, but it didn't kill me. It made me- it made me stronger."_

“Well, at least you’re talking to someone.” Thea sighed.

 

_Thea must be freaking." Sin noted._

_"No, she doesn't know, I don't want her to."_

_Sin stopped walking. "Why not?" she demanded._

_"No, I can't, not yet." Roy said. "Not until I know more about what happened to me. I don't want to scare her."_

_Sin looked at him incredulously. "And you're not worried about scaring me?"_

_Roy rolled his eyes. "Come on, I was going crazy not telling someone." He begged._

_Sin sighed. "So what are you going to do?"_

_Roy thought for a moment. "Well, the Arrow once told me all I was good for was taking a beating." He said, a small smirk forming on his face. "Maybe it's time I started handing out a few of my own."_

_"I don't follow." Sin said, confused._

_"Now I don't need his help to protect this city." Roy clarified. "Let's find us a bad guy."_

“Let’s all get on board he bad idea train, all aboard.” Tommy said sarcastically  As Roy winced, knowing he was right.

 

“In Roy’s defense, he had the Mirakuru in his system, he wasn’t exactly thinking clearly.” Dinah said.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated later that night. Oliver was returning to his office from a meeting when Felicity met up with him._

_"I have good news and bad news." She said. "I suggest the good news first; it tends to soften the blow of the bad news." Oliver just gave her a look. "Okay, dealer's choice." She said, moving back towards her desk which Diggle was leaning against. "Good news is we found the case file on Sebastian's dad's murder." She said, sitting down behind her computer._

_"Anything in it to suggest he killed him?" Oliver asked._

_Felicity sighed. "Oliver, meet bad news."_

_"That file was sealed years ago." Dig said._

_"And since the file is over 27 years old, there is no digital copy for me to hack." She told him. "The only hard copy is stored the old-fashioned way in the city archives."_

“Damn.” Tommy said.

 

_"So I go in and take it- the old fashioned way." Oliver said simply._

_"Except security in the file room is so old school, you need a key card to get in, which, even if you had, you wouldn't know where to start looking for the file." Felicity pointed out._

_Oliver thought about it for a moment. "An assistant DA would." He said._

“Our first date night. Good times.” Dinah said wistfully.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Laurel stood in her bedroom, staring at herself in the mirror. She absently noted her appearance- her face was thinning, her eyes looked listless, her hair was limp._

_She looked defeated._

“Do me one favor Laurel,” Dinah sighed as she stared at her on screen self in shock, “don’t make my mistakes. We are our father’s daughter. We have the best of him in us, but we also have some of his worst qualities. Alcohol is one of them, don’t be like me.”

 

“Okay.” Laurel said weakly as Thea took her hand, hoping to offer comfort.

 

_She reached towards her purse, ignoring the slight tremor in her hand, and dug into it, withdrawing the pill bottle. She quickly opened the bottle and shook an Oxy out, downing it just as she heard the window in the next room opening. Startled, she quickly put the bottle back into her purse and walked out into the living room, where The Arrow stood in darkness._

_"You said you needed my help." He said through the voice changer. "Now I need yours."_

_"What do you need?" she asked._

_"You." He said. Without hesitation, she grabbed her coat and walked to the door, The Arrow following behind her. They passed a picture of the Lance sisters as they left the apartment._

_Five years ago-_

_Sara lay on the deck of the plane, wrapped in a blanket, staring at the small fire she and Oliver had built as Oliver lay in his makeshift hammock near the door._

_"You know what I really miss about being home?" she asked rhetorically. "My bed."_

_Oliver chuckled. "I don't know if I even remember what a bed feels like anymore."_

“Yeah, a bad is one of the hardest things to adjust to. It’s so soft, you feel like you’re gonna fall through it.”

 

_"And you probably never will." Sara said morosely. "And neither will I."_

_"Sara…" Oliver rose from the hammock and moved to the fire. "You don't have to do that. We're going to find a way off the island." He told her. "Ok? You just-you just have to trust me."_

_"Last time I trusted you was right before the 'Gambit' went down." Sara reminded him._

_Oliver winced. "I haven't gotten a chance to say this," he said. "I'm sorry. I know this is my fault. And none of this would have happened if I hadn't invited you on the boat with me."_

“This wasn’t his fault.” Thea said firmly, stating at Laurel daringly until the older woman nodded in agreement.

_"That's not exactly true. I mean I was the one who said yes." Sara conceded. "And it was only half because of your charm."_

_"And the other half?" he asked._

_Sara grinned in memory. "Do you remember when you spilled that beer on me at Tommy's party?"_

_"No." he replied honestly. "But I never left one of Tommy's parties with my memory intact."_

_"Well, I wasn't even supposed to go." Sara began. "But I snuck out of the house because I knew you were going to be there. And I had this-" she laughed lightly. "I had this embarrassing crush on you. And Laurel, she knew it." She frowned. "And that's why the party got broken up by the cops. She tipped off our dad. Then I was grounded for a month, and the next thing I knew," she sighed. "You and Laurel were together."_

_"You think she did all that on purpose?" Oliver asked, not believing ._

Laurel winced in shame as everyone looked at her shock.

 

“Yes,” Laurel said, seeing the unanswered question in their eyes, “I did do that. She wasn’t the only one who liked him. Sara told me what she was doing, so I freaked out and told dad. I’m not proud of it.”

 

“We’ve all done things we’re not proud of in the past.” Diggle shrugged and everyone else seemed to shrug it off as they turned back to the recording.

 

_"Not everybody's what they seem." Sara reminded him. They sat in silence for a few moments. "We should get some sleep." She finally said, laying back down._

_A few hours later, after the fire had been reduces to smoldering ash, Oliver lay asleep. A pair of boots walked over to him silently; a hand bent down and grabbed the radio. Sara made her way out of the plane, pausing only once to look back at Oliver._

“Please tell me she’s not about to do what I think she is?” Laurel groaned.

 

“Would you like the truth or a lie?” Dinah asked and the other all groaned.

 

_Present-_

_Oliver led Laurel to the roof of the Department of Records. He quickly drew and fired an explosive arrow at the access hatch, blowing the lock._

_"You ready for this?" he asked her as he lifted the lid._

_"Whatever it takes." Laurel said firmly._

_The Arrow nodded, and then activated his com-link. "We're going in."_

_"At least the security cameras are from this century." Felicity said from her seat in the Lair. A few keystrokes later, she said "And now they're toast." As the cameras all shut off. "You have exactly seven minutes until the system reboots." She informed the vigilante._

“Then we really need to move fast.” Laurel frowned.

 

_Down in the lobby, two guards sat fighting off boredom. One looked up from his crossword puzzle to see the monitors greyed out._

“This is the best our city has to offer?” Roy asked skeptically.

 

“Not even close.” Dinah said disgusted by the lack of security.

 

_Inside the main hall, Laurel used her access card to swipe into the main records room._

_The two entered and room and froze. Before them were rows and rows of shelves, all with hundreds of file boxes on them._

“Why can’t anything ever be simple?” Thea groaned.

 

“Because that’s not the way the game is played.

 

_This could take a while." She said._

_"You have six minutes." He replied. They moved deeper into the room, frantically searching the boxes for the right file number._

_Back in the lobby, the guard was actually managing to undo the damage Felicity had done in record time. "I'm rebooting the monitors." He said._

_"There's a Trojan plugging our system." His partner replied, watching as the security grid rebooted._

_"It's probably some punk." The first said as the cameras turned back on._

“Considering Felicity’s past, not entirely inaccurate.” Dinah shrugged as Tommy, Thea, and Roy snickered.

 

_Back in the Lair, Felicity's eyes widened in surprise. "Uh-oh." She hit the com switch. "Oliver."_

_"What's wrong?" he asked._

_'It looks we've got the one rent-a-cop with a brain here. If there's a camera nearby, I recommend hiding.'_

_Oliver, remembering the camera he had just past, ducked around a corner. But not before the camera came on._

_"Look there." The guard said in the lobby as he saw a shape move around the edge of a row of shelves. He picked up his phone. "You got to send some officers here." He said when the SCPD picked up._

“And now we’re dead.” Laurel groaned.

 

“Do I look like I went to prison to you?” Dinah raised an eyebrow.

 

_'Starling's finest will be there any minute.' Felicity told him over the line. 'You need to get out of there now.'_

_"We're not leaving without the file." The Arrow said in determination. He rounded a corner and saw Laurel digging through a box on the floor. "Laurel." He said urgently._

_"I can't find it!" she exclaimed, running back up the ladder to grab another box._

_In the lobby, the guard let the SWAT team in. "Up there, third floor." He told them._

_"Hurry, Oliver." Felicity warned urgently, watching the police on her monitors._

_As The Arrow moved into a better position, Laurel was frantically digging through another box. "Wait!" she exclaimed, double checking against her notes. "Case number SC43878! This is it!" she yanked the file free just as the SWAT team burst into the room._

“It really doesn’t matter if you both get arrested.” Tommy pointed out, worried for his two best friends.

 

_"Vigilante, we know you're here!" the commander yelled as his men filed into the room. "Close everything off, now!"_

_"They're blocking our only way out!" Laurel said as The Arrow led her away from the cops. He found this entire situation now highly ironic._

_"It's not our only way." He said. "Get to the east wall and wait for me." Laurel moved off, and the Arrow rounded a set of shelves, coming into view of a group of officers._

_"Drop your weapon!" one of the cops ordered. Instead, Oliver drew and fired a flash bang arrow that stunned the officers. He took off at a run, trying to stay ahead of the fire from another officer as the bullets tore into files and shelves right behind him. He rounded a corner and fired another arrow, shattering the window on the east wall right next to where Laurel was waiting. As the fire drew closer, she backed herself up against the shelf for cover as the Vigilante ran towards her. Just before he reached the window he grabbed her around the waist and jumped, pulling her out with him. He hooked his bow to the line he had shot out and slid down it, landing gently with his passenger._

“Thank god.” Tommy said as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, no one noticing Dinah’s grim expression.

 

_The immediate danger past, Laurel ripped open the file-_

_Only to find it empty._

“What the hell?!” Laurel shouted.

 

“Did you really think Slade would just leave evidence of something that could ruin his plan lying around?” Dinah asked grimly.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair later that night. "We tried going through all the security footage at the city archives to see if anyone swiped the file over the last few days." Felicity was telling Oliver, pulling up the video files._

_"Did you see anyone?" he asked._

_"Just this." She said, playing a particular file. The video showed the main room empty, but after a few seconds the view started to break up before going to static. "It's all been erased."_

“Damn.” Diggle swore.

 

_"So what happened when you reversed the footprint to see who hacked in before you?" Oliver asked._

_"I struck out again." She admitted. "It must have been an inside job."_

_"Meaning?"_

_"As a city alderman, Blood would have had access to the files." Felicity noted._

_"Oliver, anyone on city payroll could have done this." Diggle pointed out._

_"He's running for mayor." Oliver said. "One hint that he killed his father and his political future is dead in the water."_

“Yeah, the evidence is really piling up against Blood.” Thea said with a smirk.

 

“Circumstantial evidence. Not enough to get an arrest warrant.” Laurel pointed out sullenly.

 

_"Wait, I thought you two were supposed to be friends." Diggle said. "Don't you think you ought to give him the benefit of the doubt?"_

_Oliver looked to Felicity. "Please keep digging into Blood's past and see if there's anything that could help us." He said, turning to leave._

_"Where you going?" Diggle asked._

_"To give a friend the benefit of the doubt." Oliver replied as he walked out._

_The scene changed to the club upstairs. Roy was walking down from the second floor as Thea was walking up, stubbornly ignoring him._

_"What, are you still giving me the cold shoulder?" Roy asked._

_Thea sighed. "Are you still not telling me what the hell is going on with you?"_

_"Am I interrupting?" they both looked down to see Sin standing there._

_"He and I would actually have to be talking for you to be interrupting." Thea noted snarkily._

“Burn.” Tommy said gleefully as Roy shifted while Thea simply glared at her brother.

 

“Try not to sound so happy about it.” Thea snapped and he shrugged.

 

“No promises.” Tommy said unashamed.

 

_"Can I try?" Sin asked._

_"Be my guest." Thea said wearily, walking up the stairs. Roy headed down to Sin._

_"Tell her." She urged him._

_Roy shook his head. "No. Now what do you got for me?"_

_"This guy in the Glades, the Starling Slasher." Sin started, waving a newspaper at him. "Word on the street is, he's got a thing for prostitutes. And by thing, I mean he has a thing for slicing them up. Mostly hunts in Crescent Circle."_

“Bastard.” Tommy snarled, his good mood evaporating.

 

“That’s one word for him. I think monster is preferable.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"Sounds like a great guy." Roy noted sourly._

_"Hmm, yeah. Problem is, he's some big shot lawyer, so no one has the sack to ID him." Sin said._

_"Wait, this sounds exactly like someone the Arrow would go after." Roy said._

_"But we don't need the Arrow anymore." Sin reminded him._

“Bad idea, very bad idea.” Tommy told Roy, who sighed.

 

“I know, alright? But this has already happened.” Roy reminded him.

 

“Doesn’t make it any better.” Tommy shrugged.

 

_"We're going to have to bait him." Sin stated. "What pro is going to let us dangle her in front of a psycho?" Roy thought for a moment, and then looked at her in realization. Sin realized what he was thinking as well. "No." she said firmly. No, no way—"_

“Your idea just went from bad to terrible.” Tommy told Roy.

 

“You are so lucky Sara wasn’t there, she would have killed you just for suggesting it.” Dinah said and Roy paled.

 

_"Thea." Roy called over her shoulder to his slightly estranged girlfriend, who had made her way back down to the bar. "Um, Sin has a date." He lied as Sin stopped talking. "She has hoping to borrow an outfit. You know, something slutty." Sin glared at him._

“Why you little-” Thea glared at her laughing boyfriend.

 

_"I have the perfect first date outfit." Thea said with a smile. "Guarantees a second one."_

Roy’s laughter grew louder as Thea groaned and Tommy scowled.

 

_"Great." Sin said unenthusiastically._

_"This guy won't know what hit him." Thea said, then paused. "Or girl." She added hastily. "Whatever you're into. I could do your make-up or your hair." She started, trying to dig herself out of the hole._

_"You are not touching the hair, Queen." Sin said firmly._

_"Ok." Thea said, leading her off. Sin looked back and glared at Roy fiercely. He just shook his head and rolled his eyes. It was a good plan, he thought. What could go wrong?_

“How did Arsenal survive this long?” Laurel wondered.

 

“Ollie took him under his wing not long after this.” Dinah explained.

 

“Well that explains it.” Diggle muttered.

 

“I’d be insulted, but this recording speaks for you.” Roy shrugged.

 

_The scene changed to Blood's campaign office. Oliver walked in and looked at all of the bustling people around him, working hard to make Sebastian Blood mayor. 'God, I hope she's wrong.' Oliver thought silently to himself._

_"You looking for me?"_

_Oliver turned, then extended his hand with a smile. "Sebastian." He said, shaking the mayoral candidates hand. "Good to see you."_

_"You too, man." Blood said with a smile. Then he was on the moved, handing some papers to a staffer to look over. "Listen, I'm so sorry, but I'm right in the middle of a polling snafu."_

_"I'll be quick." Oliver promised. "I just had a question about Laurel."_

_"Of course. Is everything ok?" Blood asked in concern._

_"Not sure." Oliver began. "I ran into her the other day, and something just seemed off. I know the two of you have been spending a lot of time together," he sighed. "I just wanted to know if you knew anything."_

_Blood shook his head. "Well, we've traded phone calls, but she's in trial, I've been campaigning." He said. "We haven't really been able to connect."_

_"Nothing happened between the two of you?" he asked, stepping in front of him as he started to leave his office. "Not an argument or a fight or something?"_

_Blood backed off slightly with a sly smile. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were coming to me like a jealous ex-boyfriend." He teased._

_"No." Olive said, shaking his head with a smile. "Just-no, I'm just looking out for a friend. And I hope you do the same." He added._

_"Of course." Blood said. "Listen, I will take care of Laurel." He promised. "Thank you for letting me know." He said, finally stepping out of his office and back to the bustle of the main room as Oliver watched on, contemplating._

“Paint a target on my back, why don’t you.” Laurel grumbled.

 

“You just couldn’t let him be suspicious, could you? You had to endanger Laurel with your logic.” Tommy glared at Diggle.

 

“Hey, I haven’t done this.” Diggle said defensively.

 

_The scene changed to the seedier side of the Glades later that night, as Sin walked the street unsteadily in high heels. She was dressed appropriately slutty for the mission in a short skirt, a revealing top slightly covered by a thin leather jacket and choker._

_Thea had also styled her hair, much to her internal disgust. She was silently cursing Roy when a car pulled up next to her. Sin leaned down into the window, letting the John have a look._

_"You're new." He said._

_Sin shrugged. "Got to start somewhere, right?" she said._

_"Get in."_

_The john drove them into a parking garage. As he pulled to a stop, Sin looked around, her arms crossed._

_"Romantic." She said sarcastically._

_"You're pretty." He said._

_"You're disgusting." She replied, still looking out the window. Where the hell was Roy?_

_"I see you'd like to play rough." He said, pulling out a wicked looking dagger. He stared at it with a sadistic smile- a plain wooden handle and a blade that corkscrewed at the bottom before flattening out into a double-notched tip. Sin glanced back at the lawyer, then spotting the knife, paled. She lunged for her door as he lunged for her-_

_Then suddenly the driver's side door was ripped off the car as Roy arrived. He yanked the man out of the car, throwing him several feet across the lot. Roy stalked up to him, the anger visible on his face._

“About time you showed up.” Thea told Roy, who shrugged.

 

“I showed p, didn’t I?” Roy said nonchalantly.

 

_"Keep it." Roy said, kicking him hard in the ribs. The lawyer flew over his car- cracking his windshield on the way- over the roof of the car and into a support pillar behind it, cracking a water pipe in the process. He crashed down to the ground as Roy stalked back to him and began kicking him repeatedly as water poured down over them._

“And that is why this was a bad idea. People injected with Mirakuru have no impulse control and quickly give into the rage that comes with Mirakuru.” Dinah told the horrified Roy.

 

_Sin got out of the car, and was shocked by the brutality Roy was displaying. Even Sara hadn't been this harsh! "Roy, Roy!" she exclaimed, running over and trying to pull him off of the guy. "Stop it, you're killing him!" Roy snarled and whipped his elbow back, striking Sin hard and sending her flying to the ground._

“Damn man!” Tommy said alarmed as Roy sat up straighter, concerned.

 

_The act seemed to snap Roy out of his rage as he looked at his friend lying on the ground, groaning. "Oh!" he exclaimed, running over to her. "Sin? Sin, I'm sorry."_

_Sin glanced at Roy. She hadn't been this terrified since right before The Canary had rescued her months ago. She looked past Roy, focusing on the john. "We have to call an ambulance." She said shakily, staring at the limp, unmoving body across the way._

“What did I do?” Roy moaned as he put his face in his hands.

 

“It wasn’t you Roy, it was the Mirakuru.” Dinah told him but this did little to ease Roy’s guilt.

 

_The scene changed to Bloods campaign office. The office was empty, and Blood was laying out work for the next day before a voice drew him to his office._

_"Point blank range." Slade Wilson said, sitting behind Blood's desk and reading the police file he had liberated shortly before Laurel had tried to do the same thing. "Single shot to the heart from a low angle. Obviously the handiwork of someone quite scared, and very small." He set the file down on the desk, and Blood looked down at the picture of his father that had been paper clipped to it. "How come the police didn't arrest you?" Slade asked._

_"I knew how to cover my tracks." Blood replied._

“Bastard.” Tommy sneered.

 

_"A skill you've obviously lost since you've gotten bigger." Slade noted scornfully. "You know how close you came to allowing the Vigilante to destroy everything?"_

_"Someone spoke out of turn." Blood said. "I've taken care of the problem."_

_Slade slammed his hand down on the desk as he rose. He moved quickly around the desk, buttoning his suit jacket. "Your mother was not our problem. Laurel Lance is."_

_"You were the one who told me to get close to her." Blood complained. "You said that it was part of the plan to hurt the Vigilante."_

_"It is." Slade said, stepping very close to Blood. "But you being sloppy isn't. Fix this, Mr. Blood." He grasped his tie and yanked it up, choking the politician. "You don't want me to fix it for you." He warned as he moved him out of his way._

“How does it feel getting chewed out by the boss Blood?” Roy said dryly, though everyone noticed it was a halfhearted attempt.

 

“I’m actually glad Sabastian handled this instead of Slade, otherwise I probably wouldn’t be here.” Dinah mused and everyone paled.

 

_Even before Slade was out of the office, Blood was scrambling for his phone. He quickly dialed one of his followers. "Brother Daily." He said shakily. "I need you to take care of something for me."_

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Laurel was walking down the hall, digging her keys out of her purse when she stopped at her door. Laurel opened the door to see her apartment was trashed. She walked in, stunned at the destruction all around her, when she heard a noise. "Whoever you are, I'm calling the police!" she called out shakily._

_"No need to." Daily stepped into view in her living room. "Remember me?"_

_"Officer Daily, right?" Laurel said, stunned. She moved towards him, her arms crossed. "What's this all about? What are you doing in my apartment." She demanded._

_"I have a warrant." Daily said, holding up the paper for her to see. Two other officers came into view._

_"A warrant for what?" she asked._

_"We found these in your bedroom, Ms. Lance." One of the officers said, holding up a plastic evidence bag that contained Quentin Lance's oxycodone prescription._

_"These aren't prescribed to you." Daily said as the third officer cuffed her. "That's a felony."_

“And now you’ve lost all credibility.” Diggle noted as Laurel stared, horrified.

 

_"What?!" Laurel exclaimed. "This is ridiculous!"_

_"You're under arrest for possession of a controlled substance." Daily said as the three officers led her out of the apartment. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."_

_The scene changed to the SCPD headquarters. Laurel sat in the darkened interrogation room, her hand still cuffed. She sniffled and fidgeted, jonsing for a pill, when Quentin walked in. "I know what this looks like. But you have to listen to me." She started, rising from the chair and scurrying towards her father. "I know what's happening. Sebastian Blood… he's setting me up, because he knows I'm onto him. He's-he's trying to frame me!" she exclaimed desperately._

_"So he planted drugs in your apartment?" Quentin asked. He started walking around the table, trying to maintain control._

_"But-no, no! Forget about the drugs." Laurel said, following him. "The point is, is that he is the one behind this witch hunt."_

_"Sebastian called your boss." Quentin told her. "He's worried about you."_

_"No, no! He wasn't worried about me." She said frantically. "He's trying to discredit me! Don't you see what he's doing?"_

“He didn’t have to discredit me; all he had to do was expose my addiction.” Dinah sighed as Laurel groaned.

 

_"What I see is that you have tested positive for opiates. I see that you have been lying to me, and I see that you have been stealing from me!" he exclaimed, slamming the evidence bag down onto the table. Laurel stared at it fearfully._

_"I can explain that." She tried._

_"Every person that stands where you're standing now says the same thing." Quentin said._

_"Dad—"_

_"The DUI, the paranoia about Blood, you're looking like hell." Quentin said, listing the more obvious things as Laurel started to cry. "You got a problem, Laurel."_

_"No." she whispered._

_"It's addiction." He said quietly. "It runs in the family. You can't pin it on Sebastian Blood."_

_"Daddy, please, you have to believe me! Please! Please." She begged._

_He looked at her sadly. "I don't, baby." He said finally. He turned and left the room._

“Even dad didn’t believe me.” Laurel sighed sadly.

 

“Can you blame him?” Dinah asked.

 

“No, not really. Like John said, our credibility was completely shot.” Laurel admitted.

 

“All according to Blood’s plan.” Tommy spat.

 

_Laurel, sobbing, ran to the door and pounded on the glass. "No! No!" she cried, her cuffed hands coming to a rest on the cool glass._

_In the squad room, a devastated Quentin rounded a corner to see Oliver standing there, leaning against the wall._

_"How is she?" Oliver asked._

_"I don't know. I don't know anything anymore." Quentin replied helplessly. He started to walk off, but Oliver laid a hesitant hand on his shoulder._

_"I'll-I'll get her home." He told the cop._

_"Thanks." Quentin said, walking off. Oliver looked up to see Laurel being led to central booking. She stared back at him tearfully._

“How the mighty have fallen.” Laurel sighed.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Sara walked into the forest before activating the radio. "Anthony? Are you there?" she asked. There was a few moments of static before Ivo replied._

_**I'm here, Sara. I was hoping that you would reach out to me.** he said. **Are you alone? **_

_"Yes." She replied. She heard a sigh._

_**Are you all right? You're not hurt, are you? **_

_"Do you even care? You were going to shoot me." She stated._

_On the freighter, Ivo sat back on the table. "No. No, Sara. I swear, you were never in danger, I swear." He told her._

_"So it's ok because you were just planning on murdering Shado?" she asked._

_Ivo was silent for a moment. "Her name was Shado." He asked._

_"Yes. And you killed her, Anthony." Sara said._

_"And I'm going to have to live with that for the rest of my life." Ivo replied._

“Start counting you bastard, I doubt you’ll live much longer.” Roy sneered.

 

_He looked around the radio room wearily. "I never set out to hurt anyone." He said. "I started this quest to save people; to save the human race."_

_"I know." Sara replied._

_"Sara. I know you think that this ship rescued you when you were stranded at sea." Ivo began. "The truth is… you rescued me. But now the darkness, it's threatening me again."_

_On the island, Sara looked out into the forest, torn. ** I need you, Sara. Please. Save me. **_

“Don’t tell me she actually believes him.” Laurel said fearfully.

 

“Just watch.” Dinah said simply.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to Glades Memorial. The lawyer was hooked up to life support, being fed oxygen through a tube as the doctors examined him. Outside the room Roy and Sin- who had changed back into her street clothes and was sporting a rather impressive bruise on her cheek- were looking in. The doctor finally came out and Roy approached him._

_"How's he doing?" he asked._

_"The damage done to his head and lower abdomen is severe." The doctor said as he walked. "He ruptured his spleen and he has massive swelling in his brain. Thankfully, he got medical attention quickly, so he's got a shot." He paused and smiled at Roy. "You did a good thing here, Roy." He told him before walking off, not noticing the guilt on Roy's face._

“No I didn’t.” Roy said guiltily.

 

Exchanging a look with Dinah, Diggle turned towards Thea and gestured with his head towards Roy. Catching the hint, Thea stood and walked over to them. Diggle gave her his seat and she sat down. Taking his head, Thea smiled at Roy as he looked over at her. Smiling at the scene, Diggle walked over to Tommy and Thea.

 

“Mind if I sit here?” Diggle joked as he took Thea’s seat.

 

“No.” Laurel said with a smile as Tommy scowled over at Thea and Roy.

_"What happened to you out there?" Sin demanded._

_"I don't know." Roy said._

_"We nearly killed this guy." Sin said, panicked._

_"Roy?" The two looked over to see Thea walking towards them. "Are you ok?"_

“No.” Roy deadpanned and Thea squeezed his hand, hoping it offered him comfort.

 

_"What are you doing here?" Roy asked in confusion._

_"Sin called me." Thea said._

_Roy looked at her accusingly. "Why did you do that?" he demanded._

_"Because she was worried about you." Thea said, defending her friend. She looked into the room to see the john on life support. "Who is that guy?"_

_"He was my date." Sin said. "We put him there."_

_"You-you did this?" Thea said, shocked._

_"Just drop it." Roy pleaded. "Please."_

_"Roy, something is happening to you." Thea said in concern. "I'm not judging you. I'm not angry with you. I'm on your side." She placed a hand on his arm. "I just want to help you." She said._

_Roy shook his head and pulled away. "You can't." he said. "I-I got to go."_

_"Roy!" Thea called out as he walked off. Roy rounded the corner then stopped, collapsing down against the wall and silently sobbing. What the hell was happening to him?_

Roy winced, hating for them all to see him like this. Thea leaned her head on his shoulder, silently reminding him she was here for him. Tommy watched suspiciously, wondering what was up with their new closeness.

 

_The scene changed to Laurels apartment. Laurel, now released, and Oliver were quietly trying to clean up the mess Daily had left. Oliver paused as he picked up the picture of Laurel and Sara, now free from its shattered frame._

_"You haven't said much." Laurel said from across the room. "Quietly working on your lecture?"_

_"No lecture." Oliver said._

_"I suppose you think I was wrong about Sebastian, too, though." Laurel said._

_Oliver exhaled wearily as he stood. "I think that you have everyone fooled, because you want people to think that none of this gets to you." He surmised. "And that you don't need anyone's help."_

_"I don't!" she said sharply._

_"Except, I know you!" he replied, equally sharp. "This isn't you." He added quietly._

“He was right. He did know me, better than anyone else.”  Dinah said sadly, thinking of her late husband.

 

_"What happened to no lectures?" Laurel said, desperately trying to hold back her tears. "I just-I need a glass of water." She said. Oliver stood there, not moving. "Do you mind? Please." She asked. Oliver sighed and walked into the kitchen. A moment later he was walking out, when suddenly he was struck on the side of the head with a billy club. He dropped to the floor like a stone, the glass falling from his numb hands and shattering as Brother Blood stepped around his fallen body._

“You bastard.” Tommy sneered.

 

“I think we’ve already established that Blood is a son of a bitch low life.” Laurel said as she glared at the screen.

 

“Truer words never spoken.” Thea said, glaring from her place by Roy.

 

_"Leave him. He's not important." Brother Blood said, looking to the two men he had brought who were restraining Laurel. "Hello, Laurel."_

“Is it murder if you tell someone to mug someone and make sure they don’t survive?” Roy asked.

 

“Conspiracy to commit murder.” Laurel told him.

 

_At the Cannery, Laurel's eyes shot open as she too regained consciousness. She was laying on a cold, concrete floor, and as she pulled herself up and looked around, it appeared to her that she was in a boiler room of some kind._

_She made her way frantically through the boiler room, pausing as she saw Brother Blood walking across from her, separated only by rope netting. "If that mask is supposed to scare me," she started, breathing heavily. "All that it's doing is confirming what I've already known for a while now." She rounded a support column- but Brother Blood was gone. She looked around fearfully. "You're one sick son of a bitch, Sebastian!"_

“That’s putting it lightly.” Tommy said dryly.

 

_"30,000 years ago masks invested their wearer with authority, like a God." The voice of Brother Blood said._

_"You're insane." Laurel said._

_"I'm not the one making drug-addled, unsubstantiated accusations against Starling's favorite son." Brother Blood said from nowhere, everywhere._

“And he thinks talking about himself will convince me that he’s not him? He’s delusional.” Laurel scoffed, not seeing the look on Dinah’s face.

 

_"If I can find out the truth, then others can, too." Laurel said._

_Suddenly Brother Blood was standing right behind her. She swung her elbow back, but the masked man ducked underneath the wild swing and grabbed her in a light choke hold. "You found out nothing. You know nothing." He growled._

“Let go of her you son of a bitch.” Thea snarled as she sat up.

 

“I know a few guys, might tell them who to mug next.” Roy mused.

 

“I don’t think you need to,” Laurel said and they looked at her confused, “Slade won’t be there to stop me when we go back to find the proof about Blood’s father. We can stop him before it comes to this.”

 

“That’s a good idea.” Dinah mused.

 

“It’s a great idea.” Thea grinned.

 

_Suddenly and arrow shot past his masked face, embedding itself in a pipe. "Get away from her!" The Arrow demanded from the catwalk above. "Or I will put…you…DOWN."_

_"And to think, a few short months ago, you were trying to arrest him." Brother Blood said to Laurel wryly._

“That is pretty ironic.” Laurel mused.

 

_"You wanted me here. I'm here." The Arrow growled. "Let. Her. Go."_

_Brother Blood threw Laurel to the ground and pulled a gun. "No, I think she should witness this." He moved to aim up at the catwalk, but another arrow knocked the weapon from his hand. Then the Arrow was there, beating the masked man down with fists and feet, contemptuously ducking or blocking every shot Brother Blood took. Oliver pushed him down a long narrow hall, leaping off the wall to double the man over with a punch. He landed, looked to make sure Laurel was alright, and then swung his bow backwards in a wide arc to take the masked man out-_

_But he was gone._

_Growling in frustration, The Arrow took off at a light jog, looking around the boiler room for any sign of the man. His back was turned when Brother Blood leapt out of the shadows, landing on the vigilante and knocking him to the ground. Brother blood grabbed his right arm in a reverse arm bar and pulled back hard. Oliver grimaced as he heard his bones creaking, the using his left hand he grabbed and arrow from his quiver and jammed it into Brother Blood's leg. The masked man groaned in pain as The Arrow threw him off. Brother Blood withdrew his backup piece from an ankle holster and drew on The Arrow. The Vigilante rose an instant later, his bow in his hand, and had just enough time to see the victory in Brother Bloods eyes when suddenly a shot rang out. Brother Blood jerked as Laurel came up behind him, his first gun in her hand, and fired again and again. Six shots left Brother Blood laying on the ground gasping for breath._

“Finally, he’s dead!” Thea cheered along with the other time travelers.

 

“Don’t celebrate just yet.” Dinah’s grim voice stopped the celebration.

 

_The Arrow and Laurel walked up to the fallen criminal. "Take off his mask." Laurel demanded. "I need to see."_

_Oliver stood frozen for a minute, wondering if Laurel was about to be proven right after all. Slowly he knelt down and removed the leather mask, and Laurels look of satisfaction turned to shock as the man behind the mask turned out to be not Sebastian Blood, but Officer Daily. He had time to smile in satisfaction at her stunned look before he finally died. Laurel looked up at The Arrow, who stood there stunned as well._

“Damn that bastard is good. He orchestrated all of this so that Daily would dress up as him and be unmasked, throwing suspicion off him.” Diggle realized.

 

 

“You have to admit, he’s pretty smart.” Roy admitted grudgingly.

 

_A short time later Laurel was once again seated in the SCPD. This time, however, she sat in the squad room, a blanket on her shoulders and a cup of coffee in her hands._

_"Sweetheart." She looked up as her father ran in and came to her side. "Are you all right?"_

_"Yeah." She said numbly._

_Quentin exhaled. "Looks like Daily was behind this whole thing." He said. "Son of a bitch volunteered for the raid that got Hilton killed. And we found the accelerant that he used to torch the Langford Institute in his apartment."_

_"I thought it was Sebastian." Laurel said, in shock. "I was so sure."_

_"Yeah. Well, that's the thing about the booze and the pills." Quentin said. "You know, same thing that dulls your pain clouds the judgment."_

_Laurel gave him a sad smile, but allowed herself to be pulled in for a hug._

“He’s not wrong. And things are about to worse for us.” Dinah noted and Laurel tenses, wondering what could be worse.

 

_"Can we have a minute?" the two looked up to see Adam Donner standing there, a serious look on his face._

_"Yeah." Quentin said with a sigh, rising and moving off so the two could talk._

_"Are you here to say, I told you so?' Laurel asked._

_"We're dropping the possession charges and you won't be charged in Daily's shooting." He told her. "It was clearly self-defense."_

_"You don't seem that thrilled for me." She noted._

_"Are you going to look me in the eye and tell me you don't have a substance abuse problem?" he asked her. Her silence was all the answer he needed. "The DA's office has a generous severance package." He told her._

“I’m being fired.” Laurel realized and Dinah nodded.

 

“Looking back, it was probably for the best. I was in no condition to do my job and any cases I won were subject to repeal.” Dinah noted.

 

_"Wait!" Laurel shot to her feet. "Wait, let me explain to DA Spencer. I can-I can tell her everything!"_

_"This isn't coming from Spencer, Laurel." Donner said. "This is me. I'm the one that hired you. I'm sorry." He told her sincerely. "But you're done." He walked off, leaving Laurel devastated and alone once again._

Laurel sighed. She knew it was the right call, but that didn’t make it any easier to see.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair as Oliver walked in wearily. Felicity and Diggle were sitting there, waiting for him._

_"Did Laurel really shoot him?" she asked._

_Oliver sighed. "She saved my life." He said._

_"That's a good thing, Oliver." Felicity told him._

_"You ok?" Dig asked._

_"She really had me believing that Sebastian Blood was a criminal mastermind, and the only reason that I nearly believed her was because it was Laurel." Oliver said. "I do have a blind spot where she's concerned. Not anymore." He said determinedly._

“Doesn’t seem like a blind spot to me,” Roy noted, “seems to me he just gave you the benefit of the doubt.”1

 

_Certainly know how to talk yourself out of a victory." Felicity noted wryly._

_Oliver gave her a small smile. "It's a gift."_

_"Take the win, man." Dig advised. "Daily's dead, you destroyed the serum. It's over."_

_Oliver sighed, looking at the security feed from the club. Upstairs Roy was hard at work in the empty space. "No, it isn't."_

_A short time later Oliver came upstairs, dressed in his civilian clothes. Thea was sitting at the bar doing paperwork while Roy was wheeling a keg to the back. "Hey." He said. "Slow night?" Roy steadfastly ignored him as he walked to the back. "Something I said?" Oliver asked his sister._

_"Don't take it personally." She said. "He won't even make eye contact with me."_

_"Something happen?" Oliver asked._

_"He put someone in the hospital." Thea said. Oliver tensed immediately. "He's a little stingy with the details, but…" she sighed. "You should have seen this guy. I don't understand how any human could have done that to another. Each day, he becomes more and more like somebody I don't even know. He won't even listen to me." She said, near tears._

Roy winced and Thea took his hand.

 

_"I know someone he'll listen to." Oliver said quietly._

_Five years ago-_

_**Sara, are you still there? **_

_"When you first found me, I felt like you were my savior." Sara said. "And letting me into your work, I felt like I was a part of something bigger."_

_"You are, Sara." Ivo assured her._

_"It was only because I didn't want to see what you were really doing." Sara said, her voice firming up with her resolve. "I mean, what you did to those people on the boat, and how you tortured them for science… how I was glad that I wasn't one of them." She paused, taking a breath. "But now I'd rather be dead than keep being a part of this." She told him._

_"You ungrateful bitch." Ivo said after a moment, the mask finally coming off for good. "You think you know what torture is? You have no idea. But I will show you." He promised her. "I am going to hunt you down. Both of you, and I will show—"_

_Sara turned off the radio. She stood there for a moment, allowing the silence to soothe her. Then she turned around-_

_To see Oliver standing behind her._

_At once she knew. She knew he had known she would go for the radio to try and reason with Ivo. And he knew that Ivo would more than likely reveal his true self to her._

“He took a big risk.” Diggle noted.

 

“He had faith in Sara and it paid off.” Dinah said simply.

 

_Oliver slowly walked up to her, and she handed him back the radio. "Let's go find Slade." She said._

_Present-_

_Sebastian Blood walked into the darkened office of Slade Wilson, flanked by three security guards._

_"It's done." He called out. "They think it was all Daily. He sacrificed himself for our cause."_

_"A good start." Slade's voice called out. Blood paused and fearfully looked around. "But the magnitude of your negligence requires a greater sacrifice."_

_Suddenly Deathstroke was there, in full armor, wielding his sword like a surgeon. He stabbed Blood in the leg, sending the man to the ground, before pulling the sword out and slashing the chest of the first bodyguard. A hard kick sent the second flying across the room where he crashed to the floor, but not before his head hit the back of a chair on the way down. Deathstroke spun and slashed the throat of the third man. The first guard came back, swinging wildly for the fences, but Deathstroke easily ducked under the wild swing and slashed his chest again, sending the man to the ground. He spun back to the third, who was grasping at his throat trying to stem the bleeding, and punched him hard in the throat, killing him._

_Blood was trying to pull himself up when the sword came to rest on the side of his neck._

_"Your incompetence has now cost four lives, alderman." Slade said, pulling off the armored helmet to glare at the man with his one good eye. "Fail me again and yours will be the fifth." He pulled the sword away and Blood collapsed back to the floor. When he looked back up again, Deathstroke was gone._

“He killed those three men…just to make a point?” Diggle asked disgusted.

 

“Slade had no regard for life. All he cared about anymore was destroying Ollie.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene changed to the alley outside Verdant. Roy was finishing up stacking the empty kegs when he heard the distinct sound of an arrow being drawn and fired. Roy looked up to see his red arrow embedded in the telephone pole._

_"If that was supposed to go through my other leg, you missed." Roy said tiredly._

_"You seem to be healing pretty well." The Arrow said, walking down the alley towards the boy._

_Enraged, Roy ran at the vigilante. He swung wildly, but The Arrow expertly dodged out of the way. Roy's third wild punch took out a chunk of bricks on the side of the building, and he staggered back down the alley as the vigilante stood tall. "You're stronger, you heal faster, but you're not in control." He said. "The serum that you were exposed to, it changes your body but it also warps your mind."_

_"How do you know so much about it?" Roy demanded angrily._

_"I've seen it before." The Arrow admitted. Roy turned to look at the vigilante. "It twists men. Turns them into someone they don't recognize. Someone dangerous." He said._

_"Maybe you should put another arrow through me." Roy said. "This time through my heart."_

_"There's another way, Roy." The Arrow said. "I can teach you to control your new ability. And to control yourself. Let me help you." He pleaded quietly._

_Roy looked the Emerald Archer in the eyes. "When do we start?" he asked._

“So that’s how I hooked up with him.” Roy muttered as the screen faded to black.

 

“Yeah. One more and then we go to lunch?” Dinah suggested and everyone nodded, those who had skipped breakfast realizing how hungry they were.

 

Dinah nodded and started the next one.             

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Honestly, I don’t get where this blind spot crap came from. Sure, Oliver was a bit more willing to believe Laurel on stuff then others and sometimes he let his feelings for her influence his actions, but it’s not like he believed her blindly. It’s not like she came to him with this stuff and he said ‘Okay, I’m gonna put an arrow in him now.’ Seems to me Guggenheim just threw that in there to put a nail in the Oliver/Laurel ship.


	46. Tremors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy learns how he first joined the team as Oliver recruits Roy to stop The Bronze Tiger from getting a prototype earthquake machine to a black market arms dealer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably not my best chapter but I hope you enjoy it.

_The memory set opened in Iron Heights as a new prisoner was led into processing. "Got your latest customer." The transport guard said to the two prison guards in the room. "Genius who held up the convenience store across the street from a police precinct."_

_"Not the smartest plan." The first guard said._

_"Come on through." The second said, waving the con through the metal detectors. He walked through, setting them off._

_"Bum knee." He said. "I had it replaced a few years ago."_

Diggle narrowed his eyes. Something about this man felt…off. Like he was hiding something.

 

_The guard picked up the wand. "Well, I guess we'll have to do this old-fashioned-like." He said. "Arms up."_

_A short time later the guard led the con, now dressed in prison greys, to his new home on the cell block. "Got your new bunk mate." He said as he opened the cell. He gently pushed the con into the cell, then closed the cell door. "Play nice." he told the two men before walking off._

_The con stood there in the center of the small cell, looking at the man in the lower bunk. To most people he was known as Bronze Tiger. But a select few knew his real name._

_"Ben Turner?" Ben looked up at the strange man who most definitely DIDN'T know his name._

“The Bronze Tiger.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“Great, this guy again.” Tommy complained.

 

_"Tonight. Midnight. Redwood Drive and Larkspur Avenue." He said._

_"What the hell are you talking about?" Ben asked, confused._

_"Redwood and Larkspur." The con repeated. "The rooftop. Be there."_

_Ben scoffed. "I don't know if you've looked around, but we don't exactly have in and out privileges here."_

_"My son is with his mother." The con said softly. "I won't get to see him, anyway. This way, he's set. I do this, he gets the money."_

_Ben looked at him askance. "Do what?" he asked slowly._

_The con pushed up his right sleeve and started pushing on his arm. A seam seemed to open up along his forearm, and he cried out in pain as a four inch, curved blade slowly forced its way out of his arm._

“Oh my god.” Thea said, looking a little green. As did Tommy and Laurel.

 

“I guess that’s what set off the metal detectors.” Roy mused.

 

_Ben watched in stunned amazement as the man repeated the gesture on his other arm, then his lower abdomen, then cut into his upper chest and withdrew a set of steel knuckles. Ben smiled in amazement as he recognized his gear._

_"What's going on down there?" the guard asked a few minutes later as he ran down to the cell. He skidded to a stop in front of the bars and looked at the con, who was lying face down in a pool of blood. "Crap." He said, quickly opening the cell and kneeling down by the man. He looked over at Ben, who was hunched over on his bed. "What the hell did you do to him?"_

_"I didn't do anything." Ben answered honestly. The guard turned back to the con and felt for a pulse, allowing Bent the opportunity to move behind him and slit his throat using his now reassembled claws. As the guard died, Ben reached down and yanked his keys off of his belt._

“Bastard.” Diggle snarled.

 

_The scene changed to an abandoned warehouse in the Glades, where Oliver had begun his training of Roy the best way he knew how. Roy stood sullenly behind a table, slapping water out of a large bowl as The Arrow paced around the room, lazily swinging a Singapore Cane._

_"Again." The Arrow ordered._

_"You know, I slapped water out of a bowl yesterday." Roy said crossly. "And I slapped water out of a bowl the day before."_

“Yeah, I don’t think Roy even needs this part of the training,” Diggle mused, “Oliver needed it to build up his arm strength. Roy’s arm strength is fine.”

 

“He was trying to teach Arsenal to control his strength, and his anger.” Dinah explained.

 

“Somehow I don’t think it’s going to work.” Roy winced.

 

“It’s like you’re psychic.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_"You must be getting pretty good at it." The vigilante joked._

_"Yeah, well, I can't wait to get attacked by a dog dish." Roy said sarcastically._

_"This is how an archer builds arm strength." Oliver told him._

_"I'm not sure if you've been paying attention, but strength isn't my problem." Roy replied shortly._

_"No, controlling it is." Oliver said archly. "Again."_

_Roy snarled at the vigilante, and then drove his fist down. He punched through the bowl and the table both with ease, and when he withdrew his hand, there wasn't a scratch on it._

“Teaching someone with Mirakuru in their system to control their strength is like trying to drain the Mississippi with a straw.” Dinah said dryly to the stunned viewers.

 

_"And that is how you put a guy in the hospital last week." The Arrow pointed out._

_"How'd you know about that?" Roy demanded, looking at his trembling hand. He quickly shoved it into the pocket of his hoody. "It's none of your business."_

_"You made it my business when you agreed to let me help you." Oliver replied harshly, and then continued in a quieter voice. "I knew someone like you. Someone injected with the Mirakuru. He was my friend." He said painfully. "But it warped his mind to the point where I didn't even recognize him anymore."_

_"Who was this guy?" Roy asked. "How come I've never heard of him? Or that Mirakuru?" Silence. "Is there anything you can tell me about him?" Roy asked in frustration._

_"Yeah. I had to put an arrow through his eye." Oliver said softly._

 “Well that explains Slade’s demented desire put an arrow through my brother’s eye.” Thea said dryly.

 

“Slade had a twisted irony.” Dinah explained.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Oliver and Sara were slowly making their way through the forest, using the motion tracker to find Slade._

_"If I'm reading this right, then Slade is back at the cave." Oliver said, looking at the display as he walked._

_"Well, why would he go back to where the graves are?" Sara wondered._

_"We'll find out when we find him." Oliver said tiredly._

_"And when we do, you can't tell him." Sara reminded him._

_"Tell him what?"_

_"Don't talk to me like I'm other people." Sara said, reaching out and stopping Oliver. "You've got that look on your face. The same one that you had after the first time we kissed. Pure guilt." She told him._

“Well, at least he felt bad about it.” Laurel said dryly.

 

_"Because I am guilty, Sara." Oliver said. "Ivo killed Shado because of me."_

_"But that's not true." Sara protested. "And even if it was, nothing good comes from telling Slade that you think you're responsible for the death of the woman he loved. Love's the most powerful emotion. And that makes it the most dangerous." She reasoned._

“Well, at least she tried to talk some sense into him.” Tommy said optimistically.

 

“Didn’t work though.” Dinah said sadly as she sighed.

 

_Oliver looked at her, annoyed because he knew she was telling the truth and that it was a bad idea to tell Slade. Then the tracker beeped twice and died. Oliver shook it, then slapped it on the side a few times, but got nothing._

_"Great." He sighed in aggravation._

_"You still know how to get to the cave?" Sara asked._

_"Yeah. It's this way." He said, leading her onwards._

_Present-_

_Moira was headed towards the door when she saw something she didn't see very often anymore- Thea, lounging on one of the couches in the den._

_"Thea? What are you doing home?" she asked, stepping into the den. "I thought you were staying at Roy's."_

“My boyfriend is now shaking up with my brother.” Thea deadpanned.

_"Just needed a little 'me' time." She replied, glancing at the nice outfit her mother had on. "What's with the fancy-fancy?"_

_"Oh, I'm- I'm going out to dinner." Moira said nervously. "With Walter." She added._

“Walter.” Thea perked up.

 

“Don’t get too excited Speedy.” Dinah said amused and Thea flushed as everyone else snickered.

 

_Thea perked up. "Like a date?" she asked._

_"Like a dinner." Moira clarified. "Truly, I don't know what the evening holds." She looked at Thea in concern. "Are you all right?" she asked._

_"Yeah. I'm fine." Thea sighed. "Mostly." she added. "Uh… It's Roy. He had some trouble last week, and I don't know how to help him." She confided._

_"Do you want me to stay home?" Moira asked. "I can call Walter and we can reschedule."_

_"Absolutely not." Thea said sternly. "If you and Walter are going to patch things up," she noted her mother's wary look. "No pressure." Thea said with a smile. "But you're going."_

“Way to be subtle.” Roy teased and Thea shrugged unapologetically.

 

“I regret nothing.” She said and Roy laughed.

 

_"It may be nothing." Moira hedged._

_"Only one way to find out." Thea said with a grin._

_The scene shifted to Laurel's apartment. Quentin knocked on the door, and as soon as she opened it he barged right in._

_"No, please, Dad, come right in." Laurel said sarcastically._

_Quentin looked around at the messy apartment in dismay. "Well, I guess you're going for that lived-in look."_

_"Can't afford a housekeeper without a job." She said wryly._

_Lance noted the many empty wine bottles lining the shelves. "Got enough beverage money, I see."_

Dinah winced as shame over her actions filled her. Laurel shifted; horrified to see how far she had fallen in these recordings.

 

_"I'm going to need to crack open another bottle if we're going to fight." Laurel said, sitting back down on her couch and picking up her book._

_"I didn't come here to fight." Quentin said._

_"Then why are you here?" she asked. "Because I'm fine, really. In fact, I have a job interview. At Joanna's new firm." She added._

_"That's good. Good." Quentin said. "But the real reason I came here is—"_

_"Is because you realized that you didn't reach your weekly quota of reminding me of how much I'm ruining my life?" she said sarcastically._

“Man, I was such a bitch.” Laurel said uncomfortably.

 

“You haven’t seen the worst of it, not yet.” Dinah said and Laurel groaned.

 

_"It's 'cause I miss you, Laurel." Quentin said, bringing her up short. He sat down across from her. "For a long time, it was just you and me. Whatever else was going on, no matter how bad either of us was doing, we didn't disappear on each other. Because you're my family. And I miss my family." He sighed. "So how about we have dinner?" he asked. "You and me, tonight."_

_Laurel was silent for a moment. "I already ate." She said finally._

_"Yeah." He sighed. "How about tomorrow night?" he asked hopefully._

_Laurel sighed. "Sure. Dinner tomorrow." She agreed._

_"Thank you." Quentin said before showing himself out._

“Let me guess, dad’s attempting an intervention?” Laurel guessed and Dinah nodded.

 

“Sort of. Didn’t end well.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver was working out on the salmon ladder as Diggle and Felicity watched._

_"How's it going with Roy?" Dig asked._

_"Not well!" he lunged up another notch on the ladder._

_"I don't know the kid all too well, but he seems to be five kinds of angry." Diggle noted._

_"You might be underestimating." Oliver said, rising another rung. "Roy was mad at the world before he was injected with Mirakuru."_

_"You say you've seen this before?" Dig asked._

_"Slade Wilson." Oliver said, lunging up another notch. "He was my friend."_

_"Troubling use of past tense there." Felicity noted._

_"I thought I could help him control it. I was wrong. But I know more now, and I'm not going to make the same mistake with Roy."_

“Does he really believe that?” Diggle asked.

 

“He wants to believe it. I joke that after what happened to Slade, Ollie developed a messiah complex, there is truth to that. He tries to save people like Helena and Roy because he feels it will make up for what happened with Slade. Like this will redeem him for that.” Dinah explained.

 

“What happened with Slade, it wasn’t his fault.” Tommy pointed out.

 

“We know that…but Oliver will probably always blame himself for that.” Dinah explained.

 

_A beeping caught their attention. Oliver jumped down as Felicity pulled up the alert program on her computer. "What's that?" he asked._

_"Iron Heights." She said absently. "Due to their low security post-quake, I thought it would be a good idea to keep an eye on their internal communication for a while."_

_"You hacked into a prison system network?" Oliver said in surprise._

_Felicity looked up. "Is that judgment I'm hearing?" she asked._

_"Pride." Oliver said._

“Is he serious?” Laurel asked.

 

“Ollie and John tended to have a blind spot when it came to her. Ironic, isn’t it.” Dinah said dryly.

 

“No kidding.” Diggle said, disgusted with his onscreen self’s nearsightedness.

 

_The corner of her mouth ticked up in a pleased smirk, which faded as she read the news. "Iron Heights just put out a BOLO for Ben Turner, aka Bronze tiger, which, btw, is a terrible nickname, because tigers are not bronze."_

_"Turner escaped?" Oliver asked._

_"Killed ten guards on his way out." Felicity added._

_"You think that would have made the news." Diggle noted sourly._

_"Iron Heights is better at keeping secrets than they are at keeping prisoners." Felicity quipped._

“For once, she’s right.” Dinah mused.

 

“Of course the cops are covering it up. I mean, why tell the public a dangerous killer is on the loose?” Roy rolled his eyes.

 

“No kidding.” Thea scoffed.

 

_"Any idea where he's headed?" Oliver asked._

_"No." she said._

_"Get one." Oliver demanded as he moved towards the showers._

_The scene changed to the rooftop of the building on Redwood and Larkspur. Milo Armitage checked his watch was his bodyguards moved warily around the roof, semi-automatic weapons drawn and ready. But not ready fast enough as Ben Turner came up behind Armitage and lay his claws over his heart._

“Damn.” Roy said as nearly everyone winced at Turner’s brutality.

 

_"Tell your men to take a walk." Turner said._

_Armitage glanced over at his men. "Leave us." He told them._

_"They can leave their weapons, too." Turner said. The bodyguards put the weapons on the roof and backed off back down the access stairs. "Thank you for the early release." Turner said, releasing Armitage who turned to face him. "Thought about taking off, but I'm… curious. Who would break a stranger out of prison?"_

_"Someone who wishes to hire you for a job." Armitage replied. "I need you to help my men retrieve a certain item." He pulled a picture out of his jacket pocket and showed it to Turner. "This is the item. You know it, yes?"_

_Turner stared at the picture for a moment. The guy had balls, he had to give him that. But did he have the money to back it up? "Yes, I do." He said finally. "Do you know what you're messing with here?" he asked. Armitage nodded in affirmation. "Won't be cheap."_

_"This is not a problem." Armitage assured him._

_"You do know that thing could kill hundreds of people?" Turner said, wondering just how cold this cat actually was. He got his answer a moment later._

_"No, Mr. Turner. It will kill thousands."_

“What the hell is this thing?” Diggle asked as the time travelers were becoming very alarmed.

 

“The earthquake device.” Dinah sighed.

 

“What, are you serious?!” Tommy demanded as the time travelers stared at her in horror.

 

“Why on earth would someone want to use that?” Thea asked horrified.

 

“Some people don’t care about collateral damage so long as they get what they want.” Diggle said disgusted and Dinah nodded grimly.

 

“He’s right. Some men would happily kill an entire race to get what they want.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_The scene changed to the warehouse. The Arrow demonstrated an exercise on a wing chun dummy as Roy watched, unimpressed. The Arrow finished and backed off. "Now you." He told his protégé. "Go slowly." Roy approached the dummy and started throwing punches at the center column. "Stop!" the vigilante ordered. "This is not about learning to throw a punch. This is about learning to control your strength." He reminded Roy._

_"First water slapping, now this." Roy said as he slowly started to mimic Oliver's movements. "When are you going to run out of ways to make me look stupid?!" Aggravated, he launched a devastating single punch at the dummy, knocking the top off clean. "All I'm learning is new ways to get pissed off." He said, glaring at Oliver. "And in case you haven't noticed, I'm already pretty good at that."_

“He’s really not doing a good job at teaching me patience.” Roy noted.

 

“It took him a while to get the hang of being a mentor. Didn’t help that you had the Mirakuru in you.” Dinah explained.

 

_"There's nothing wrong with anger, Roy. Anger is energy. But you need to learn to channel it in a positive way." The Arrow reminded him calmly._

_"Like putting the hurt on guys going after the city. Let me try hitting something that'll actually hit back." Roy asked._

_"Too soon." Oliver replied warily._

_"Get me out there with you. One night." He begged. "All this, it would be a lot easier to take." The Arrow remained silent, considering._

“Please tell me he’s not actually going to do this?” Tommy asked incredulously.

 

“I think we’ve established that he sometimes makes bad decisions, especially in those first few years.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene changed to a swank Chinese restaurant downtown. Moira was led over to the table where Walter was sitting, and she smiled at her ex-husband._

_"Moira." Walter said pleasantly as he rose. Moira walked faster towards him, but stopped when another man rose as well._

_"Ah. I didn't realize we'd have company." She said warily._

_"This is Mark Frances." Walter introduced. "Mark's CFO at Kardak Holdings. We've been putting in some hours with the party's election steering committee."_

“Okay, what is Walter’s angle here, if he’s not trying to get back together with mom?” Thea asked confused.

 

“Election committee…no way.” Laurel turned towards Dinah who nodded with a smirk.

 

“What?” Tommy asked cluelessly.

 

“Just wait.” Laurel said with a smirk.

_"Oh." Moira said._

_"It's a pleasure to meet you." Mark said, shaking her hand._

_"Those are words I'm not accustomed to hearing these days." Moira said with a wry smile as she took off her coat. Walter hung it on a nearby rack as she took her seat next to him._

_"Oh, well." Mark was saying. "You were a lioness doing what she had to do to protect her cubs. You know, I'm not the only person in Starling who sees it that way."_

_"That's a comfort." Moira said._

_"It's the truth. Please." He told her as they all sat down._

_"Thank you." Moira said politely, then glanced over at Walter. "Well, it's unlike you to show such an interest in politics, Walter." She noted._

_"It's part of my new position at the Starling National Bank." Walter said. "My Board of Directors is very concerned about the trajectory of the city."_

_"You mean Sebastian Blood." Moira surmised._

_"Yeah." Mark agreed. "We believe that his policies will bankrupt Starling within the next eight months. Not that the average voter cares. They're all caught up in his charisma." He groused._

“Really?” Diggle asked and Dinah nodded.

 

“When I became DA, I read through some of his policies. While some had merit to them, we would’ve been bankrupt with eight months. At best.” Dinah explained.

 

_"And he's not running against a viable opponent." Moira noted, taking a sip of water._

_"Blood's trounced every potential candidate we've focus-tested." Walter revealed._

_"But we believe that he's vulnerable on regulation." Mark added._

_"Even if he is, it hardly matters." Moira stated. "Banking regulations are an SEC issue. Starling City needs to use the means at a city's disposal."_

_Mark chuckled. "Walter said you were smart."_

“No way.” Roy said as he and Diggle began to put it together.

 

“Yes way.” Dinah smirked.

 

“What?” Thea asked as she and Tommy looked at the others confused.

 

“Wait a few seconds and it will all become clear.” Dinah promised.

 

_Moira looked at him, realization dawning over her face. "But you didn't invite me to dinner to hear my opinions. You want to hear my positions." She realized. "You want me to run against Sebastian Blood." She realized._

“Seriously?” Tommy said shocked at the notion.

 

“I know, it seems surprising, but she actually had a pretty good shot at winning.” Dinah said.

 

“A shot?” Thea repeated and Dinah scowled.

 

“Unforeseen circumstances made sure she never set foot in office.” Dinah said grimly and a chill went down Thea’s spine at those words.

 

_The scene shifted to the edge of the Glades as Quentin led Laurel to their 'dinner' destination._

_"I'm starving." Laurel was saying. "Where are we going?" she asked._

_"It’s little hole in the wall right here." Quentin said, leading her to the door. He opened it for her and she walked in, but stopped dead at what she saw._

_It wasn't a restaurant at all, it was an A.A. meeting._

_A circle of chairs had been formed and several people were already in the space, either sitting down and conversing or grabbing some snacks off the small table that had been set up. Laurel scoffed, then turned and walked right back out._

_"Laurel, wait." Lance said, reaching for her arm._

_Laurel yanked it away. "Don't touch me." She snarled. "I can't believe you would do something like this." She said once they were both outside._

“Which should tell me how bad it’s gotten.” Laurel sighed.

 

“I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly at that point.” Dinah admitted.

 

_"Well, you wouldn't have come otherwise." Lance said._

_"Well, you got that right." She shot back._

_"Laurel, you need help." Quentin tried._

_"Not from them." She snapped. "There is not one person in that room who knows what I have been through."_

_"Yeah, you're right. Some of them, they've been through worse." Lance noted. "But for better or worse, everyone in that room needs to be there, and you need to be there. You think you're the only person, who ever got fired, who ever got their lives into a mess?" he asked. "You think again, kiddo, 'cause you're not. Now, look, we're here now. So why don't you just stay for a bit?" he pleaded quietly. "You don't have to share or talk. You just listen."_

_Laurel looked around for a moment, thinking. For a moment, Quentin thought she might actually stay. "I thought I made myself clear." She said finally. "I'm hungry. And now I think I'll eat alone." She said, turning and stalking off into the night as Lance watched, helpless._

“And I still wouldn’t listen.” Laurel sighed.

 

“Did you really expect me to at that point?” Dinah said ashamed.

 

_The scene chanted to the warehouse, where Oliver was still considering Roy's plea for action. The coms buzzed, and he activated it. "Go ahead." He said quietly._

_"SCPD's network just lit up with a fresh homicide, multiple stab wounds. Like claw marks." Diggle informed Oliver as Felicity pulled up more information about the victim._

_"The victim was an architect." She told him. "Turner ransacked his place; Took blueprints of his designs. One of the aforementioned designs-Malcolm Merlyn's house. I don't know much about architecture, but this can't be good." She stated warily._

_"What would Turner want with Merlyn's house?" Oliver wondered._

_"Not sure yet." Felicity said. "All of Malcolm's holdings, including the house, are in receivership."_

_"Who's that you're talking to? Oh, wait, let me guess, you can't tell me that, either." Roy said sarcastically._

“You’re funny kid, I’ll give you that.” Tommy said amused.

 

“Did you just say something nice about me?” Roy asked shocked. As was everyone else as they stared at him stunned.

 

“Don’t let it go to your head kid.” Tommy told him.

 

_"A guy that I put in prison got out, and I have an idea where he's headed." The Arrow revealed. He paused, thinking hard. Finally he took a big breath and exhaled. "Do you have one of your hoodies?"_

_"Do you seriously have to ask?" Roy replied sarcastically._

“And we’re back on the bad idea train.” Tommy said sarcastically.

_The scene changed to Merlyn's house. Oliver led Roy through the familiar halls of the Merlyn Manor. "Whatever happens, whoever we run into, do not engage." The Arrow said. The house was eerily silent; all the furniture was covered with white sheets. Roy idly wondered if the house was haunted by the ghost of all of Merlyn's victims as he stopped by an end table and lifted the white cloth that was draped over it. "And don't touch anything."_

_"This is his kid, right?" Roy asked, looking at the framed picture if Tommy Merlyn. "The guy that died?"_

The time travelers, save Tommy, looked down in sadness. It was rather easily to forget, in the original time line, that Tommy was dead.

 

“Hey, none of that. I’m still alive, aren’t I?” tommy reminded them.

 

“Yeah, you are.” Laurel sighed, the past few days’ events beginning to wear down on her.

 

“So let’s keep watching then.” Tommy suggested.

 

_"Yes." Oliver said quietly._

_"You know your way around this place." Roy noted. "You been here before?" The vigilante was silent. In the silence though, a new sound could be heard. "What was that?" Roy asked._

_"It came from underground." Oliver said in realization. "Merlyn has a large garage. Let's go."_

_Down in the garage, Armitage's men had already backed a truck into it. The three men climbed out and looked around at all of the cars Merlyn had collected, but it was a small locked door at the far end of the garage that grabbed Turner's attention. Confidently he walked up to the door, and then slashed the keypad with his claws. There was a bright flash of sparks, but the lock was quickly disabled and Turner opened the door to reveal the prize inside._

_"What the hell is that?" One of the bodyguards asked._

_"Looks like a prototype." Turner replied._

_"Of what?"_

_"A machine that killed 503 people." Turner said, staring at the device. It was clearly an early work, nowhere near as refined as the one Felicity had talked Lance through disabling, of the one that had gone off. "Merlyn's own earthquake device."_

“A monstrosity that destroyed lives.” Tommy said, disgusted by his father’s work.

 

_"Ok, a simple snatch and grab." The guard said after they loaded the device into the van. "Don't know why Mr. Armitage thought we needed you."_

_"For that." Turner said, looking across the room at The Arrow and Roy._

_As Oliver stepped around a lift, he caught sight of what was in the back of the van. Instantly his blood froze. "Step away from the device." He ordered sharply. "You don't know what it is you're dealing with."_

_"Big machine, makes earthquakes?" Turner said mockingly._

_"Do you have any idea what happens if the wrong people have it?" The Arrow demanded._

_"Yeah. I get paid." He said. "Close it up."_

“Bastard. He doesn’t even care!” Thea snarled disgusted.

 

“Men like him don’t care who they hurt so long as they get paid.” Diggle explained grimly, just as disgusted as Thea.

 

_." The guard closed the doors as Oliver fired off an arrow. Turner intercepted it with his claws and moved in to attack. As the two fought, Roy stalked up to the driver's side of the van. He punched the window out and yanked the guard out of the van, tossing him to the ground hard. Roy stalked up to the man and slammed his foot down on the man's gun, destroying it._

_"That thing killed eight of my friends." Roy snarled, flipping the man onto his back and laying into him with punches to his face._

“Yeah, this was not a good idea.” Roy winced.

 

“Understatement of the night.” Thea muttered.

 

_Bronze Tiger managed to get a solid hit on The Arrow, knocking him to the ground. He hurried back to the van and, ignoring Roy and the driver, climbed in and started up the van. Roy was oblivious as Tiger drove off with the Markov Prototype as Oliver fired several ineffectual arrows at the van. He snarled in frustration, and then turned back to Roy._

_"Hey!" he yelled, Pulling Roy off the pulverized man. He looked once more out of the garage doors, but the van was pulling off into the night beyond his reach._

“And now Turner has the device and it’s all my fault.” Roy sighed as he felt the guilt weighing down on him.

 

“It’s not all your fault. Ollie’s the one who agreed to take you out.” Thea said as she took his hand, not seeing Tommy’s narrowed eyes.

 

“She’s right Roy. Ollie is to blame to.” Dinah assured him but this did little to comfort the young man.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair later that night as a pissed off Oliver came back into the Lair. Felicity stared at him as he put up his bow._

_"Uh-oh. You got angry face." She noted._

_"What happened?" Diggle asked._

_"Roy Harper." Oliver said simply._

_"You took him out in the field—" Diggle started, outraged._

_"He wasn't listening to me, Diggle!" Oliver shot back angrily. "I'm trying to reach him, but he lost control. Then he nearly killed somebody, which I obviously couldn't let happen, and in the process—"_

_"Turner got away." Felicity guessed. "What was he there to steal? Merlyn's art collection?" she asked._

_"Something much more dangerous." Oliver said wearily. "It's a prototype earthquake machine."_

_Felicity paled, and Diggle stood up straighter "Oh, holy God." He whispered._

_"Why would Turner want to destroy the city?" Felicity asked._

_"He doesn't." Oliver said, reaching into his pocket. "He's a mercenary selling his services to the highest bidder." He pulled out a watch and handed it to Felicity. "This watch belonged to one of the guys Turner was working with."_

_"Fingerprints." She realized, gingerly taking the watch from him._

_"Turner's a loner, which means that guy works for his client." Oliver continued._

_Felicity nodded. "Fingerprints equals name, equals known associates." She said shakily. "I'm on it."_

“Well, at least it’s a lead.” Tommy said optimistically.

 

“Not a big one though.” Diggle noted.

 

“It’s the only one they have right now.” Laurel pointed out and Diggle nodded.

 

_Oliver sighed, turning back to Diggle. "It was the look in Roy's eyes. It was Slade all over again."_

_"Oliver, what happened with Slade?" Diggle asked._

_"Me. Someone killed Shado. Slade loved Shado, and it was my fault. I wanted to tell him, because it would have been better coming from me, but I didn't." he revealed._

_Felicity turned back to the men. "And he found out another way." She guessed._

_"If I had just told him the truth, I could have gotten through to him." Oliver said sadly._

_"And that's why it's so important for you to get through to Roy." Diggle realized._

“Ollie…” Laurel said sadly as everyone looked at the screen sadly.

 

“What I tell ya?” Dinah sighed.

 

_"I lived a five year nightmare." Oliver said. "But if I learned something that could help me reach Roy now… it'll all be worth it."_

_Five years ago-_

_Oliver and Sara walked into the cave, still populated with the skeletons of dead Japanese Imperial soldiers. That was all that was populating it, however, and Oliver sighed in frustration._

_"He's not here." He growled._

_"Where else could he be?" Sara wondered. "We already checked the plane."_

_"I don't know." Oliver looked around helplessly, but then something caught his attention. There were drawings on the cave wall, and they looked somewhat familiar to him. "Do you remember seeing these before?" Oliver asked her._

“Those were definitely not there before.” Diggle noted.

 

_Sara glanced at the drawings. "I didn't really look around." She said._

_"They look familiar." Oliver said, continuing to stare._

_"This could be Lian Yu." Sara guessed._

_"No, I mean the calculations. I've seen those before." Olive said, wracking his brains._

_"Maybe the first time you were in the cave." Sara guessed._

_"I don't think so." He said. Suddenly it clicked. "Fyer's launcher."_

“Slade’s gonna use the launcher to blow up Ivo and his ship.” Diggle realized.

 

“Yeah. In retrospect, they probably should have let him.” Dinah mused.

 

“And be stuck on an island with an unstable man with superhuman strength where Oliver would inevitably tell him about Shado?” Roy drawled.

 

“…Good point.” Dinah mused.

 

_"What?"_

_"Oh, there were soldiers on the island last year, and they had a missile launcher." Oliver said off-handedly._

_"I saw one of these on the display. They're firing calculations…" then it fully dawned on him what he was seeing. "He's going to blow it up."_

_"Blow what up?"_

_"The freighter." Oliver said, bolting out of the cave. Sara followed right behind him._

_Present-_

_The scene changed to Verdant. Roy walked in, looking around and sighing in relief when Thea walked down the stairs towards him._

_"Oh, thank God you're here, I need your help—" she started, but Roy interrupted her._

_"I have to talk to you. It's important." He said urgently._

_"Ok." She replied slowly. "You look stressed out, is everything ok?" she asked, worried._

_"You have to leave town." He told her. "Grab your mother and your brother, if you can, and leave. It's just for a few days."_

“Good idea, get them to leave town.” Tommy said as he was filled with worry for his sister and Moira.

 

“I probably won’t though.” Thea sighed.

 

_"A reason would be nice." Thea said, startled by his behavior._

_"I need you to trust me, Thea." Roy said in a slightly panicked tone._

_"I do." She assured him. "I just- I can't up and leave with my family without a reason." She argued reasonably._

_"No, you have to." Roy said urgently._

_"Roy, you're not making any sense right now." Thea said worriedly. "Would you just tell me what's going on?"_

_Roy grasped her by her upper arm. "Why aren't you listening to me?" he asked angrily, squeezing. "I need you to listen to me!"_

_Thea gasped in pain. "Roy, you're hurting me!" she exclaimed._

Tommy glared at Roy but it all but vanished as he saw Roy had his face in his hands. Thea had her hand on Roy’s should, trying to offer him comfort but not knowing what to say.

 

“It’s not your fault Roy; you couldn’t control your strength.” Dinah told him.

 

“Can we just keep going?” Roy sighed as he lifted his head back up.

 

“Yeah.” Dinah nodded as she unpaused the recording.

 

_Roy let go like she was a piece of red-hot steel. He looked at his trembling hand in fear. "I didn't…I didn't… I didn't mean to." He stuttered as Thea looked at him in concern. "I'm sorry." He said._

_"I know!" Thea called out, but Roy had already bolted out of the door._

Roy sighed sadly, guilt filling him as Thea  took his hand, offering him a slight smile. Tommy watched this, his suspicions about the pair growing deeper and deeper.

 

_The scene changed to Wethersby & Stone, where Joanna de La Vega, late of CNRI, was now practicing law. Laurel walked into her large office, knocking lightly on the door to get her attention. "Well. Your work environment has definitely improved since CNRI." She said with a smile. Joanna rose and gave her old friend a hug. "This place is bigger than my apartment!"_

_"Well, there is a limit to the glamour, unfortunately." Joanna said. "I spend my days in document production- and answering interrogatories." She added as she heard her e-mail beep. She ran back over to her desk to answer quickly. "It doesn't feel like practicing law so much as pushing papers." She groused._

_"If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you were trying to talk me out of the job here." Laurel said with a smile, which fell off her face as Joanna looked up at her sadly. "I guess I do know better." She added._

_"I'm sorry." Joanna said._

_"What's going on?" Laurel asked._

_"One of the partners serves on the bar association's disciplinary committee, and…" she sighed. "Well, when I sent your résumé, he did some checking."_

_"That was a complete misunderstanding." Laurel said quickly. "I mean, sure, yeah, I had some problems, but I'm fine now."_

_"The bar is going to open disciplinary proceedings." Joanna revealed._

_Laurel stared at her, stunned. "What for?" she asked._

_"Conduct affecting your fitness to practice."_

“It’s probably for the best,” Laurel sighed sadly, “I can’t properly do my job while I’m addicted.”

 

“It was, but I couldn’t see that at the time. All I could see was that the universe was conspiring against me.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Laurel scoffed. "That's- that's ridiculous." she protested._

_"I know." Joanna said quickly. "But while this is out there, the firm can't hire you." She told her._

_"Thanks." Laurel said, gasping in shock. She immediately turned to leave. "Thanks for letting me know. I have to go."_

_Joanna hurried up to her, grasping her lightly by the arms. "Laurel, Laurel. You can fight this, ok? I'll help you, and—" she started, but Laurel pulled away._

_"I need some time to…process. I'll call you." Laurel said, hurrying out of the office as Joanna watched helplessly._

_The scene changed to Queen Manor, where Walter had come to pay Moira a visit._

_"Can I fix you a drink?" she asked him._

_"Whatever you're having." He replied. Moira fixed him a small tumbler of scotch. "It was good to see you the other night, Moira." He began._

_"It was lovely. It's been a while since I've had such a good laugh." Moira replied lightly,_

_"It was no joke, Moira." Water said. "Mark was telling the truth. A significant number of people in Starling City feel that your actions with Malcolm Merlyn were justified to protect your family. 43.6%, in fact." He revealed._

“Wow, that’s a lot of people.” Thea said pleasantly surprised.

 

“Not everyone hated Moira.” Dinah assured her.

 

_"You polled people about me?" Moira asked in surprised._

_"Prudent course of action when vetting a potential candidate, yes." Walter noted blithely._

_"600,000 in Starling City. I'd think you could find someone not responsible for destroying it with an earthquake machine." Moira quipped._

_"Not with your name recognition." Walter returned with a grin. "We need a game change candidate, Moira. And there's no one in Starling with a higher profile than you."_

_"Charles Manson is rather well-known, and no one is going to vote for him." Moira pointed out._

“You’re not a murderer mom.” Thea said sadly.

 

“The public doesn’t see it that way.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_"True." Walter agreed. "Equally true, voters like redemption stories. Bill Clinton, Elliot Spitzer, Martha Stewart."_

_"Oh, I don't believe she ran for office." Moira said._

_"But if she had, she would have won." Walter replied with a smile._

_"Would have won what?"_

_Walter looked behind him and smiled. "Ah, Thea." He said happily, rising from his seat and giving her a hug._

_"Mmm, what's going on?" Thea asked, joining them._

_"I'm just convincing your mother to run for mayor." Walter told her._

_Thea blinked. "Of what?"_

_"You see?" Moira said with a chuckle. She looked at Thea in concern. "Sweetheart, are you all right?"_

_Thea rolled her eyes. "You really need to stop asking that." She said, taking a seat on the love seat. "Are you serious?" she asked Walter._

_"It's hard to believe, I know." Moira started._

_Thea shook her head. "No. No, it's not." She said, surprising both of the adults. "Look, this is actually the first election I can vote in, and…vas a newly minted voter, I don't think it sounds that crazy."_

_"From out of the mouths of babes." Walter said to Moira, who actually started to consider the idea for the first time._

“If anyone could convince her, it would be either you or Ollie.” Laurel noted and Thea nodded absently.

 

_The scene changed to the warehouse in the Glades. Roy walked in as The Arrow knelt in the middle of the room._

_"You're late." He growled._

_"I tried to get my girlfriend to leave town." Roy said. Oliver's eyes widened, and he glanced over at the teen. "But she won't."_

_The vigilante rose. "You cannot bring her into this." He growled harshly._

_"But how am I supposed to lie to her and protect her at the same time?" Roy asked. "How do you do it? How do you keep secrets from people in your life?" he demanded._

_"By remembering it's the only way to keep them safe." Oliver said._

“The sad thing is, he actually believes that.” Diggle noted with the others nodding silently.

 

_"No, keeping them safe is what keeps them safe." Roy shot back. "Telling people the truth. But you, you won't tell me anything. Not about the Mirakuru, and this other guy. And you got me slapping water and hitting dummies instead."_

_"Roy, you're spiraling and you need to calm down." The Arrow said coldly._

“He’s not wrong.” Roy sighed.

 

_"No." Roy argued. "I need to save Thea." He turned to walk off, but The Arrow grabbed him by the arm._

_"That thing is out in the open because of you." Oliver reminded him. "I think you've done enough."_

_"Let go of me." Roy said tersely._

_"Roy…"_

_"I said let go of me!"_

_"Get control." The Arrow ordered. "If not for me or yourself, then do it for Thea."_

_Roy yanked his arm free. "What the hell do you know about Thea?" he demanded. "Don't you talk about her!" Roy took a wild swing that Oliver easily sidestepped. Roy went staggering away from the vigilante, but quickly came back. Oliver ducked around the wild swings, grabbing the neck of his hoodie and twisting it, then spinning around so that he was behind Roy. He held him still for several moments, cutting off his air, before he relaxed his grip slightly._

_"Are you done?" The Arrow demanded. Roy took a moment, appearing to calm himself down. But then suddenly he spun and lashed out, striking The Arrow in the chest and sending him flying across the room. The vigilante crashed into a table, breaking it in two and lay there stunned for a moment._

Thea smacked Roy across the shoulder while Laurel and Tommy glared at him. Roy winced, knowing he had crossed a line.

 

“Remember guys, that was Arsenal, not Roy. And even if it was, he was under the influence of the Mirakuru.” Dinah reminded him.

 

“Right, sorry.” Thea said sheepishly and Roy shrugged.

 

_"No. I'm not done." Roy said, stalking over to the vigilante who was pulling himself up. "I'm going to stop this thing. And if you want to stop me, try. Try putting another arrow in me. Go ahead. 'Cause I heal fast now. But get in my way, then I'll give you a good look at that anger you're so worried about me losing control of." He warned before taking off._

“Is part of the Mirakuru side effects insanity?” Roy asked, staring at the screen incredulously.

 

“Wouldn’t surprise me.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair, where Felicity was handing Oliver a cold pack. "You both scoffed when I said we should invest in an X-ray machine for down here." She noted wryly._

_"What do you want to do about Roy?" Diggle asked. Oliver glanced at his body man, but turned to Felicity instead._

_"Where are we with the fingerprint?" he asked._

_"I struck out on domestic agencies, but I'm checking Interpol, PRC public security and MVD databases now." She said._

_"Oliver, I know you've taken Roy on, and why, but Roy, Slade, alot of guys I've served with," he continued, undeterred. "Some people are just broken, man. And nobody can put them back together."_

“Fortunately, that wasn’t the case with Roy.” Dinah said, seeing the look on Roy’s face.

 

_"I refuse to believe that." Oliver said sharply. "I'm not letting what happened to Slade happen to Roy. I'm not." He said, determined. Before Diggle could continue, Oliver's phone rang. Diggle picked it up, looked at the screen, and then handed it to his friend, who answered it. "Yeah. He said in his 'Happy Ollie' voice._

_'Are you near the club?' Thea asked._

_Oliver leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm pretty close." He said. "Why?"_

_Up in the club, Thea glanced over at the bar, where a VERY intoxicated Laurel was happily leaning as she downed another drink. "Laurel's here. She doesn't look good." Thea told her brother._

“Great, more drunk me.” Laurel sighed.

 

“Better drunk then bitch.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_Downstairs, Oliver held the phone to his chest. "Hey." He whispered to Felicity. "Laurel's upstairs." Taking the hint, she dialed into the security cameras to get a birds eye view of the bar. The three stared sadly at the screen as the formerly powerful attorney continued her spiral downwards._

_Up at the bar, Laurel drunkenly leaned over and waved her arm. "Ohh! Excuse me." She said, catching the bartender's attention. "Can I get something with olives? I don't care what it is, as long as there are a lot of olives." She asked._

_Oliver, now dressed in his civvies, moved up next to her and leaned in. "How about coffee?" he suggested quietly._

_"Coffee and olives? Bad combination." Laurel said, stating the obvious._

“Ew.” Thea said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

 

_"What are you doing?" he asked as Thea walked up and took position on the other side of her._

_"This is where it's happening, right? The big club?" Laurel said jovially._

_"Here you go, Martini, triple olives." The bartender said, handing the drink to Laurel._

_"Thanks." She said, taking it and managing not to spill it._

_Thea took the drink from her hand. "Laurel, go home." She said, placing the drink back on the bar._

_Laurel stared at the girl for a moment, and then laughed. "Thea Queen, telling me enough is enough. Now that is rich." She said snidely._

“It is kind of ironic.” Thea noted, seeing the look of shame on Laurel’s face.

 

_She sneered at her. "Fine. Bar me from your bar. That's today's theme, right? Disbarment."_

_Oliver blinked in surprise. "Laurel, are you being disbarred?" he asked in shock._

_"Yeah, looks like my law career's over." She said. Suddenly she was smiling again. "But you know what? Maybe Thea here can hire me as a waitress." She said sarcastically. Thea looked at her, unimpressed. Then Laurel turned to Oliver. "Or, Ollie, I could come be your secretary." She frowned. "But that would mean you would have to fire her." The three looked over to see Felicity standing awkwardly in the club._

_"Hi, Laurel." She said, waving slightly. "How are you?" she asked gently._

_Oliver reached in and grabbed the keys from Laurel's purse. Laurel looked on and giggled, then draped herself over his shoulder. "Did you need to borrow my car? Did your limo break down?"_

_"Oliver, can I talk to you for a second?" Felicity called out softly, but loud enough for Oliver to hear over the noise of the club._

_Oliver looked to Thea. "Get her a cab, please." He asked his sister._

_"Yeah." She agreed, helping Laurel move to a seat at the bar before heading to the phone. Oliver, meanwhile headed over to Felicity._

_"Fingerprint was in Interpol's database." She told him. "The guy worked for Milo Armitage. He's a black market arms merchant."_

“We have a name at least.” Tommy said relieved.

 

“Yeah, but a black market arm’s dealer. Not good.” Roy said grimly.

 

_"He's trying to sell the device." Oliver reasoned. "I need you to search for any indication that Armitage is in Starling."_

_"I already did." She said. "His ship filed a loadlog manifest at the Starling City docks. I'll get you the slip number." She said before turning to head back down into the Lair. At the bar, Laurel had managed to finish off her martini before Thea came back. She took her arm and led Laurel to the door, where a cab would be waiting for her. Neither women noticed a man, who had been sitting next to Laurel at the bar, slip a glass vial back into his jacket as he watched the two leave._

“Did I just get drugged?” Laurel asked as the time travelers stared, alarmed.

 

“Worse. You’ll get all the details next recording.” Dinah promised.

 

_Oliver pulled out his phone and dialed. After a moment, he began to speak. "Hi, it's Oliver. I just ran into Laurel, and something's wrong." He said. He paused for a moment as the person on the other end talked. "She needs you." He said finally, ending the conversation as he headed down to the Lair._

“Who was he talking to?” Tommy asked curiously.

 

“Sara, right?” Laurel guessed and Dinah nodded.

 

Ollie tracked her down after she left.” Dinah explained.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Oliver and Sara ran through the forest towards the wreckage of Fyers camp. They had almost made it when they reached a small clearing._

_"Slade?" Oliver called out, looking around._

_But it was Sara who spotted him first. "Oliver!"_

_Just ahead of them was Slade, who was busily reprograming the missile launcher. "Slade!"_

_"Get back!" he ordered._

_"We know you're targeting the boat." Oliver said._

_"I'm going to send that son of a bitch to the bottom of the ocean."_

_"You're going to destroy our only way off of the island!" Oliver argued._

_"As long as Ivo is dead, it's worth it." Slade said manically._

“He’s lost it. He’s so focused on taking down Ivo he doesn’t care about anything else.” Diggle realized.

 

“And once he found out about Shado, that hatred transferred to Ollie.” Laurel noted.

 

“You’re both right on the marble.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"I can't let you do it." Oliver said softly._

_Slade heard, though, and pulled his gun. He held it on Oliver with a crazy gleam in his eyes. "Get back, or so help me, I will put you down!"_

“He’s already turning on Ollie.” Thea said disturbed.

 

“He was an unstable killer. The Slade that Ollie had known died in that sub.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to Verdant later that night. "Mom?" Thea said in surprise when she spotted Moira in the club. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I came by to get your advice on something." Moira said._

_"Step into my office." Thea said, leading Moira over to a standing table. "This is about the campaign, right? It's really awesome you're thinking of doing this." She told her mother._

_"You said something that stayed with me." Moira began. "The idea that there could be voters out there that wouldn't dismiss me out of hand."_

_"Well, you did run a multi-billion dollar company." Thea pointed out._

_"Yes, and an undertaking that destroyed the city." Moira said._

_"People will get over that." Thea said firmly._

_"What makes you so certain?" Moira asked._

_"Because I did." Thea replied at once. "Can I make a suggestion? Instead of punishing yourself because you think you destroyed the city, how about you start by saving it?" she suggested. Moira rounded the table and hugged her daughter, grateful for her love._

“Good advice.” Laurel noted proudly and Thea shrugged.

 

_The scene changed to the docks. Armitage was having the Markov Prototype locked up as he settled his account with Ben Turner. "$10 million, I believe was the negotiated amount." He said. He held up his phone to show the funds being transferred into Turner's account. "Congratulations, you're now in a new tax bracket." He said as the transfer finished._

_"Just out of curiosity, you pay me ten million, and you get…" he began leadingly._

_"Three times that." Armitage replied._

_"You already have a buyer?" Turner asked, surprised._

_"I recommend that you stay clear of Markovia for a few months." Armitage suggested. "I believe our business is now concluded."_

“Who would want to attack Markovia?” Laurel asked disturbed.

 

“Damien Darhk.” Dinah said grimly and everyone turned to her shocked.

 

“The same Damien Darhk who killed me?” Thea asked and Dinah nodded grimly.

 

“One in the same.” Dinah confirmed.

 

“Why?” Roy asked what they were all thinking.

 

“He would use the device, then approach the leader of the government at the time and pass himself off as an ally. Never say that Darhk wasn’t a genius strategist.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

_A sudden noise had them looking up as The Arrow slid in on a zip line. He dropped to the ground in front of Armitage and Turner._

_"Not yet." He growled. He quickly fired two arrows- one took out the guard, the second landed in Armitage's leg, sending the man sprawling to the ground. The Arrow stalked past the arms dealer, looking for Turner. "Looks like your partner abandoned you." He said, turning back to Armitage._

_"He's not my partner. He's someone I hired to do a job." The arms dealer said. Suddenly Turner dropped off the top of the crate, embedding one set of claws into Oliver's shoulder. He gasped in pain as he was forced to one knee. "And it turns out it was money well spent."_

“Man, Oliver needs help.” Tommy said, worried.

 

_Oliver forced himself back to his feet, then lashed out, forcing Turner away. He gasped as the claws ripped free._

_Turner staggered back a few steps, and grinned as The Arrow sank to one knee again. "Just too dumb to stay down."_

_But then suddenly Roy was there. One punch sent Turner flying a good six feet away. Turner staggered to his feet and took a couple of swipes at Roy, who moved out of the way before sending him back to the ground with one punch._

“Ask and you shall receive.” Thea smiled at Roy who smirked.

 

_Armitage scrambled to his feet and pulled out the remote activator for the device._

_"Don't do it! You'll kill everyone here." The Arrow yelled, pulling himself back up as well._

_"If I don't deliver this device to my buyer in Markovia, I'm dead anyway." Armitage said, hitting the button. He then threw the remote to the ground and stomped on it, destroying it._

“Shit!” Diggle shouted as they all stared at the screen in horror.

 

_"No!" Oliver screamed, running to the dealer. He belted him hard on the jaw, knocking him out, and then turned and fired a pair of explosive arrows at the doors of the shipping crate. But the low-yield explosives barely dented the door._

“Damn it, his arrows aren’t powerful enough to get through the door.” Laurel groaned.

 

_He looked on in panic, and then turned to see Roy still punching Ben Turner. The assassin was already out cold- all he was doing at this point was adding on brain damage._

“But I would be.” Roy realized.

 

_"Roy! I need your help!" Oliver called out. Roy, lost in the haze of his anger, was focused only on killing Turner. "Roy, stop! Roy! Roy, I need you to stop!" Suddenly a hand grabbed his arm and yanked him upright. He turned to face the vigilante-_

_But instead found himself face to face with Oliver Queen._

“Holy crap.” Tommy said as the time travelers stared in complete shock.

 

_Oliver had pulled won his mask and lowered his hood. "The earthquake device is in there." Oliver told the shocked young man. "The steel is military grade; it's built to withstand a bomb, but not you. Think about Thea." He pleaded. "Because she could die without your help. I know you love her… because I've seen it. Save my sister. Control." He reminded Roy. "Focus on Thea. She needs you right now, or she is dead. Everyone is dead." He told him._

_Oliver led him back to the crate. Roy stood before the door, trying to focus, trying to concentrate…_

_Thea_

_Roy balled up his fist, reached way back, and asserted himself. The punch tore a small hole in the door, just big enough for Oliver to toss in an explosive arrow. The two ran from the crate as, seconds, later, it exploded, taking the last Markov device with it._

“I did it…I controlled my strength.” Roy said stunned.

 

“Like I said, it took Ollie a while to get the hang of being a mentor. But when he did, he was good at it.” Dinah explained.

 

_The two looked back at the flaming wreckage, but Roy turned back to Oliver. He stared at him in amazement. "You're…"_

_"Yeah. Yeah." he said, awkwardly._

_"Last year, you saved my life." Roy told him. "And I don't mean from the guy who kidnapped me. I mean, you… you saved me. You gave me purpose." He said, gratefully. He held out his hand._

_Oliver took his hand and shook it. "We're just getting started."_

“The beginning of an epic bromance.” Dinah teased and Thea and Laurel snickered while Tommy crossed his arms.

 

“I still don’t like you kid.” Tommy told him.

 

“And I care….” Roy trailed off sarcastically and Tommy scowled.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair later that night. Felicity was patching liver up as Diggle paced the room._

_"So…the secret society gets a new member." He noted. Where is he now?"_

_"Home." Oliver said. "He's, uh… processing."_

_"When I found out who you really were, I processed my way through a pint of mint chip." Felicity said. "I stress eat." She added as he chuckled._

_"Speaking of stress I'm not trying to Monday morning quarterback here-it's Wednesday. Didn't this all start because you were worried that Roy's marble collection was on the short side?" she asked._

_"She has a point, Oliver." Diggle said. "Roy's a loose cannon. Now he knows your secret."_

_"You're right, and I wasn't thinking about the consequences." Oliver admitted. "I only knew that I needed his strength. His power. On the island, Sara told me that love is the most powerful emotion. Well, the Arrow couldn't get Roy to think about Thea." He admitted. "But I could."_

“Yeah. The Arrow couldn’t get through Roy’s Mirakuru clouded brain…but the brother of the girl he loved could.” Diggle mused and Thea and Roy flushed while Tommy’s scowl became more pronounced.

 

_Five years ago-_

_"I said get back!" Slade said, jumping down from the launcher and forcing Oliver to his knees. He didn't resist._

_"Think about Shado." Oliver said softly._

_"I am thinking about her!" Slade roared._

_"There's something I have to tell you about Shado." Oliver said as Sara looked on, horrified. "It's something you deserve to know. She loved you, Slade." He continued, to Sara's relief and Slade's anguish. "Maybe not the way that you wanted her to, but she loved you. And she wanted you to make it home. She wanted you to see Joe again. She wanted you to hug your son." He said as Slade started to sob. Oliver slowly rose to his feet. "I know you're angry. And I know you want revenge. If you destroy Ivo's freighter, Shado will have died for nothing."_

_Slade finally backed off, collapsing against the launcher. He moved the gun from his left hand to his right before setting it down on the base of the launcher. "What is happening to me?" he asked shakily, looking at his trembling hand._

“The monster born from the Mirakuru is taking over.” Dinah said sadly, feeling sad for the good man Slade had once been.

 

_Oliver took the gun and held it loosely at his side. "I don't know." He admitted. "I am not going to let you go through it on your own." He vowed._

_"The man who killed Shado is still out there." Slade said, trembling with emotion. "And whether that freighter's on the bottom of the ocean or not, we're still stuck on this island."_

_"Not for long." Oliver said. "Because we're going to take the freighter." He declared._

“Something tells me that will turn into a bad idea.” Tommy said dryly.

 

“You have no idea.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Moira answered the door, welcoming Walter in._

_"I was glad to receive your email." He said, stepping back into the house. "Does it portend what I'm hoping?" he asked._

_"I'm going to run." She declared._

_"What changed your mind?" he asked, then he realized. "Thea." he said simply._

_"Hmm. She reminded me that I still owe this city." Moira said. "And I want to be remembered as something more than Malcolm Merlyn's pawn."_

_"As you should." Walter aid warmly._

_"But you know there was another reason for my reticence." She added._

_Walter nodded. "You're afraid the people will learn that Robert wasn't her biological father." He surmised._

“Walter knew?” Thea said surprised and feeling betrayed.

 

“The only secret she didn’t share with him were the ones pertaining to The Undertaking.” Dinah said gently and Thea scowled.

 

_"I managed to get through a criminal trial without the truth coming out, but political campaigns tend to be a bit more adept at extracting skeletons from closets."_

_"But no one else knows." Walter said._

_"Someone does. My OB, Dr. Gill." She said. "There were complications when Thea was born, and I had to tell him that Robert wasn't her father. If we're going to move forward, we need to make certain that he won't be a problem for us." She said as Walter looked on in agreement._

“Please tell me this won’t involve murder.” Thea begged.

 

“It won’t.” Dinah promised and Thea sighed in relief.

 

_The scene changed to Iron Heights as a familiar pair of high heels walked down the darkened corridors of the prison. The woman stopped in front of a cell, and her guard escort walked off._

_"Mr. Turner." The woman said._

_Ben Turner looked over at the bars and smirked. "Hmm. I didn't know this place allowed conjugal visits." He leered._

_"My name is Amanda Waller." She said._

“Oh great, what is she doing there?” Tommy snarled.

 

“Recruiting.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“Are you serious? Is she  bailing him out?” Thea asked outraged.

 

“Amanda Waller has no true conscience.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“No kidding.” Laurel said disgusted.

 

“I can see why you lost no sleep over her death.” Roy said darkly.

 

_"You say that like it's supposed to mean something." Turner said snidely._

_"To the contrary. My identity is highly classified."_

_"Then why are you introducing yourself to me?" he asked._

_"I have an offer for you." Waller said. "A way to work off your sentence. As it turns out, I have need of someone with your singular qualifications."_

_"For what?" he asked suspiciously._

_"For a unit I'm putting together."_

_"What type of unit?" he asked._

_"Actually…it's more of a squad." She smiled coldly._

“The Suicide squad.” Dinah said dryly.

 

“She actually called it that?” Laurel demanded.

 

“No. But they did.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair the next night as Oliver led Roy down the long, steep stairs._

_"Is this the part where you kill me 'cause I know your secret?" Roy asked, only half joking._

_"Do you actually think that I'd kill my sister's boyfriend?" Oliver asked._

“I would.” Tommy shrugged.

 

“Good thing Ollie’s not you.” Thea said cheekily and everyone laughed as Tommy glared at her.

 

_"Well, you did shoot me in the leg." Roy pointed out. "Forgiven, by the way."_

_Oliver paused and turned back to Roy. "Thea." He stated. "She can never know."_

_"I get the feeling that if I did tell her, that would be when you kill me." Roy noted._

_"Trust that instinct." Oliver said bluntly._

“Good advice.” Tommy nodded in approval as Thea rolled her eyes.

 

_"Ok." Roy gulped slightly. "All right. How many people know what- who you are?" he asked._

_"Too many." Oliver said. "But these are the only two that matter." He led him into the ArrowCave proper. Past the display cases and rows of arrows, Oliver's partners walked up to the pair._

_"John Diggle and Felicity Smoak." Oliver introduced._

_"Does this group have a name? Like team Arrow, or something?" Roy asked, slightly overwhelmed._

_"We don't call ourselves that." Oliver said quickly._

_"I do. Occasionally." Felicity said._

“Team Arrow? What are we, a high school football team?” Diggle scoffed.

 

_"Stop.” Oliver told her._

_"Whatever." Roy said with a grin._

_Dig held out his hand. "Welcome aboard." He said as the two men shook hands. Felicity did the same a moment later._

“And that is how you officially joined the team.” Dinah told Roy, who nodded silently, slightly in awe.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment as the former lawyer stumbled even more drunkenly than she should have into her apartment. Somehow she managed to close the door and set the chain, but as she stumbled deeper into the apartment, the spinning became too much. She collapsed, falling down and bouncing off the sofa onto the floor. As her vison blurred and dimmed, she spied a figure moving slowly towards her, and her vison cleared for a moment, allowing her to see a hauntingly familiar face._

_"Sara…" she gasped as her vision once again dimmed, then went black as unconsciousness took her._

“Sara came back.” Laurel said surprised.

 

“She’s our sister and we needed her,” Dinah said simply as she stood up, “as who wants brunch?


	47. Heir to the demon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea learns about her brother's reaction to being told her true parentage while Laurel learns more about her sister's time in the League and her reaction to her sister's survival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, two things about last chapter.
> 
> First, I made a mistake. It was pointed out to me that Oliver did not receive a phone number from Sara; he planted a tracer on her. To the guest who pointed that out, thank you.
> 
> Second, there appears to be some confusion about why exactly Felicity was called out last chapter for hacking Iron Heights. Felicity was not called out for the hacking itself, she called out because she did so without Oliver’s orders, did not tell him, and he did not call her out on it. People have been fired for doing things like that and she doesn’t get so much as a slap on the wrist? I’m sorry, but I find that to be unbelievable.

Brunch had proven a very uncomfortable for Roy and Thea, as Tommy’s eyes had watched them all throughout the meal. There was no doubt that Tommy was starting to piece together what had happened between them, Roy just hoped he was far away when it finally happened.

 

After they finished eating, the group returned to the viewing room and retook their seats. Dinah picked up the remote and started the next recording.

 

_The memory set opened in Starling City International Airport. An exotic woman, dressed tastefully in a red and black shirt, black jacket, trousers, and fedora, stood patiently in line at Customs waiting to get her passport stamped. Finally the person in front of her was cleared, and the woman moved up to the counter, smiling pleasantly as she slid her passport to the attendant. She took off her hat and winked at the small boy in the next line as the attendant examined the document._

_"Business or personal, Miss Raatko?" he asked, drawing her attention again._

_"Personal." Nyssa Raatko replied._

“Hey, its Nyssa.” Thea said surprised.

 

“I thought she was a member of the League of Assassins, what’s she doing there.” Diggle narrowed his eyes.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah advised him.

 

_The man set the passport on a small scanner and scanned in her photo. In less than three seconds the phot was being scanned by facial recognition software- and a moment later the screen flashed with the message 'A.R.G.U.S. Security Alert'. The man frowned at his screen. "My computer's froze." He lied calmly. "Can you hold on a sec? I'll be right back."_

_Nyssa sighed internally, but nodded amicably as the man walked away from his terminal. She subtly glanced around, looking for the inevitable responders. The first one she spotted blatantly put his hand to his ear piece, and as she scanned for other threats she kept a wary eye on him. He didn't disappoint._

_"Down on the ground, down, down!" the guard yelled, drawing his weapon and running up to Nyssa. He stood right behind her as other patrons screamed in fright and dropped to the ground, holding his gun almost flush against her head. "Put your hands on your head!" he ordered. "I said, hands on your head, lady. I will shoot you." He warned._

“Bad idea, very bad idea.” Dinah winced, knowing what was about to happen.

 

_Nyssa calmly put her hands behind her head, smiling as she did it. Then, almost faster than could be followed, she spun and slapped the gun away and down, then grabbed him by the back of his head and slammed his head through the glass partition of the Custom's station. She grabbed a pen and swung back around, pushing the second guard's gun up and away as she slammed the pen into his armpit. The guard screamed in pain. A kick to the knee sent him down to one knee, and then she followed that up with a hard shot to the jaw, knocking him out. A third guard ran up, but Nyssa deftly undid the retractable rope and wrapped it around the man's neck, choking him. A sharp yank had the man crash down to the ground on his head, and Nyssa relieved him of his nightstick which she used to dispatch the last two guards that tried to stop her. Seeing no more adversaries, Nyssa picked up her hat, grabbed the handle of her suitcase, and calmly walked through Customs and out of the airport._

“Wow, she’s a total badass.” Tommy said as the time travelers stared in awe.

 

“Trust me, you haven’t seen anything yet.” Dinah said with a smirk.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. The Queen Family, Walter included, were sitting around the conference table as Mark Frances was pitching Moira's candidacy for Mayor._

_"A successful mayoral campaign isn't about polling, it isn't about fundraising or hot button issues." He was saying as he paced around the table. "It's about connecting with people. That's why right after we announce tomorrow, Moira, I want to get you in front of as many cameras as possible. Morning shows, talk shows—"_

_"Mark, I want to help rebuild the city, not pander to it." Moira objected lightly._

_"It's not pandering, Mom. It's campaigning." Oliver pointed out with a smile._

_"Let the people get to know the real Moira Queen, and they are going to fall in love with you." Mark said._

Roy would have said something but, mindful of who was sitting next to him, he opted to remain silent.

 

_"Speaking from experience, this man knows what he's talking about, Moira." Walter added._

_A short time later Walter excused himself, walking out of the conference room to check his phone when Felicity approached him._

_"Mr. Steel? May I talk to you about something?" she asked hesitantly._

_Walter smiled at her. "I'm no longer your boss, Felicity. So let's make it Walter from now on." He said warmly._

_"Ok- Walter." She said in a mock British accent, grinning slightly. The grin dropped immediately. "It's about Tempest. Mrs. Queen's super sketchy offshore LLC you asked me to look into last year." She reminded him._

_"I remember." Walter said, gesturing for to move over towards the windows._

_"That's right. So, the thing is, I left an embedded account alert on it so we'd know if anyone ever accessed it again." She told her former boss. "A few days ago, there was a wire transfer made from Tempest to a numbered account at Starling National Bank."_

“First Ollie, now Walter. She really needs to start telling the people she works for these things.” Thea grumbled.

 

“Agreed. Lesser men than Walter and Ollie could use that as a means to fire her.” Dinah noted.

 

_"Probably the campaign accountant shutting it down." Walter suggested._

_"Or it could be something else." Felicity said. "That is the money Mrs. Queen used to do some really bad things. I mean, you guys did get divorced for pretty good reasons." The friendly look slipped off his face; Felicity gulped. "Which is not my business." She added._

_Walter forced a smile. "I'll talk to Moira first thing." He assured her. "And thank you for bringing it to my attention."_

_"Of course." She replied, then turned and headed back to her desk._

“Something tells me Felicity is not gonna let this go.” Laurel noted.

 

“You’d be right.” Dinah told her.

 

_In the conference room, Moira nodded at something Mark said. "Well… we're starting a campaign." She said firmly._

_Mark looked over to Oliver. "Oliver, can I have a word?" he asked, rounding the table._

_"Yes." Oliver said, rising to meet him as Thea went around the table to Moira._

_"I know that you and he are friends, but you'll need to end your support for Sebastian Blood." Mark said._

_"I will speak to Sebastian." Oliver assured him._

“About damn time.” Tommy said cheerfully.

 

_"Good." Mark said, patting him on the shoulder. He moved back over to Moira as Oliver's phone rang. He pulled it out of his jacket; the ID said it was Detective Lance. For a moment he wondered which phone he had, but then quickly remembered it was his personal phone. "Hello?" he said jovially as he picked up the call. Hearing the other man speak, a frown quickly formed on his face. "I'll be right there." He said._

_The scene changed to Starling General a short time later. Oliver knocked lightly on the door to Laurel's room; her mother and father were both there, visiting Laurel._

_"Oliver." Dinah said, rising from beside the bed._

_"Mrs. Lance." Oliver said warmly, giving the woman a hug._

_"I came back as soon as I heard." She said._

“So it only takes me getting put in the hospital to get her attention. Good to know.” Laurel said bitterly and everyone looked at her sympathetically.

 

_Oliver turned to Laurel and gave her a comforting smile. "Hey. How you feeling?" he asked._

_"I've been better." She replied hoarsely._

_"Don't worry, baby. We're going to get you all the help you need." Lance said in a rush. "There's a great rehab outside of Starling, they got a bed waiting for you—"_

_"Dad, I already told you. I didn't OD." Laurel denied sharply. "I didn't take any pills last night. I swear."_

_A nurse knocked on the door. "Laurel," she said, getting the patient's attention. "The doctor wants to check your eye."_

_"What happened to her eye?" Oliver asked._

_"Minor sub conjunctival hemorrhaging. Probably from hitting her head when she lost consciousness." The nurse explained._

_Oliver moved in closer, ostensibly to say farewell. "You feel better, ok?" he said, looking her in the eyes. He saw it then, the slight hemorrhaging, and his blood turned to ice. Still, he leant down and kissed her greenly on the temple._

_"Thank you." Laurel replied softly._

_"We'll be outside." Lance said, looking at the other two. "Let's go." He started to move, but Laurel grabbed his hand._

_"Dad." She said, halting him._

_He let the others leave the room before turning back to Laurel. "What is it, sweetheart?" he asked._

_"Before I passed out… the strangest thing happened." Laurel started hesitantly. "I saw Sara." She said as Quentin's breath caught in his chest. "I mean, I know I was hallucinating, but I saw her. She was standing right over me. I mean, I've dreamt about her over the years, but this was so much more real. That's crazy, right?" she asked, thought there was more than a little hope in her voice._

“No, not so crazy.” Laurel said dryly.

 

_Lance gave her a pained smile. "Yeah, it's crazy." He lied._

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver walked in to see Felicity and Diggle watch as Sara worked out on the Salmon Ladder._

_"She's been doing that for like an hour." Felicity noted, maybe a little jealously._

“This is League training 101. This is like a walk in the park for her.” Dinah mused.

 

_Sara reached the top rung, then jumped down. Grabbing a towel, she moved towards the group._

_"You saw Laurel. Is she going to be ok?" she asked._

_"You saved her life." Oliver told her._

_"Hey, thanks for calling me." Sara said genuinely. "And I never did ask you- how did you find me?"_

_"I wasn't going to lose you again." Oliver said simply._

_"I should get going." Sara said awkwardly, moving past Oliver to grab her shirt._

“So now she’s just gonna leave again?” Laurel asked angrily.

 

_"Hey, so that's it? You're back in town for 24 hours, now you're just going to take off again?" Oliver asked hotly._

“Great minds think alike.” Thea told Laurel who flushed.

 

_"The League of Assassins is still after me, Ollie, and staying in town would put my whole family at risk." She reminded him. "I only came because Laurel's in trouble."_

_"Well, she's still in trouble, Sara. Your entire family needs you." Oliver told her. He stood there, still as stone for a moment before adding. "So do I."_

Tommy narrowed his eyes. It sounded like…nah, he dismissed the thought.

 

_Sara stared at him helplessly, frozen. After a few moments, she shook her head and began gathering her things. Oliver sighed, and then turned back to Felicity. "Do me a favor and dig up a copy of Laurel's bloodwork from the hospital, please."_

_"Sure. What are we looking for?" Diggle asked._

_"I just want to make sure of something." Oliver said absently._

“He suspects something.” Diggle noted and Dinah nodded.

 

“You can say what you want about Ollie, but no one ever said he wasn’t smart.” Dinah pointed out.

 

_A phone rang, and Felicity looked down on her desk. It was the burner phone. "It's for you." She told Oliver, handing him the phone._

_Oliver took it and connected the call. "Hello, Detective."_

_Back at the hospital Lance was walking away from Laurel's room. "Put my daughter on." He demanded. "I know she's there."_

_Back at the Lair, Sara shook her head, a fearful look on her face. Oliver looked back at her compassionately, but still handed her the phone._

_Six years ago-_

_It was nearing dinner time in the Lance household, and as usual Quentin was cooking. Or trying to, at any rate, as he was also trying to wrap up a case on the phone._

_"Hilton, tell the Lieutenant that the perp was practically lawyering up when I read him his Miranda." he said over the phone as he cooked. "If we don't get on top of this situation, the Lieutenant is not going to be happy—"_

_"Oh, it smells amazing, Dad." Laurel said, stopping to give her dad a kiss on the cheek as she walked through the kitchen._

_"Ahh, yeah. Here, try one of these." He told her, handing her a carrot, "Ok, beautiful." He frowned. "No, I'm talking to Laurel." He said into the receiver._

_"Quentin, hang up the phone." Dinah urged with a smile. "Spend time with your family!"_

“Wow…so not what I was expecting your pre-Gambit lives to be.” Roy said surprised with Diggle silently agreeing.

 

“Things were a lot different before that stupid boat went down. It didn’t just wreck the Queen family.” Dinah said grimly with Laurel nodding, a  cross look on her face.

 

_"Oh, my family. You heard that, I got to go." Quentin said into the phone. "Bye, buddy." He hung up and smiled sheepishly at the two women. "Sorry, ladies. Our do-er hired some dirtbag lawyer, and—"_

_"Says the dad whose daughter just applied to law school." Laurel pointed out impishly._

_"That is not the kind of lawyer that you're going to be, young lady," Quentin reminded his daughter, "because you, you're going to be a judge or you're going to be a professor, just like your mother."_

_"Yeah, come over to academia. The fun never ends." Dinah said dryly._

_"Dinner is at a crucial point." Lance said, heading to the oven as the timer beeped. Just then Sara walked in the door._

_"Hey!" she announced, surprising everyone._

_"Hi! Sar-bear!" Laurel said excitedly, rushing over to give her baby sister a hug._

“What is up with her hair?” Roy asked as he stared.

 

“I honestly don’t know what she was thinking wit that hair.” Laurel admitted.

 

“I think we know she didn’t make the best decisions back then.” Dinah said and there were murmurs of agreement around the room.

 

_"Hey!" she said hugging her back._

_"Sara, what a surprise." Dinah said happily, hugging her daughter as well._

_"Hi, mom." Sara replied. She turned to her father, who was giving her a look._

_"Please don't tell me you got kicked out of college." He said._

_"Oh, well, thank you for the vote of confidence." Sara said with a teasing grin. "I had a three day weekend, so I figured I'd drive down and surprise everybody."_

_"Well, you're just in time to eat." He said happily. "Come here." He hugged her briefly before picking up the baked ziti. "Get yourself another plate. Come on."_

_Sara walked no the kitchen to grab a plate, pausing briefly to check her phone. There was a text from Oliver._

_**You here yet?**_

_**Yup** she typed in reply before grabbing a plate and joining her family for dinner._

Laurel scowled while Dinah idly wondered how Laurel would take the news of Oliver and Laurel’s relationship.

 

_Present-_

_Later that evening, Quentin was sitting at the counter at the Chinese restaurant Sara had brought him to before. He looked up when he heard the door open, and his heart skipped a beat._

_"Hi, Dad." Sara said._

_"Come here." Quentin pulled her into a hug._

_"I only have a minute." She told him._

_"Well, a cup of tea is all I ask." He replied. "Sit down." The two sat and Quentin poured them both a cup of tea. "Oh, baby. I have missed you so much."_

_"How's Laurel?" Sara asked._

_"She saw you." He told her. A look of dread flitted across her face. "Right before she passed out. She thought it was, I don't know what. A hallucination." Lance surmised._

_"Well, good." Sara said, breathing a small sigh of relief._

_"No, baby, you don't understand." Lance said. "Seeing you, it made her happy."_

_"Dad," she sighed, "The League, they're still hunting me." She reminded him._

_"So what, you're just going to pop back every time one of us is in trouble?" he asked rhetorically. "We can't live like this, Sara, and you can't. It's time we started facing things together." He told her._

“Yeah, that’s one hell of a way to live.” Roy drawled.

 

“But it is a way. Granted, a rather depressing way, but a way all the same.” Dinah explained.

 

_Sara looked at him sadly. He just didn't realize the danger he was in, that they were ALL in. She stood and gave him one last hug before turning and walking out the back of the restaurant._

_She walked down the deserted streets of the Glades, more to clear her head than to go to a destination. A safe distance away The Arrow kept silent watch over her, watching as she walked under an overpass. He stepped back deeper into the shadows so as not to be seen, when suddenly a length of aerial silk dropped down followed quickly by a woman who traveled down the cloth with a grace he had only seen once before- from Sara herself._

“Oh boy.” Tommy said as the time travelers tensed.

 

Dinah smirked, wondering how they would react to what happened next.

 

_The woman landed in a crouch before the startled Sara, whose eyes widened in fear and resignation as she recognized the form of Nyssa al Ghul in full battle armor. Nyssa stood slowly, a dagger clenched in one hand. With her free hand she pulled down the veil that partially obscured her face, and then pushed back her hood. From his hiding place, Oliver withdrew and arrow and aimed it at the assassin, but held his fire as he watched to see what would happen next. Why wasn't Sara running?_

_Nyssa slowly walked up to Sara, who was still frozen in place. She stopped right in front of the blond-_

_Then pulled her in for a passionate kiss._

“Okay…so did not see that coming.” Tommy said in shock at what was happening.

 

“My sister…and Nyssa?” Laurel said greatly surprised.

 

“It’s kind of hot.” Roy said and laughed when Thea swatted his shoulder.

“Sara was the first person to come to the League that hadn’t sought it out. Naturally, there was a curiosity Nyssa had about her. Curiosity led to friendship and then love. And well, I think you must have always suspected that Sara had a little love for the ladies.” Dinah shrugged at Laurel.

 

_Oliver lowered his bow as the two women kissed. Finally they parted, leaving Sara a little breathless._

_"I've had better greetings." Nyssa noted teasingly._

_"I'm sorry, I did- I just-I didn't know what you were going to do." Sara stuttered._

_"To be honest, neither did I." Nyssa said truthfully as she sheathed her dagger._

_"We should talk." Sara told her._

_"Of course. Do we need permission from your boyfriend?" Nyssa turned to look at The Arrow, who stood right behind her. Sara blinked- she hadn't sensed him at all._

_Nyssa walked up to him confidently. "I am Nyssa. Daughter of Ra's al Ghul. Heir to the demon." She announced._

_"What are you doing here?" Oliver demanded._

_"Sara swore her allegiance to the League of Assassins." Nyssa said. "It's time for her to return home."_

_"That…is not going to happen." Oliver growled._

“And thus begins a very complicated story between Ollie and Nyssa.” Dinah mused.

 

“So they didn’t get along then?” Tommy guessed.

 

“Not at first. It took working together to stop her father for them to develop any sort of trust and respect for each other. Once they did, they managed to become friends.” Dinah explained.

 

_Nyssa moved to argue, but Sara stepped in front of her. "Nyssa," she began, placing a calming hand on her arm, "Please, would you give us a moment?" she begged._

_"Take your time." Nyssa replied. "Good-byes are never easy." She shifted her gaze from Oliver to Sara. "Is that why I didn't get one?" she asked rhetorically before moving a short distance away._

“Yeah, she’s not bitter at all.” Tommy said sarcastically.

 

“Hell have no fury like a woman scorned. Especially an Al Ghul women.” Dinah warned him.

 

_Sara turned back to Oliver. "I can explain." She started._

_"You don't have to." He replied. "But you're not leaving. I don't trust her."_

_"Then trust me." She said simply, before moving off with Nyssa._

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Moira was in the lounge reading a book when one of the maids walked in._

_"Mrs. Queen?"_

_"Hmm?" she said absently._

_"A Miss Smoak is here to see you." The maid announced._

“Why would Felicity come to see my mom?” Thea asked confused, a look that was shared by the other time travelers.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah told them.

 

_Moira frowned. "Who?" she asked, turning around to see Felicity walking hesitantly into the room_

_"Uh, me." She said._

_Moira glanced at her. "If you're looking for Oliver, he's not here." She said dismissively._

_"I know. I'm here to see you." Felicity said, walking deeper into the room as the maid left._

_Moira looked at her with mild surprise. "Really? What about?" she asked, curious._

_"Tempest." Felicity said, grabbing her full attention. "I flagged a large wire transfer you made. When I mentioned it to Walter, he said he would talk to you about it. I could tell in his face he wouldn't." she smiled wanly. "British people are really bad liars."_

_Moira looked down at the carpet. "Yes, they are." She muttered._

_"So I looked into it myself, because-full disclosure- I-I don't trust you." Felicity continued, finding her inner strength._

“Isn’t that illegal?”  Tommy asked turning to Laurel.

 

“I think so, yes.” Laurel nodded.

 

_"You paid a substantial sum of money to a Dr. Gill. He was the doctor who delivered Thea, which didn't make any sense to me. So I went through like a dozen different theories until I remembered… your testimony." She said. Moira was staring at her coolly. "At trial. You had an affair with Malcolm Merlyn one year before Thea was born. Merlyn is Thea's father." Felicity finished, steeling herself form the threats that were sure to follow._

_Moira rose from her seat and began walking around her. "I can see why Walter and Oliver have such a high appraisal of your capabilities." She said honestly, with only a trace of hostility in her voice. "So. What are you going to do with this information?" she asked. "Felicity." She added coldly._

_The hacker turned to face Moira. "I don't know. Confronting you in your living room was as far as my plan went." She admitted. "I thought you deserved the chance to tell Oliver yourself." Felicity continued as Moira turned away from her again. "He should hear it from you."_

_"I'm not going to tell my son anything." Moira said sternly, turning back to Felicity. "And neither are you. If you won't keep my secret for Oliver's sake, you should keep it for your own." She advised. She moved closer to the hacker. "I see the way you look at him. If you tell him this, you will rip his world apart. And a part of him will always blame you. Oh, he'll hate me, for sure." She conceded. "But he will hate you, too. We all have to keep secrets, Miss Smoak." She advised. Felicity looked at her warily as she walked past the matron out of the den, her mind whirling. Could she keep this secret?_

_Should she?_

“Emotional blackmail. Man, your mom is cold.” Roy noted and Thea sighed.

 

“Tell me about it.” Thea grumbled.

 

_The scene changed to the Glades._

_"You look different." Nyssa told Sara as the two women walked._

_"I'm still me." Sara said casually._

_"The Sara I know wouldn't have betrayed us and fled Nanda Parbat under the cover of darkness." Nyssa shot back with more than a little venom in her voice._

_"I didn't have a choice." Sara told her. "The earthquake- I needed to see my family, make sure they were safe."_

_"And so they are." Nyssa said, stopping on the boardwalk. "Come home." She pleaded softly._

_"I can't." Sara said tiredly, turning to face the woman she loved. "Look, I can't go back, Nyssa. I don't have much of a soul left in me, but what there is, it can't take the killing anymore."_

“So that’s why she left.” Laurel said sadly and Dinah nodded.

 

“That’s what war does to you: It hollows you out, scraps off little pieces of your soul until you become someone you don’t even recognize anymore.” Diggle explained grimly.

 

_"You swore an oath." Nyssa reminded her. "My father sent me here to make sure you honor it. One way or another."_

_"We both know the real reason why you came here." Sara tried._

_Nyssa reached out and ran her hands gently over Sara's arms. "When I found you, you were starving, and alone, simply waiting to die." She started quietly. "The League took you in nursed you back to health. The only reason you're alive today is because of me." She reminded her._

_"Hey, I wasn't with you because you saved me." Sara said. "I was with you because I loved you."_

_Nyssa noted the past tense. She stepped back, her heart breaking. "But not anymore." She realized, desperately fighting the tears that threatened to fall._

“In my sister’s defense, she did love Nyssa…but she loved her family and not killing more.” Dinah explained.

“Poor Nyssa.” Tommy said, feeling a sort of kinship with her, having also experience the pain of someone loving you but not loving you in the way you wanted.

 

_"Ra's listens to you. And you can ask him to release me." Sara begged._

_Nyssa scoffed. "My father has never released anyone from the League."_

_"He released Malcolm Merlyn." Sara reminded her._

_"An action he and the citizens of this city dearly regret." Nyssa pointed out._

“She’s got a point.” Roy pointed out.

 

“Yeah, but it would clearly not be the same situation with Sara.” Diggle shot back.

 

_Sara looked at Nyssa with a look of love and regret. Gently she reached up and brushed a strand of hair away from her face, then pulled herself in close. She kissed her once more on the cheek. "Do what you have to." She said softly, closing her eyes and waiting for the blade to pierce her heart. Nyssa reached down and grasped the handle of her dagger-_

_But then she angrily pulled herself away._

“This isn’t over yet, is it?” Laurel asked.

 

“Not even close.” Dinah said with a grim smile.

 

_The scene shifted to the Lair, where a frustrated Oliver decided to forego the salmon ladder and instead was pounding away on a tractor tire with a sledgehammer. "It's been two hours, and she should have gotten back in touch with me by now." He snarled. He shouldered the sledgehammer and walked over to the computers. "Felicity." She said nothing, staring off into space. "Felicity!" he shouted._

_"What?!" she asked jumpily, causing Oliver to frown in worry. "Sorry. What?"_

_"Are you ok?" he asked._

_"Uh, yeah, I'm fine." She lied, gesturing towards her head. "It's just things in here."_

“Ollie may have been a jerk when he said it, but maybe he was onto something when he said she lets her person problems take her head out of the game.” Laurel mused.

 

“Maybe.” Diggle agreed.

 

_Before he could say anything else, Sara walked in. "The League is never going to let me go." She declared. "At least if I'm halfway around the world, then I can keep my family safe."_

_"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Dig said, coming in behind her. "Just got a copy of Laurel's bloodwork. She tested negative for drugs."_

_"Well, then why did she collapse?" Sara asked._

_Diggle handed her the file. "Because they found traces of snake venom in her blood. From a Tibetan pit viper."_

“What?” Laurel asked stunned.

 

“The Tibetan pit viper, one of the most common poisons used by the League.” Dinah explained.

 

“Nyssa poisoned Laurel.” Diggle realized.

 

“And you’re friends with this woman; you let her on this base, around our daughter?” Laurel asked incredulously.

 

“She’s come a long way since then.” Dinah said simply.

 

_Wait. So Laurel didn't OD?" Felicity said in surprised._

_"She was poisoned." Sara realized._

_"She was poisoned by Nyssa, who did it to draw you back here." Oliver said with a sinking feeling in his gut. "And it worked."_

_"My family's in danger." Sara said worriedly._

“From the woman who’s now apparently my BFF.” Laurel grumbled.

 

Dinah sighed but said nothing, knowing it wouldn’t change Laurel’s mind.

 

_Six years ago-_

_Back in the Lance house, Sara was seated on the couch texting to Oliver when Laurel dropped down next to her, a bowl of ice cream in her hand. She grabbed the remote and muted the TV._

_"Who are you texting?" she asked._

_"No one." Sara said immediately._

“Liar!” Tommy shouted as Laurel scowled.

 

_Laurel looked at her with a twinkle in her eye. "Did you meet a boy at school?" she teased._

_Sara lightly shoved Laurel. "Cut it out. Boys at school are lame." She started picking at the blanket that covered her lap (and phone). "Hey, how's everything with you and Oliver?" she asked leadingly._

_"Great." Laurel said. "We decided to start looking at apartments together." She misread her sister's reaction and plowed on. "I know it's a big step, but… we're ready. I think we'll live together for a year, engaged for another, and then…"_

_"Mrs. Laurel Queen." Sara said with fake happiness._

“Was I really that oblivious?” Laurel asked incredulously.

 

“Yes.” Dinah said and Laurel groaned.

 

_Laurel sighed giddily. "Maybe one day."_

_"This is kind of assuming that he's ever ready to settle down." Sara put out there._

_"What's that supposed to mean?" Laurel asked warily._

_"Well, we both know at least ten girls that he's slept with." Sara pointed out._

_Laurel scoffed. "Can't you just be happy for me?" she asked, annoyed. "I mean, if you met some amazing guy who wanted to spend the rest of his life with you, I would be so supportive, and so happy for you—"_

_"Ok, Laurel, I wasn't trying to be a bitch." Sara said, trying to placate her sister._

_"The title of your autobiography." Laurel muttered._

“Pot, meet kettle.” Thea muttered and Laurel winced, knowing she had a point.

 

_Sara sighed, and then got up. "I'm going to get some sleep." She said, moving quickly out of the room and ignoring her sister. She looked down at her phone, and the messages that had been going back and forth between them._

_**Having doubts…**_

_**PLEASE!**_

_**See you at the docks **_

_She looked at the last message, already typed but still unsent. Making a decision she hit send, and then headed to her room._

“Neither of us was innocent in this. She screwed us, we screwed her. So let the past stay in the past.” Dinah told Laurel, who nodded with a thoughtful look on her face.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to the hospital, where Dinah was watching over a sleeping Laurel. She leaned down and kissed her forehead, then picked up the empty water pitcher and walked out of the room to fill it. As she looked for the water dispenser, she never noticed the Arabian man who looked quite out of place in a white lab coat following her. So as she leaned down and started to fill the pitcher, she had no time to react when the man placed a chloroform- soaked rag over her nose and mouth._

“Mom.” Laurel said softly, worry shooting through her heart.

 

“Relax, no harm came to her.” Dinah assured her.

 

_The assassin placed Dinah into a wheelchair and wheeled her to an elevator. Taking it down to the basement, he made his way into a service tunnel that ran to the parking garage. He tore off the white coat, but stopped suddenly as a young man in a red hood came around the corner up ahead._

_Roy's eye's widened. Oliver had been very short with him on the phone- go watch over Laurel and her family at the hospital, call if you see anything suspicious, DO NOT ENGAGE. Looked like that order just went out the window… "Hey, let her go!" he yelled._

_"Or What?" The assassin asked._

_"Or the next wheelchair will be for you." Roy said. Suddenly he gasped as he felt a small dart pierce the back of his neck. He pulled it out, shaking his head to clear it, and turned to see Nyssa staring at him, amazed. "Ouch." He said sarcastically._

_"That dart contained 20 milligrams of venom. You should be dead." She noted, moving closer. "You're stronger than you look."_

“The benefits of Mirakuru.” Roy said sarcastically.

 

_Nyssa easily side-stepped the swing and grabbed his arm, using his own momentum to spin him around and throw him into a wall hard. Roy lay there for a moment, stunned._

_"Not so strong after all." Nyssa said blithely as Roy struggled to his feet. Snarling in frustration and embarrassment, Roy came at her again. This time Nyssa used her fists and her bow, clocking his pathetic attempts at fighting and dishing out punishment that would kill a lesser man. One last hard hit across his face sent him crashing into a food service cart, and Roy crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Nyssa didn't even spare him a glance; she just looked at her man, then turned and walked off down the hall. Her partner followed with Dinah._

“Damn.” Roy whistled, impressed with how easily she beat him.

 

“You were untrained and had the Mirakuru in your system. Power is not everything.” Dinah explained and he nodded silently.

 

_They made their way to the parking garage, where the assassin loaded Dinah into the back of a panel van. They shut the doors, then climbed into the truck and took off._

_Soon the van was speeding down the lower industrial roads. From the Lair, Felicity guided Oliver and Sara, who rode tandem on his bike, towards them. As they sped past the van, Sara pulled out her Canary Cry device and activated it, shattering every window on the van. Nyssa climbed into the back of the van and started firing arrows at the two vigilantes as they spun the bike around to follow, but Oliver popped a wheelie and the arrows bounced harmlessly off the armored underside of the bike. Oliver gunned the bike, rapidly gaining on the van. Sara stood on the seat, and then leapt over Oliver to land on the roof of the van. Inside, Nyssa began firing arrow through the roof, forcing Sara to move closer to the edge. A final arrow caused Sara to roll of the edge. She grasped the luggage rack- and stared at horror as she saw her mother lying on the floor of the van, unconscious. The distraction cost her as Nyssa belted her once in the jaw, sending the Canary flying off the van._

“No.” Laurel groaned in dismay.

 

_Oliver slid his bike to a stop as Sara staggered to her feat. "No!" she screamed over and over as the van sped off into the night._

“Damn.” Roy winced as Laurel put her head in her hands.

 

“Relax; she made it out just fine.” Dinah assured her again.

 

“Doesn’t make it any easier to watch.” Laurel grumbled.

 

_The scene changed to Starling General as Lance met Sara and The Arrow out in the ambulance bay._

_"Dad, it's my fault, I'm so sorry." Sara began._

_"The assassins group that you're a part of, they took your mother." He told her._

_"Not exactly." Sara hedged._

_"Well, what exactly?" Lance demanded._

_"A woman. Nyssa. She's a powerful figure in the League. And she poisoned Laurel. She took mom." She explained in a rush._

_"To get you to come back to the League?" Lance asked._

_Sara paused for a moment. "To get me to come back to her." She said significantly._

“Well, that’s one hell of a way to come out.” Tommy said dryly.

 

_Lance paused. For some reason, he had almost no problem with the fact that his youngest daughter was an assassin, but learning she was also bisexual was a bit of a shock. "Oh."_

“Yeah, oh.” Laurel said dryly.

 

_Before he could say anything else, Sara's phone rang. She answered it at once. "Nyssa, don't do this." She begged._

_"I tried to warn you, but you wouldn't listen." Nyssa replied coldly. She paced the warehouse she was using as her base, walking around a bound and gagged Dinah. "I thought it would be instructive for you to know what it feels like to suddenly lose someone you love. To have them ripped from your life without warning." Her voice quivered slightly._

“She’s hurt, very hurt.” Roy noted.

 

“That’s makes her even more dangerous.” Diggle said growing even more concerned.

 

_"You do not want to hurt my mother." Sara told her ex-lover._

_"You're right. I don't." she agreed. "You have one day, Ta-er al-Sahfer. Make the right choice." She hung up._

“I still don’t know how you became friends with this woman.” Laurel told Dinah who sighed.

 

“Nyssa wanted to sit in on this one to explain it herself, but I thought it would be better coming from me. When you grow up the way she did, you see the world through a very…specific lens. If you weren’t with her, you were her enemy. If someone hurts you, you hurt them back. Ra’s was even worse than Malcolm as a father, imagine what it was like to grow up with someone worse than Malcolm, and you can understand why she did the things she did.” Dinah reasoned and everyone was silent as they processed this.

 

“When you put it like that…I can’t help but feel sorry for her.” Thea muttered.

 

“Exactly. She’s not a bad person, she was never a bad person, she just got handed a lousy lot in life.” Dinah explained.

 

_At the hospital, Sara hung up and looked at Oliver. "We have 24 hours."_

_"Detective," He looked at Lance, "We'll find her." He promised._

_"Ok, Laurel's inside, she's losing her mind, I got to go." Lance said in a rush, heading back to the door. "Keep me updated." He ordered as he went back inside._

_Six years ago-_

_It was another ordinary day at the Lance household. Little did any of them know it would be the last ordinary day they ever had._

_"Oh, come on!" Lance cried in aggravation at the TV as the Rockets continued to lose. "You ought to buy a ticket if you're going to play like that!" he moved back to the sink to continue prepping dinner when Laurel came up and leaned on the counter. "Hey, kiddo. How's the apartment hunt going?" he asked._

_"Terribly." She said glumly. "I really wanted to find the perfect place to show Ollie when he gets back from his boat trip. Everything good was already taken by the time I walked in the door."_

_"Maybe it's a sign that you're not supposed to move in with the frat boy that you call a boyfriend." Lance said hopefully._

“Maybe he’s onto something.” Diggle mused.

 

“Yeah, I think it was a sign of how self-destructive our relationship was. Back then, at least.” Dinah mused.

 

_Laurel scoffed. "You and mom were my age when you moved into that place on Spring Street." She reminded him. "You weren't even engaged yet."_

_"Well, that's 'cause your mother kept turning down all my proposals."_

_As Lance moved back to the counter, Laurel leaned against the sink. "She did?" she asked in amazement._

_"Oh, you know your mother, free spirit and all." Lance said with a grin. "Why do we need rings when we have love? You know I spent a year with that damn ring burning a hole in my pocket?"_

_Laurel's smile at the story fell off her face as a news broadcast cut into the game. 'A mayday transmission was heard, but so far there has been no trace of the 'Queen's Gambit'." Laurel dropped the plat she had been holding, and it shattering on the floor drew Lance's attention to the small TV as well. 'Among those missing are local residents Robert and Oliver Queen.'_

Laurel, Dinah, Tommy, and Thea all winced, the dark memories of that dark day flashing through their mind. Roy and Diggle tactfully didn’t say anything, although Roy did wrap an arm around Thea. Something that, under normal circumstances, would arose Tommy’s suspicions, but he’d let it slide this time.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed back to the Lair, where Oliver's team was already hard at work._

_"Do we have a lead on Dinah?" he asked._

_"We researched the poison Nyssa used on Laurel." Diggle started._

_"Luckily for us, Tibetan pit viper venom is surprisingly difficult to transport." Felicity said, taking over. "It starts losing its potency the moment it leaves the fangs." She paused. "Yet another sentence I never thought I'd actually say out loud." She said in surprise._

_"So it was bought locally?" Sara guessed._

_"Not bought. Stolen." Diggle revealed._

_"From where?" Oliver asked._

_"The zoo. A local break-in. The perps didn't steal anything, so the cops chalked it up to a bunch of kids looking for a thrill."_

_"I pulled up the zoo CCTV footage from the night of the break-in." Felicity said, pulling up a still image. "I caught a plate. The car's a rental. Address is in the Glades."_

“They have a lead.” Laurel said relieved.

 

_Oliver pulled out his burner phone and handed it to The Canary. "Sara. Call your father." He told her, and then moved off to pull out his personal phone as it started to ring. "Sebastian, I am so sorry." He said as he answered the call. "I have a bad habit of standing you up."_

_"Look, I know you have to pull your support for my campaign." Blood said from Oliver's office. "Blood is thicker than politics. And it should be."_

_Well, thank you for understanding, and I really hope that this doesn't affect our friendship." Oliver said sincerely. "It's important to me."_

_"And to me." Blood assured him as he hung up. He paused for a moment to look out over the city. 'My city.' He thought._

_"Can I help you, alderman?"_

_Blood turned to see Moira Queen step into the office. He smiled pleasantly at her. "Oh, I had a meeting with your son. I'm sure you can guess the topic." He told her amicably._

“Is he there to threaten my mother?” Thea asked dangerously.

 

“Yes and no.” Dinah said vaguely.

 

_"I hope my decision to run against you for mayor doesn't affect your relationship." Moira said diplomatically._

_"Out of respect for that relationship, can I offer some advice?" Blood said._

_"Please."_

_"Get out." Blood said, moving closer. "Now."_

_Moira rubbed her earing, smiling slightly. "The fact that you are advising me to get out before I even announce my candidacy suggests that you're threatened." She noted._

_"I'm apprehensive about destroying my friend's mother." Blood said._

_"I can take care of myself." Moira assured him._

_"Really?" Blood asked. "During your trial, you portrayed yourself as a fragile creature living under Malcolm Merlyn's thumb." He noted. "So which is it? The woman strong enough to lead this city, or the one too weak willed to save it?"_

“A little bit of both actually.” Tommy mused and there were murmurs of agreement around the room.

 

_Moira stared at him coldly. "The one who should not be underestimated." She told him, more a warning than a statement. Blood smirked, and then showed himself out of the office._

“Wait to go mom.” Thea smirked.

 

_The scene changed to the Glades. Lance got out of his car in the alley he had been directed to and approached Sara. "So what exactly is the plan here?" he asked._

_"We wait." She said. "The Arrow will lead him right to us."_

_Lance nodded, and the two stood in awkward silence. "You know, you never did tell me how you joined up with the Arrow in the first place." He said, finally breaking the silence. "Where did you two even meet?"_

_"Vigilante club." Sara replied flippantly._

Tommy and Roy burst out laughing as Laurel, Thea, and Dinah snickered. Diggle simply smiled in amusement.

 

_Lance chuckled. "Same old Sara. Well, not exactly the same." He noted tersely._

_Sara looked up at her father. "I loved her, Dad." She said honestly. "Are you upset?"_

_Lance sighed. "Honestly, Sara, to think what you've been through these past six years? The pain, the loneliness…" he shook his head. "I'm just happy to hear you had someone that cared for you." The two smiled at once another, an understanding reached._

“Dad…” Laurel had a small smile on her face.

 

“Say what you will about him, but he is a good man.” Dinah said proudly.

 

_Suddenly the assassin was there, dripping down on the Arial silk. The Arrow followed right behind him, and Sara drew her staff and attacked. The two vigilantes attacked the assassin in tandem, but he was skilled, managing to hold them off with a pair of sai's. He managed to knock down Sara, then Oliver-_

_Then Lance came in and decked him._

_"What's the matter, they didn't teach you about right crosses in assassin school?" he snarled at the fallen assassin._

_Sara hauled him up and held her staff to his throat. "Where is Nyssa?!" Sara demanded._

_Lance pulled out his gun and pointed it right at the man's head. "Tell me where my wife is!" The assassin stated muttering in Arabic. "What the hell is he saying?" Lance wanted to know._

_"He's praying." Sara realized. Suddenly, before she could move to stop him, he raised a glass vial and took a sip. "No, don't!" Sara cried, but it was too late. He started to convulse and a moment later, Sara let the body drop to the ground, dead._

“What the hell?!” Tommy shouted as they all stared at the screen, stunned.

 

“The League is taught, if there is no alternative, to take their own life if it is possible they could give information to the enemy that would betray the League. Very similar to the Japanese tradition to taking their lives if there is no way out.” Dinah explained.

 

_"Son of a bitch!" Lance cried out in frustration._

_Oliver bent over and picked up the vial- it as the venom. "It's over, Detective." The Arrow said dejectedly. "He's gone."_

_The scene shifted to Queen Consolidated's lobby the next morning. Press and dignitaries were milling about, waiting for Moira's press conference to start, and Olive rand Felicity were right in the middle of them._

_"How's Sara holding up?" Diggle asked as he approached the pair. He noted absently that Felicity looked upset._

_"Not well. And I need you to pick up the trail on Nyssa, because Mrs. Lance is running out of time." Oliver told his partner._

_"I'm on it." Dig said, making a discreet exit._

_"Oh, Oliver." Moira said as she and Thea approached. "Felicity." She added as she gave her son a hug. Felicity turned away, not able to look at the woman._

_"Hi, hi." He said, hugging her back_

_"Ohh. Well, I haven't been this nervous since my wedding day." Moira joked. "Both of them."_

_"Moira, it's time." Mark said, approaching the family. "Oliver, are you ready to introduce your mother?" he asked._

_"With pride." Oliver said happily. Moira smiled at her son, and then turned to head to the stage. She spared Felicity on last glance, one last smirk before she did._

“I have a feeling that Moira shouldn’t have done that.” Roy noted.

 

“You’d be right. Pride before the fall.” Dinah said.

 

_Disgusted, she turned and started to walk off as Oliver watched in concern. "Felicity? Felicity." He repeated more firmly, stopping her with a gently hand on her arm. "What is going on with you? And don't say—"_

_"Nothing." They both said at the same time._

_"The truth, please." Oliver said, holding his ground._

_Felicity looked at him, almost in tears. She knew what she was going to say, and she knew what it might cost her. But Moira's smirk had been it for her. "Might have noticed that I talk a lot." She began shakily._

“No, no. We never noticed.” Roy drawled as everyone snickered.

 

_"It has not escaped my attention." Oliver replied glibly._

_"You might have also noticed that I don't talk a lot about my family." She added significantly._

_"I have noticed that." Oliver admitted._

_"My mother is… she's… she's my mother." She said._

“So, was she abusive or something then?” Tommy asked, starting to feel bad for Felicity.

 

“Not even close. I met her mother, she and dad actually dated for a while. Sure, her mother had her faults, but she was never a bad person and was a good mother to Felicity. Felicity is just the most selfish, ungrateful person ever in regards to her mother.” Dinah said stiffly.1

 

_"And I don't really know what my father is, 'cause he abandoned us. I barely remember him. But I do remember… how much it hurt when he left." She admitted. "And just the thought of losing someone that important to me again—"_

_"Hey." He said, taking her gently by the shoulders. "You're not going to lose me. Whatever it is that's bothering you…" he looked at her carefully. "Is it about your family?"_

_"No." she said after a moment. "It's about yours."_

“Oh boy.” Tommy squirmed.

 

“Here we go.” Thea sighed.

 

“Moira really should have told Ollie.” Laurel sighed.

 

“A lesson she would soon learn.” Dinah said.

 

_Sara stood in the cemetery, waiting for the inevitable phone call. It finally came._

_"Time's up." Nyssa told her from the docks. "Have you made your decision?"_

_Sara knelt down in front of the grave; it was her own. She stared at the engraved name resolutely. "Let my mother go. And I will return with you to Nanda Parbat." She said._

_Nyssa exhaled in relief. "You're doing the right thing, Sara." She said. "For both of us."_

“No, just for you.” Laurel spat.

 

_Sara hung up the phone, and then pulled out the vial of poison. She stared at it, at peace with her decision._

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. The ex-lawyer had finally been discharged and was sitting on her couch, wrapped in a blanket as Quentin handed her a cup of tea._

_"Here you go, sweetie. Your chamomile, like you like." He said. He sat down next to her. "Is there anything else I can get you?"_

_"My mother." She asked tearfully._

_Lance let out a long breath. "Laurel, there's something I got to tell you." He said after a moment. "It's about your sister."_

“As if I didn’t have enough to deal with.” Laurel.

 

“I didn’t take it well, but I probably would have taken it even worse if dad had told me.” Dinah mused.

 

_"What about her?"_

_Suddenly Lance's phone rang. He rose from the couch before answering it. "Hello?"_

_"Dad, I found mom." Sara said. "Meet me at the lower boat yards in 30 minutes, and come alone. Don't tell the Arrow." She urged._

“Wait, why doesn’t she want to tell Ollie?” Laurel asked, a pit suddenly formed in her stomach.

 

“Just wait and you’ll see.” Dinah said sadly.

 

_"Copy that." Lance said, hanging up. He turned back to Laurel, who was sobbing quietly on the couch. "I got to go." He told her._

_"What about Sara, Dad?" Laurel asked._

_"I'll explain everything later, all right?" he promised. "Just sit tight." He moved quickly out of the apartment. After a moment, Laurel followed._

“Did he honestly expect me to just sit there?” Laurel asked incredulously.

 

“He hoped.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_The scene changed back to Queen Consolidated. The conference had started, and Walter was warming up the crowd as Felicity told Oliver what she had discovered. He stood there, stock still, no emotion on his face as Walter continued._

_"I say this with confidence. Because the Moira Queen that I know is more than a successful CEO and philanthropist. She is a loving mother who has devoted her life to raising two wonderful children. Just to tell you how special she is, I'd like to welcome her son. CEO of Queen Consolidated, Mr. Oliver Queen."_

“Wonder how this will go down.” Thea muttered, knowing how upset her brother must be with their mother.

 

“Most likely, not good.” Tommy guessed.

 

_Oliver approached the dais in a daze, still processing what he had just learned. He slowly made his way up and stood in front of the lectern, gripping its edges tightly. He stood unmoving and silent for a few moments as the cameras flashed. "Phew. Thank you." He said hoarsely. He cleared his throat and tried to pull himself together, but he just couldn't seem to. "Well, I'm here today to say a few words about Moira Queen." He began slowly. "I bet many of you think that you know her, because you read about her in the press, or you saw her on TV. But I can promise you-" he paused for a moment. "You don't know my mother."_

_At that moment, Moira knew. She glanced out at the press, searching for Felicity's face. Felicity stared back at her steadily, even with tears in her eyes._

_"You don't know her like I do." Oliver continued. "And you don't know what she's capable of…" he swallowed. "When it comes to helping the people of Starling City." He added. "Ladies and gentlemen… my mother, Moira Queen." He added warmly. For the camera he walked up to his mother and gave her a hug. "I know." He whispered to her. He let her move past him and moved to stand besides Thea, giving her a kiss on her temple as Moira stepped up to the microphones._

“Huh, I kind of expected an explosion.” Roy admitted.

 

“Be patient.” Dinah told him.

 

_"Thank you! Thank you, Starling City." She said warmly, waving to the crowd._

_The scene changed to the Lair a short time later as the three vigilantes entered._

_"Sara!" Oliver called out._

_"The snake venom, it's gone." Felicity noticed at once._

_"She found Nyssa." Oliver realized._

_"And she's going to poison her?" Diggle asked, dumbfounded._

_"We need to stop her before she does. Activate her tracer." Oliver ordered Felicity._

_Dig looked at him in surprise as Felicity ran to her computer. "You put a tracer on her?"_

_"She has a bad habit of disappearing on me." He noted darkly._

“Yeah, that’s smart.” Diggle mused.

 

_"Oliver, I hate to sound cold, but why do we care if Sara kills some bad ass assassin that wants to get her and her family?" Diggle asked._

_"Because, Diggle, if half of the stories that I have heard about Ra's al Ghul are true; if Sara kills his daughter… we will all pay." Oliver said seriously._

“That’s considering if Ra’s actually cared about Nyssa.” Dinah said darkly.

 

“So Ra’s wouldn’t have gone after us?” Roy asked.

 

“Oh no, he would’ve. But it would’ve been for Sara’s act of killing a member of The League, not for killing Nyssa.” Dinah explained.

 

“Ra’s sounds like a real bastard.” Roy mused.

 

“Oh trust me, he is.” Dinah said with a grim smile.

 

_He walked over to his crate and withdrew the satchel of island herbs, then grabbed his bow before going for his leathers._

_At the docks, Nyssa was untying Dinah. "They're coming for you now." She told the frightened woman._

_"Dinah!" they both looked up as Lance burst into the warehouse, his gun drawn. "Move away from her! Move away!" Lance ordered. Nyssa stood there calmly as Dinah lurched from the chair and ran into her ex-husbands arms. "It's all right, it's all right." He whispered to her._

_"What's happening?" Dinah asked, and then froze as she saw her. "Sara." Dinah whispered as her daughter walked out of the shadows._

_"It's me, Mom." Sara assured her. "It's me."_

_"Oh, my baby! My baby!" Dinah cried, pulling her into her arms. "Oh, my baby!"_

_"I love you so much, Mom." Sara told her as Nyssa looked on. "I have to go." She said, pulling away from her._

_"What?" Dinah asked, dumbfounded. "What are you doing?"_

_"Dad, get mom out of here!" Sara ordered as she approached Nyssa._

_"What?!"_

_"We've got to go." Lance said, puling Dinah away towards the exit_

_"No! No! No!" Dinah cried out, sobbing as her daughter was taken from her once again._

“Damn that must be hard on her.” Diggle said sympathetically and Dinah barely repressed a scoff.

 

_Sara took three halting steps towards Nyssa, and then collapsed as Nyssa looked on in horror. She moved to her side. "You took the poison." She realized in dread, looking into Sara's eyes and seeing the same hemorrhaging that had been in her sisters._

“Holy crap.” Tommy  said shocked as Laurel started in alarm.

 

“I thought she didn’t die until four years ago!” Laurel whirled on Dinah.

 

“She didn’t. Just sit back and watch.” Dinah said calmly.

 

_"No!" she whispered, kneeling beside her and pulling her into her lap. "No! NO!" she cried out in anguish._

_"I can't go back." She gasped out. "I can't take the killing anymore. It needs to end."_

“Well, I have to give Sara points for standing by her beliefs. Respect.” Diggle said.

 

_Nyssa lay her down on the ground as Lance ran back in the building. "Sara!" he cried, out. He pulled his radio from his belt as he ran to his daughter. "Delta Charlie 52, to Central, need back up at the lower boat yards. "Ambulance, paramedics…"_

_Nyssa was in a daze, her grief turning to rage. "If you want to be with your family so badly," she said as Dinah ran back in, moving to her daughters' side, "they can join you in eternity." She said coldly._

“Oh hell no!” Laurel snarled.

 

“Relax, she didn’t that far.” Dinah assured her.

 

_Lance stood up and drew his weapon. He held it right in her face. "You get the hell away from my daughter." He growled. Contemptuously she knocked the gun from his hand, and then dropped him with two swift punches. As he lay dazed on the ground, she withdrew her dagger, glaring at Dinah-_

_And then the dagger was knocked out of her hand by an arrow._

_She turned to glare at The Arrow as she stood a short distance away. "Live or die. It's up to you." He told her. He then drew another arrow and fired._

“Thank god.” Laurel sighed in relief.

 

_Nyssa expertly dodged out of the way, throwing herself back onto the table where her bow was, grabbing it, then kipping back up and drawing an arrow of her own. The Arrow had melted back into the shadows, and the assassin began her hunt, leaping up onto a gantry for a better view. She ducked another arrow, and returned fire at the catwalk across the warehouse where Oliver had taken position. They traded shots, each ducking the others with ease. Finally she got a hit- an arrow sliced through the strap on his quiver, sending it to the ground far below. She took the opportunity to run and jump, using her bow to catch a cable that she started to slide down. Oliver fire the last arrow he had, splitting the cable and letting her drop a good 8 feet._

_Oliver followed her down to the ground, switching his bow to his non-dominate hand as Nyssa spun around and took aim. "Nyssa," he said quietly. "I can still save her."_

_"Worry more about saving yourself." She fired, and Oliver blocked the arrow with his bow. He moved in close, taking the fight directly to the grieving assassin. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be a fair fight. Nyssa had decades of experience as an assassin having learned under the most brutal of teachers. But she was still a human, still heartbroken, and that made her sloppy. She landed several good hits, but when she drew a smaller dagger for the kill, Oliver managed to reverse the hold, trapping her in a choke hold/armbar._

_"Don't kill her." Oliver and Nyssa looked up in astonishment as Sara staggered towards them. She dropped to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. "Please." She gasped._

“After all this, she still cares about Nyssa?” Sara asked incredulously.

 

“They developed a very strong bond of understanding and affection. That doesn’t go away just because they betrayed each other.” Dinah explained.

 

_Oliver let Nyssa go and ran to her side. He pulled out the pouch and withdrew a large pinch of herbs "Sara! Sara! Sara, hold on." He yelled, forcing them into her mouth. "Stay with me. Come on. Come on, stay. Not again." He pleaded quietly, praying for the herbs to work._

_A few moments later, Sara shot up with a gasp. Oliver held on to her, but she forced herself free to look tearfully at the woman she still loved. "No more killing." She said weakly. "Nyssa. Please."_

_Nyssa stared back, experiencing true heartbreak for the first time in her long life. "Ta-er al-Sahfer, in the name of Ra's al Ghul, I release you." She intoned tearfully._

“Man, did not think she would actually do that.” Tommy said surprised and Dinah nodded.

 

“knowing what I know about her now, that was probably one of the hardest and most selfless things Nyssa ever did.” Dinah explained.

 

_In the distance, sirens could be heard. "Sara!" Lance cried out, running towards his daughter. As he and Dinah reached her side, both the Arrow and Nyssa had vanished into the night. "Thank God you're ok! Are you all right?" he asked._

_"Oh, I can't believe you. Look at you." Dinah said tearfully, pulling the still weak girl into her lap._

_"You're all right, baby." Lance told her. As rescue personnel approached, someone else was watching the reunion. A short distance away Laurel stood, watching in stunned disbelief. As she watched them tend to their youngest, Laurel felt so many emotions at once, she just couldn't settle on which to feel first._

“Oh boy.” Tommy said and Laurel winced.

 

“considering my mental state at the time, I don’t imagine o took the news of my sister, who my boyfriend had been cheating on me with, being alive last time I saw her all that well.” Laurel looked over at Dinah who looked away in shame.

 

“No, I did not take it well at all.” Dina winced as shame of her reaction welled up inside her.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor later that night. Moira was in the den, watching a clip on the news of her press conference._

_'Because Starling City is our city.' She was saying. 'And starting today, we're going to take it back.' She took a sip of her drink, then glancing up she saw Oliver. Quickly she stood and muted the TV. "I know we need to talk." She began._

_"You need to listen." Oliver said quietly. He was eerily calm. "For the past year, I have stood by your side and I have fought, because I wanted to believe that you weren't this… monster. And I needed to believe that I still had a mother." He said._

_"You do, Oliver—" she approached, but he held her off with a raised hand, showing emotion for the first time. "Oliver, I only lied about Thea to protect her from Malcolm." She claimed._

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Thea grumbled.

 

_"No, you lied because that is what you do." He shot back. "And that is who you are, Mom. Lies. And now you've made a liar out of me. Because Thea can never find out about Merlyn." He growled._

“Is he serious, he kept it from me to?” Thea demanded angrily.

 

“Yes, he did,” Dinah admitted, “but I want you to understand something: while he may have lied to you, his reasons were far different then your mother’s. Moira lied because she was just trying to protect her own ass. Ollie lied because he actually does believe he is protecting you. And because he didn’t want to tarnish your memory of Robert. That is why he lied. Take that into consideration before you get angry.”

 

Thea nodded with a thoughtful look on her face.

 

_"And she can never know the truth about us. Which is that as of right now, we have no relationship." Moira's face fell. "I will keep up appearances for Thea's sake." He continued as she struggled not to break down. "And publicly, I will support your campaign. But privately- You and I are done."_

_"Oliver." She said shakily, moving toward him. Once again he warded her off, before turning and bolting for the door. "Oliver. Oliver!" Moira called out tearfully._

“Whoa.” Roy whistled.

 

“Yeah, Moira keeping this from him was just the last straw for Ollie.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment, where the Lance family had congregated. As her parents fussed over Sara, Laurel- still in a fugue state- did the only thing she could think of- she grabbed the first bottle of wine she saw._

“Great.” Laurel groaned.

 

_Sara looked at her warily. "I know you have a lot of questions." She started._

_Laurel shook the bottle, making sure there was still wine in it. "Nope."_

_"How could you not have any questions?" Sara asked._

_"Because I already know all of the answers to them." Laurel said, pouring a glass. "How could you still be alive; where have you been all this time? Why didn't you call us. And the answer to all of them… is because it's Sara." She said snidely. It seemed she had settled on anger._

“An angry, drunk me. Yep, this is so not going over well.” Laurel sighed.

 

_Baby, don't do this—" Lance started._

_"Dad, I swear to God, if you say one more word." Laurel cut him off, taking a swig of wine._

_"Laurel, look, I know you're angry." Sara said, moving away from her parents towards her sister. "And you have every right to be. But please don't take this out on dad. If you need someone to blame, blame me." She pleaded._

_"Oh, I do blame you, Sara." She said, taking another drink. "Every single thing that's gone wrong in our lives is your fault. You got on that stupid boat with my boyfriend. You didn't call us to tell us that you were still alive, even though it probably would have saved mom and dad's marriage. And you brought some crazy assassin into Starling City who nearly killed mom and who poisoned me." She spat as he parents looked on helplessly. "You. You stole my whole life away from me." She stared at her sister coldly. "Now get out."_

_"Laurel-"_

_"Get out." She repeated._

_Defeated, Sara walked to the door and grabbed her jacket. She slipped it on and opened the door. "I'm sorry." She said sadly before closing the door._

_"I said get out!" Laurel roared, hurtling the glass at the door._

“Yep, and I was a complete bitch.” Laurel sighed.

 

“That’s what happens with alcoholism. You push away everyone important to you. You saw how dad did it and you’ve seen how you did it.” Dinah advised and Laurel slowly nodded, knowing she was right.

 

“Hey, now you know what not to do, right?” Tommy said, trying to make her feel better.

 

“Please don’t try and cheer me up.” Laurel told him miserably.

 

_Six years ago-_

_Laurel sat on the couch, devastated, as Lance consoled her. Suddenly there was a knock on the door._

_"Hold on." He said, rising from the couch. He approached the door and looked out the glass to see Moira Queen standing there. Quentin opened the door. "Please, come in." he said._

_Moira stiffly walked into the house, dreading what she was about to do. As she walked into the living room, Laurel leapt from the couch and grabbed onto the grieving widow._

_"Tell me Oliver is ok!" Laurel pleaded. "Tell me everything's ok!"_

_"I wish I could." Moira said sadly._

_"Moira, I'm so sorry about Robert." Quentin said, pulling Laurel off the woman gently. "About Oliver. I really am."_

_"Yes, um, I need to tell you both something." She said nervously._

_"What is it?" Quentin asked._

_"Robert and Oliver weren't the only ones lost." Moira started hesitantly. "Along with the crew, a friend invited along by Oliver at the last minute."_

_"Tommy." Laurel said in dread._

_"No." Moira said, shaking her head. "It was… It was Sara." She revealed. Laurel collapsed back onto the couch as Quentin's world shattered. "Your Sara. I'm so sorry, Quentin." Moira said tearfully. "The dock master saw her sneak on board." Numb with shock and grief, all Laurel could do was sit there and shake._

Laurel winced, remembering the shock, anger, grief, and betrayal she had felt that day. But, as Dinah told her repeatedly, perhaps it was best not to live in the past. Maybe it was time to focus on making a better future.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to Slade's office, where he was watching the news report. 'With Moira Queen's impressive speech earlier today, some pundits are suggesting her candidacy might not be so far-fetched.' The anchor was saying. 'And while Blood's campaign has yet to issue a public response to Mrs. Queen's announcement—"_

_"I warned you not to underestimate Moira Queen." Slade said as Blood walked into the office._

_"What do you want me to do?" Blood asked rhetorically._

_The men stared at the screen as Moira took the podium. 'Thank you! Thank you, Starling City!'_

_"Nothing." Slade said finally. "I'll take care of it." Blood watched warily as Slade donned his jacket and walked out of the office._

“What does he mean by that?” Thea asked nervously and Dinah winced, Moira’s funeral flashing through her mind.

 

“I think it’s something that needs to be seen rather than said.” Dinah said vaguely and Thea’s worries increased.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Sara walked into see Oliver hard at work on the Wing Chun dummy. He stopped when he saw her. "You've been crying." He noted._

_Sara chuckled. "Yeah, I was happy to know I still could." She said._

_"Are you ok?" he asked._

_"Well, Laurel wasn't as thrilled to see me as you thought." Sara said._

_"Give her time." Oliver advised._

_"I gave her six years." Sara pointed out._

“Yeah, but I thought you were dead then.” Laurel pointed out.

 

_She looked on as Oliver went to town on the dummy. "What exactly are you taking out on that dummy?" she asked._

_Oliver sighed as he stepped away from it. "My mother," he said sadly. "She's not who I thought she was."_

_"I guess it's going around." Sara said._

_"So what now?" Oliver asked._

_"I don't know." Sara said honestly._

_"I don't, either." Oliver agreed._

_"I know one thing." Sara said finally._

_"What's that?"_

_"I'm home." She said. Suddenly the two crashed together, kissing frantically. They started tearing each other's clothes off as the memory faded to black._

“Are you serious?!” Laurel exploded as she stood up, causing Diggle and Tommy to run and take cover behind Thea and Roy’s loveseat.

 

“So much for military bravery.” Roy drawled.

 

“You’re more than free to take my seat.” Diggle snapped quietly.

 

“I’m-I’m good.” Roy said quickly, eying the furious Laurel nervously.

 

“He is back with her after what they did!” Laurel shouted angrily.

 

“Yes.” Dinah said calmly.

 

“How are you so calm?!” Laurel shouted.

 

“Because it’s different this time,” Dinah said and Laurel paused, “this wasn’t just a lay in the sack, feelings had begun developing between Ollie and Sara since the island. When she came back , the feelings were still there and developed further. By the end of the second year, both had fallen in love with each other. Ollie and Sara can relate to each other in a way that no one, not me, not Nyssa, not anybody, can. I know you’re angry, but I think this has more to do with Ollie and Sara’s past actions then what’s actually going on in the recordings, right?”

 

“...Yeah,” Laurel admitted as she sat down and Diggle and Tommy peaked their heads out from behind Roy and Thea, testing to see if it was safe, “I’m fine. Not happy still, but I’m not gonna blow up.”

 

“You sure?” Tommy asked timidly.

 

“Do you want me to blow up?” Laurel asked savagely.

 

“Nope, I’m good. Let’s get to the next one. Star it now Dinah!” Tommy shouted as he hurriedly took his seat.

 

Everyone chuckled at his antics as Diggle retook his seat as well. Dinah picked up the remote and pressed play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Personally, I don’t even like Dinah, I find her to be annoying and overbearing. But, with all that said, I think Felicity is a bitch to Donna. Donna had to work two jobs just to support Felicity. She got Felicity through school, got her through college possibly since it was never clarified if Felicity got a scholarship to MIT, and Felicity does not seem to appreciate anything her mother has done. In fact, she is downright disrespectful to Donna, by the scene in this episode, it’s implied by Felicity that Donna is a bad mother to her when she was actually a good one. And she is so disrespectful to Donna that she even goes so far as to basically call Donna a whore to her face in Donna’s first appearance. If Donna had done something to deserve this treatment by Felicity, I wouldn’t say anything, but Donna does not seem to have done anything but support Felicity.


	48. Time of death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laurel sees how she finally gets the help she needed and learns of Felicity's disrespectful nature towards Sara when she first joined the team. Tommy learns something about Roy and Thea which enrages him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Happy Easter everybody! Here’s my gift to all of you.

_The memory set opened in the lobby of Kord Industries. A man walked in the glass revolving door, then paused as a voice came over his Bluetooth headset._

_**In six seconds, lobby security will undergo a shift change.** the voice said. From an undisclosed location, William Tockman watched security camera footage on his computer monitors. **When that happens, make for the elevator bay.**_

_The man looked over as another man walked through the doors. "Copy." He said, following the second man to the elevators as the security teams switched out. The two got into an elevator._

_** Now, remember what I told you- timing is everything.**_

“So a bank robbery huh?” Roy noted as he observed.

 

“Let me guess, we end up going after them.” Diggle said.

 

“It’s like your psychic John.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_When they exited the elevator, both men were dressed as janitors. They quickly disposed of their suit jackets and briefcases into a cleaning cart._

_**Maintain a pace of 1.3 meters per second.** Tockman told them as he watched on the monitors. **Six seconds to target. 5…4…** he watched as they approached a corner. Around the bend, a three man team was carrying a secured briefcase. **Now is the time, gentlemen.**_

_The two men rounded the corner and easily dispatched the team with silence tranquilizers. The first man grabbed the case and looked at it. "It's a fingerprint reader. I can't crack it." He said._

_**I can.** Tockman remotely hacked into the lock and deactivated it. The man opened the case to reveal a white cylinder. He grabbed it and slipped it into his overalls._

“What is that?” Diggle asked as he narrowed his eyes.

 

“Something very dangerous, if used in a certain way.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_**You have 5.3 seconds to get down the east stairwell.** Tockman told them. They started running down the stairs when he suddenly called again. **Stop. Stop!**_

_The two men paused there, out in the open. "What the hell are we doing?" the first man asked tensely. "We got what we came for."_

_"He said to wait." The second man said._

_"Out in the open?" The first man said. "Forget this." He took off down the stairs and out into the hallway, his partner reluctantly following. They skidded to a stop when a security guard rounded the corner up ahead. The three stared at each other for a moment, frozen._

_"Don't do it." The first man warned as the guard went for his gun. "Don't do it!" The guards hand dropped to his gun, so the first man pulled his own gun out and shot him._

“Damn.” Diggle swore.

 

“Another man lost his life because of two idiots.” Roy growled.

 

“Yeah, that’s what happens when idiots turn to crime. People die because they mess up.” Dinah said darkly.

 

_**Ahh!** Tockman screamed in frustration as he watched it go down over the security monitors._

_"Security clocked us!" The second man said over the wireless._

_In the lobby, the guard on the desk saw the shooting on his monitor and called the police. "SCPD? You've got to send some officers here." He looked over to the leader of the security squad. "Up there, third floor. Third floor!" he told them. Soon the guards were storming the third floor._

_Tockman let out a breath, set the timer on one of his watches, and checked his monitors. **They've alerted the SCPD. Exit the east lobby in 22 seconds.** he ordered._

_Outside the SCPD arrived. Lance climbed out of his patrol car just as the two men burst out of the building, firing their uzi's at the cops. Lance drew his weapon. "SCPD! Put your weapons down!" he ordered, then ducked behind his car to avoid being hit. As the man ran past, Lance recognized him. "Walczak!" he reached up to his shoulder mic. "Delta Charlie 52 to Central, shots fired. I need back-up, downtown!" he yelled into the radio as he took off after the two shooters._

_The two men had a large lead, and as they rounded a corner they ran into a street protest. Quickly they stripped off their overalls and grabbed a pair of hapless protesters, they knocked them out, took their hoodies, jackets, and their sign. By the time Lance and the cops rounded the corner, the two disguised men walked right past the cops._

“Damn it!” Roy swore in frustration.

 

_Tockman smiled. "Power to the people."_

“Bastard.” Tommy snarled as they all glared at the screen.

 

_The scene shifted to the Lair. Oliver, Diggle and Sara were working out with staffs, all trying to get a feel for each other's moves as Felicity watched on enviously from the periphery. Sara got a good hit on Dig's calf, sending him down to one knee, then took the fight to Oliver. Oliver blocked her attacks, and when Sara spun back to Dig, he tagged her had on the temple._

“Hey!” Laurel shouted as she glared at Diggle.

 

“It’s not like I meant to!” Diggle said defensively.

 

_Dig!" Felicity yelped in horror._

_The fighting immediately stopped. "Sara, I'm so sorry." Dig said apologetically._

_Sara groaned as she stepped off the practice area. She put her staff down on a table. "It's ok, I'm fine." She assured the bodyguard._

_Oliver walked over. "Let me see." She flinched when he raised his hand to her head. "Let me see." He repeated. Reluctantly she held still as he examined the wound. "She's bleeding, but it's not deep." He told her._

_"Good, I can't take any more scars." Sara said flippantly. "Speaking of…" she looked down at Dig's ankle. "Mortar round?"_

_"Yeah, IED, the Paktika province in Afghanistan." He said. "Good eye."_

_"I know my wounds." She said. She showed one on her ankle. "Grenade. Algiers."_

_"I've never been hit by a grenade." Oliver remarked as Felicity watched on, feeling left out._

_"All those scars, you've never been hit by a grenade?" Diggle said, astonished._

_Oliver started pointing to random scars on his chest. "Arrow, knife, knife. A lot of bullets, no grenades."_

“Damn, you three have been through hell.” Tommy winced sympathetically as Diggle shrugged.

 

“Them more than me.” Diggle pointed out.

 

_"I've got myself a new bullet." Dig said, showing the scar on his arm. "Nine millimeter, right there."_

_Sara showed off on her side. ".38. I'm mostly swords, and a spear."_

_"I have a scar." Felicity said suddenly. The three turned to her. "It's in my mouth. I had my wisdom teeth removed when I was 16. Three stitches. They were really badly impacted." She babbled._

“Oh no.” Diggle groaned.

 

“What?” Tommy asked cluelessly as the others stared at him cluelessly.

 

“Felicity is feeling left out jealous because Sara joined the team and her relationship with Oliver,” Diggle looked at Dinah’s nod of confirmation before he continued, “when that happens, your judgement can become clouded. I just hope she doesn’t do anything to compromise the mission.”

 

_Sara grinned at her. "You're still cute." She told her sincerely._

_"We should get going." Oliver said as Felicity slunk off back to her desk, mildly humiliated. "You don't want to be late for your own welcome home party."_

_"You didn't have to throw me a party, Ollie." Sara protested again._

_"Sara, when you come back from the dead, you get a party." Oliver said with a grin. "It's a Queen family tradition."_

_"I don't know how well that's going to work with the Lance family tradition of holding grudges forever." Sara pointed out._

Laurel winced at the reminder of her reaction. Tactfully, no one said anything.

 

_"She'll come around." Oliver assured her._

_"Maybe." Sara conceded. "And maybe we should keep what's going on between you and me between us. For Laurel's sake."_

_"I get that." Oliver agreed._

“And how long did that last?” Laurel asked dryly.

 

“Twenty four hours. Maybe a little longer.” Dinah mused.

 

_Sara sighed. "I survived Lian Yu and Nanda Parbat, I guess I can handle a cocktail party."_

_"Don't be so sure." Oliver said, giving her a quick kiss. He moved off to get showered and changed, and leaving Sara to remember._

_Five years ago-_

_Slade, Sara and Oliver were on a high cliff overlooking the bay. Sara had out her microbinoculars and was looking at the 'Amazo', far in the distance. She sighed. "We're never going to make it." She told them, lowering the glasses. "Ivo has eight guards on deck at all times, all armed. The second they see us, we're dead."_

_"Assuming we can deal with Ivo's defenses." Slade said. "How are we going to get close enough to board the ship?"_

_"Maybe we build a raft." Oliver suggested._

_"It'll take us weeks to find the timber." Sara argued. "We don't have weeks."_

_"I've been on this island for 264 days. All I have is weeks." Slade shot back._

_Oliver frowned, hearing something. "Shut up." He said._

“Well, at least he’s standing up for her.” Tommy noted.

 

“Watch.” Dinah said to his confusion.

 

_Sara glared at Oliver, misunderstanding him. "You don't have to stick up for me, Ollie."_

_Oliver looked at her in confusion. "What?" He shook his head. "No, both of you shut up. Listen. Do you hear that?" they were silent, and then all three could hear it- the unmistakable sound of an aircraft engine. They looked up to see a small Piper aircraft flying low over the island. At once all three were up and running underneath the low-flying playing, waving their arms and yelling, hoping to draw the pilots attention. Suddenly, a white streak headed straight for the plane, and a moment later the missile fired from the 'Amazo' blew the wing off the aircraft. The plane plummeted to the ground as the three ran away from the suddenly falling debris._

“Damn it! They were so close to finding a way off the island!” Tommy groaned.

 

“You really think Ivo would let them?” Dinah asked dryly.

 

“…good point.” Tommy conceded.

 

_Present-_

_In the undisclosed location, Tockman was examining the device his two men had stolen._

_"You left us sitting in front of the security camera." The first man was saying. "Guards could have killed us." Tockman said nothing, still looking at the device in his hands. "Are you listening?"_

_"If you had simply waited for five more seconds, like you were told, no one would have died." Tockman said, turning to face he men._

_"Sorry." The first man said sarcastically. "I wasn't going to bet ten to twenty up in Iron Heights on your skills with a stopwatch."_

_"'The strongest of all warriors are these two- time and patience.'" He quoted._

_The first man looked at him in confusion. "What?"_

_Tockman coughed. "It's from 'War and Peace'." He said. "1440 pages. It takes a while, but it's worth a read. Tolstoy knew that patience was the epitome of strength. It takes fortitude to stand still."_

_"Just as it is a sign of weakness or cowardice to move when you should not!" he added in an angry shout._

_"Look." The man said, brushing aside the edge of his coat and placing his hand on the butt of his pistol. "We did the job. You owe me."_

“Well, he really shouldn’t have done that.” Roy said, having a feeling he knew what was coming.

 

_Tockman sneered at the man. He reached down onto his worktable and casually spun a gear like a top. "The dead are owed nothing." He said. Suddenly he spun around, the long metal arm of a clock in his hand. He stabbed the man with it once, twice, three times, then let the man drop to the floor, dead. As the second man looked on in horror, Tockman casually took of his glasses and cleaned off the blood that had splattered on them, coughing slightly as he did so._

“Damn this guy is ruthless.” Diggle said as they all stared, stunned at his brutality.

 

“You have no idea.” Dinah said grimly, remembering Barry’s story about him in Central City.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor, where the 'Welcome Home' party had begun. The doorbell rang, and Oliver and Thea answered it to see Sara, Lance and Dinah standing there._

_"Ah, come in. Come in, come in." Oliver said awkwardly, allowing the Lances into the house. "Welcome home, Sara." He stammered, giving her a hug._

_"I'm so happy you're here." Thea said, hugging Sara as well. "Come on." They walked deeper into the house, Roy and Sin came out of the lounge. Seeing her friend, Sin ran without thinking and gave her a big hug, to Thea's surprise._

“Sara probably should have told her about this.” Laurel noted.

 

“Probably.” Dinah agreed.

 

_"Oh, Sara, this is Sin." She said, confused._

_"Wait, do you two know each other?" Roy asked._

_"Uh, no. We don't." Sara said quickly, giving Sin a small wink._

_"Right." Sin said, playing along. "Uh… I love when people come back from the dead. You know. Juices my zombie fetish." All three looked at her oddly._

“She’s a really bad liar.” Diggle noted.

 

_"Um, Roy." He said, shaking her hand._

_"Sara." She said in reply._

_"Come on." The said, leading her into the lounge. Sin fell into step next to her and whispered 'Sorry' as they entered._

_Out in the hall, Oliver took out his phone and dialed a familiar number. He frowned when it went right to voicemail. "Laurel, it's Ollie." At her apartment, Laurel was laying on the couch, watching a movie with a large glass of wine. "I hope you're coming to the party." Oliver continued. "I heard that you maybe were a little mad at Sara, and I…she's your sister, and-and you only get one. You know? Bye." He hung up, felling sad._

“Why won’t I listen?” Laurel sighed sadly.

 

“Because a drunk rarely listens. We’ll get there.” Dinah assured her younger self.

 

_"Hey." Oliver turned to see Lance walking briskly towards him. "Laurel is not coming."_

_"Well, maybe she just needs time." Oliver suggested._

_"Yeah. Yeah, I needed time, too." Lance sighed. "When you got back, I… well, I was pretty harsh on you."_

“That’s an understatement if there ever was one.” Thea muttered.

 

_"Hey, Mr. Lance, you-you don't have to—"_

_"Oh, I do." He assured the younger man._

_"When you and Sara went off on your dad's boat, you were just a kid, both of you were. And whether she came back, or…" he looked around, gathering his thoughts. "I was out of line." He admitted. "You're not a killer, Oliver." He held out his hand. After a brief moment, Oliver shook it. They stood there for several moments in awkward silence before Oliver finally gestured to the lounge._

“Well, hell has officially frozen over.” Tommy said stunned while Laurel smiled in pride.

 

_"Yeah, come on, yeah." Lance said, and the two men went to rejoin the party._

_In the lounge Sara was greeting some of her old school friends while Dinah and Moira stood off to the side, watching._

_"I'm so happy for you, Dinah." Moira told the other mother. "Those five years that Oliver was gone, was like a piece of me was missing."_

_"I know just what you mean." Dinah said As Oliver walked over. "Oh, excuse me."_

_"Of course." Moira said pleasantly, taking a sip of her drink._

_After the other woman was gone, Oliver let the smile drop from his face. "I didn't think you'd be here." He said coldly._

_"This is my house." Moira reminded him. "And if you don't want to pretend to be mother and son, then don't throw parties in my home." She moved off._

“Wow, you can cut the tension with a knife.” Roy drawled and Thea slapped him on the shoulder.

 

_Thea looked over and saw her abrupt departure. "Mom?" she said, rushing over to her. "Is everything ok with you and Ollie?"_

_"Yes, of course." Moira lied, smiling as she walked off. Thea looked over to Oliver, who smiled reassuringly._

“Could they be any less convincing?” Thea asked sarcastically.

 

_Dinah was watching Sara circulate through the room when Lance walked up to her. "Hey." She said._

_"Hey." Quentin replied, unconsciously taking her hand in his._

_"You know, I still can't quite believe it." Dinah said. "I never really thought Sara would come back to us, Quentin."_

_He looked at his ex-wife, a woman he still loved, and then down at their entwined hands. "Yeah, I know." Suddenly his cell phone rang. Frustrated, he let go of Dinah's hand and pulled the phone from his pocket. "Excuse me." He said, answering the call. "Lance." He listened, then exhaled deeply in aggravation. "I'll be right there." He hung up, then looked at Dinah sorrowfully. "It's work. There's a homicide in the Glades, and I- I better go." It was a reasoning he had used dozens of times before, and one of the many reasons she was his ex-wife now._

_"Mm-hmm." She said sadly as she watched him walk out._

Laurel sighed sadly; think of the day her parent had divorced. It had destroyed their family. While she had once blamed Sara for it but knew now that both of parents had made their own choices leading to the end of their marriage. Still, she wished it hadn’t happened.

 

_Oliver watched him leave as well, so when his phone rang, he wasn't surprised. "I'm on my way." He said immediately upon answering._

_'How did you know I was calling?' Felicity asked._

_"Because Detective Lance just got the same call." He said. He looked up at Sara, and she looked back, knowing something was up._

_The scene changed to an alley in the Glades. The Arrow and The Canary stood by their bikes as Lance moved to join them._

_"What, you guys just show up to every crime scene now?" he joked._

“No, just the ones you go to.” Tommy joked and everyone snickered.

 

_Sara smiled as she moved towards him. "I saw you leave." She said._

_Lance smiled tiredly, and then pulled out a plastic evidence bag. "CSU just pulled this out of a skel I know named Eddie Walczak." He said, handing it to her._

_Sara frowned. "I've never seen a knife life this." She said._

_"It's not a knife, it's a minute hand." Lance explained. He pulled out his phone and showed her a picture of Walczak's body, with the minute hand still in it. "Like from a clock. I popped Walczak for b &e a few years back. This morning, he and an accomplice were involved in a robbery homicide."_

_"What'd they steal?" the Arrow asked._

_"Some high-tech gizmo. Kord rep called it a, um, skeleton key." He said._

“A skeleton key? What, they couldn’t call it a sorcerer’s wand?” Roy asked sarcastically and everyone snickered.

 

_The Arrow sighed in aggravation; Lance noticed. "What? You know what it is?" he asked._

_"It was intended as a military tool to aid in code breaking on foreign intelligence targets." The Arrow explained. "Felicity Smoak works at Queen Consolidated and she said they were working on something similar… but Oliver Queen shut it down once he realized what it could be used for."_

_"What?" Canary asked._

_"It could be modified to open a bank vault." Arrow replied. "Any bank vault."_

“Holy shit!” Tommy exclaimed.

 

“Good god, do you realize how many banks someone could rob with that?” Diggle asked appalled.

 

“It’s worse than that,” Dinah said and they all looked at her, “it wasn’t just limited to bank vaults. It coukd open any vault. Like a weapons vault.”

 

“Good god.” Laurel said as Diggle paled, realizing what could be done if someone raided a military weapons vault.

 

“Yeah.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"Ok, listen- Walczak's small-time on a good day." Lance said. "I mean, I doubt he'd even know how to use this thing, let alone break into a place like Kord and steal it on his own."_

_"Walczak was just the muscle." Arrow stated. "We need to find the brain."_

_The scene changed to the Lair, where Felicity was throwing some very awkward looking punches at the Wing Chun dummy._

“What the hell is she wearing?” Roy asked as he stared in bewilderment.

 

“I don’t know, some weird knock off jump suit.” Laurel said staring at the item of clothing in question.

 

_She didn't notice that Sara had entered the Lair until she was right behind her._

_"Plant your feet." Sara advised, moving behind Felicity and re-positioning her feet. "Strong foundation equals stronger punch." Her feet properly planted, Felicity threw a hard punch at the dummy. "Nice." Sara said. "If this is for self-defense, I'd recommend Wing Chun. It uses your opponent's strength against him. So it's ideal for smaller people," she threw a few hits at the dummy. "Like us."_

_"You seem like you can take care of yourself just fine." Felicity noted a little enviously._

“Okay, rude much?” Thea asked as Laurel glared at the screen.

 

_"Are you ok?" Sara asked._

_Before Felicity could say anything, Oliver came in. "Where are we with the skeleton key?" he asked as he jogged down the stairs. He did a double take as he looked at Felicity. "And what are you wearing?"_

“That’s what we’re wondering.” Tommy said.

 

_"I just thought I'd…" she started, and then noting his look shook her head moved to her computer. "I'm cross referencing Walczak's known associates with decryption experts on the NSA watch list, but it's taking some time." She noted._

_"Which we don't have." Oliver said in frustration. "Ok, the key is not just a code breaker. In the wrong hands, it's a weapon."_

_"Whoever killed Walczak, in addition to finding creepy uses for clock parts, is very good at covering his tracks." She said._

_"Lucky for us. Uncovering tracks is what you're very good at." Oliver said, giving her a small smile._

_"Right." She sighed._

“Yeah, this really isn’t good.” Diggle muttered, hoping Felicity would do anything dangerous.

 

_Five years ago-_

_The three ran towards the smoldering wreckage of the Piper. Slade reached it first, and ripped the door off. He glanced at the pilot, who appeared to be dead, and then spied the radio. He grabbed the mic and clicked it, frowning when nothing happened. He pulled the radio itself out and noted in disgust that it was busted._

“Great.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

_"Of course." He growled in frustration, throwing it to the ground._

_Sara moved in closer. She touched the pilot gently on the shoulder, and suddenly the man gasped, his eyes shooting open._

Man, he;s still alive?” Tommy asked slightly relieved.

 

“Not for long it looks like.” Diggle said and the atmosphere of the room turned solemn.

_"He's barely alive." Sara said. She looked back at Oliver. "Do you have medical supplies at the fuselage?"_

_Oliver scoffed. "We have-we have some." He started._

_"Just go." Sara told them. "I'll be fine." Slade and Oliver took off for the fuselage as Sara moved to tend to the pilot._

_Present-_

_Laurel was sitting on her couch reading a book when Quentin walked in._

_"Hey." Her father said._

_"I'm really starting to regret giving you a key." Laurel replied, annoyed. She sighed. "I'm sorry I bailed on the party." She started._

_"Ah, I figured you wouldn't make an appearance." Quentin replied._

_"Finally, someone understands." She quipped._

_"Well, I, uh, I wouldn't go that far." Quentin replied. "But I understand how Sara keeping it a secret that she was still alive could hurt. 'Cause it hurt me, too."_

_Laurel looked up from her book. "I sense a 'but' coming in my future."_

_"But, yes, but I need you to move past it." Quentin said, sitting down across from her. "Laurel." He pushed the book down so that she was forced to look at him. "A family dinner. It's a chance to reconcile."_

_"I don't want to reconcile with Sara." Laurel said bitterly._

_"I'm not talking about you and Sara." Quentin revealed. "I'm talking about me and your mom."_

_Laurel blinked. "What do you mean?"_

_"I don't know to describe it." He started. "It was like there was, um…signals. And feelings." Laurel smiled at that. Lance chuckled. "And I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but I figured if we were all together as a family, maybe it would remind her of how happy we were. You know? I mean, I don't know, maybe it… Is it stupid?" he asked._

“Something tells me it doesn’t work out that way for him.” Laurel said sadly and Dinah sighed.

 

“Just keep watching.” Dinah said in a tone matching her younger self’s.

 

_"No, it—" Laurel started, but she was interrupted by Lance's radio going off._

_Quentin sighed in frustration, but activated the mic. "Go for Delta-Charlie 52."_

_**415 in progress. Widmeer Bank. Lieutenant requesting all units.**_

_"Delta-Charlie 52 responding." He turned off the mic and looked helplessly at Laurel. "I got to go." He said, getting up and heading for the door._

_"Tonight." Laurel called out after him. "Tell everyone to be here."_

_"What?" Lance asked in surprise._

_"Well, your place is too small, and, no offense, it's kind of a mess, so…"_

_"Oh, sweetheart." Lance came back and hugged her._

_Laurel chuckled. "Ok."_

_"I love you, sweetheart." Quentin said in a rush as he ran out the door. As it closed, Laurel sighed._

_"Ok." She muttered to herself._

“Something tells me this won’t work out well.” Diggle noted.

 

 “Yes and no,” Dinah said and they all looked over at her, “it didn’t work out for dad, but I think it worked pretty well for me.”

 

_The scene changed to Widmeer Bank. Tockman's new crew were at the vault, the skeleton key placed next to the lock._

_"Device is hot." The second man said. From his hideout, Tockman activated the key and in seconds, the vault door was open._

_He smiled happily. "Extract as much money as you can in 90 seconds." He ordered, watching the heist on the security cams. "Stop! Get out of there!" he ordered suddenly._

_"We've still got 20 seconds." The man said in confusion._

_On his screens, Tockman saw The Arrow stalking down the hall. "No, you don't."_

“You’re in trouble now you bastards.” Roy said with a savage grin.

 

_"Come on!" The second man ordered his partner._

_Seconds after they had left, Arrow and Canary entered the vault. "They're already gone!" he said over the coms._

_"I think I have an idea where." Felicity said, tracking the key from her computer in the Lair. "The skeleton key operates on an OFDM wireless signal. I'm picking up a transmission signal in the alley next to the bank."_

_**But you won't be heading there.**_

_The Arrow paused. "What was that?" he demanded._

_"He's hacked our transmission." Felicity said, astonished._

_**My associates may be headed to the alley, but the 9:40 bus from Crescent Circle is about to collide with the Starlight Freight Express.** Tockman said, rerouting traffic._

_Felicity double checked on her screen. "Oh, my God, he's right, the 9:40's headed for the track at Amherst." She said, horrified._

_**By my calculations, you can't be in two places at once.** Tockman said happily._

_The Arrow looked over to the Canary. "He doesn't know there's two of us." He realized._

“Then why would you say it over the comms when he’s listening?” Laurel groaned.

 

_In the alley behind the bank, Tockman opened the door to his mobile command center. "Come on! Come on!" he yelled at his two hired thugs. When he saw The Canary round the corner, he pulled out a pistol and started shooting. Sara separated her staff and hurled one half like a spear. It hit Tockman in the temple, causing him to drop his gun as he staggered back into the truck. One of the men turned around and opened fire, causing Sara to take cover behind a dumpster._

_In the Lair, Felicity was trying to re-route the bus or drop the train barricade, but she was unable to get past Tockman's hacks. "He's in the transit department network! He's-he's hacked the signaling system. I-I can't get the crossing barriers down!" she said frantically._

“Damn, this guy must be really good.” Roy swore.

 

“You could say that.” Dinah noted grimly.

 

_"Those buses have radios." Oliver said. "Can you break in, wave them off?"_

_"No, he's keeping me out." She replied in disbelief._

_Back at the bank, Tockman and his squad held off the Canary long enough for them to peel out of there in the van. Sara ran up and picked up the other half of her staff, noting the edge was coated in Tockman's blood._

_At the bus, Oliver managed to pull ahead of it and skidded to a stop right in front of its path. The bus skidded to a stop, mere feet from the railroad. Oliver braced himself against the front of the bus as the train sped past, much to the relived bus drivers' eyes._

“Damn, they got away.” Tommy cursed.

 

“Yeah, but they have the guy’s blood.” Roy pointed out.

 

“It’s a lead, if nothing else.” Laurel noted.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant later that night, as Sara and Oliver watched news coverage on one of the flat screens near the bar._

_The banner on the news story read 'Clock King Strikes Twice.' Sara scoffed. "I guess it's not real until the media comes up with a nickname." She noted sourly._

_"How can I run a bar without any bartenders?" They turned to see Thea walking behind the bar, stocking it as she talked to one of her now ex-employees' on the phone. "For that matter, how can you quit without giving me notice? No, one hour before opening is not notice, Mandy." She said angrily. She hung up the phone, sighing in frustration. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at her brother. "Can I talk to you for a second?" she asked, deceptively calm._

_"I'm going to go use the little blonde's room." Sara said, moving off._

_"Everything ok?" Oliver asked._

_"You tell me." Thea replied. "Other than the party, I haven't seen you at home all week."_

_"I've been busy." Oliver hedged. "Being a CEO doesn't leave me a lot of free time."_

_Thea gave him a look. "Yeah, looks to me a whole lot like you're avoiding mom." Thea said._

“Who does he think he’s talking to? I’m not stupid.” Thea huffed.

 

_"I'm not avoiding mom." Oliver lied._

_Another look. "You're lucky your life does not revolve around lying." Thea stated._

He’s actually pretty good at it. Except when it comes to the people he cares about.” Dinah mused as Tommy and Roy snickered.

 

_"Thea." He looked at her with as honest a face as he could muster. "Everything's fine."_

_Thea sighed in annoyance as she rounded the bar. "You know, it's secrets that pushed this family apart in the first place, Ollie." She said sourly._

_"Speedy, Speedy." Oliver stopped her and gave her a kiss on the top of the head. "Really. Everything's fine." She rolled her eyes and walked off, and the smile fell off his face. This was one lie he was having a really hard time selling._

“I’m gonna figure it out sooner or later, he might as well just tell me.” Thea pointed out.

 

“Well, that’s something Ollie would have to learn the hard way.” Dinah winced.

 

_A few minutes later everyone was down in the Lair. "What do we know?" Oliver asked._

_"He hacked into our frequency, somehow gained remote access, but I upgraded our firewall." Felicity said. "Now he won't be able to talk into our comms even if he had a bazooka." She said confidently. "You know computer science-wise."_

_"Good." Oliver said._

_"I think I have something that might help us track him down." Sara said as she scraped some blood off the end of her staff. She spread it onto a glass slide and put a cover on it, then mounted it onto the microscope._

_"I can run that to the lab." Felicity offered._

_"I spent a year on the freighter studying genetic blood anomalies. I kind of know my way around a microscope." Sara said offhandedly as she examined the blood sample. Felicity sat back, feeling dejected. Diggle noticed and moved over to her as Sara looked over the sample._

“You have to let other people shine to Felicity. It’s not always about you.” Roy drawled and Thea giggled.

 

_"There's some significant cell damage and the platelet count is extremely low." She moved away from the scope. "Felicity, can I use your computer?" she asked. Felicity was silent s Sara started looking something up. Finally she found what she was looking for. "Macgregor's Syndrome. It's a genetic defect that creates fluid build-up in the lungs, which leads to oxygen deprivation and multi system organ failure." She looked back to Oliver. "It's terminal."_

_Felicity had a thought and spun back to her computer. "But the syndrome may give us a way to ID him." Felicity started typing furiously, back in her element. "People with Macgregor's are extremely rare, and people with Macgregor's and a degree in computer science are even more rare." She stated. In a moment, she had what she needed. "William Tockman. Former encryption engineer at, wait for it- Kord Enterprises."_

“William Tockman. Now we have a name.” Laurel noted, filing that information away.

 

_Felicity dug deeper. "He's not stealing the money for himself." She realized after a moment. "He's using it for his family. His sister, specifically. She's got cystic fibrosis and needs a lung transplant."_

Well, now I feel sorry for him.” Tommy said softly.

 

“Don’t. He goes on a killing spree, holds a police station hostage, and nearly cripples a guy.” Dinah told him.

 

_"Give me an address, please." Oliver ordered, going for his gear._

_"52 Nelson Way." Felicity said. She looked back for some kind of validation, but all she got were the backs of two vigilantes._

“Does she need a ‘good job Felicity’ every time she does her job?” Tommy asked incredulously.

 

“She never felt important growing up, remember? So now she has to feel important by getting praise from the team.”  Dinah explained.

 

_A short time later the pair rode up to the alley behind 52 Nelson Way. The Arrow climbed off his bike and looked around. "This area doesn't look very residential." He noted._

_"There." The Canary pointed out the large white van. "That's Tockman's ride." They approached cautiously. When they reached the side door, Sara took up position at the latch while Oliver drew an arrow. Sara threw open the door-_

_But the van was empty, save for a router set up right in front of the door._

_Oliver activated his coms. "Tockman's not here. Just some device."_

_"I'm on it." Felicity said, already working to track the signal. "Whatever's in the truck is transmitting the same OFDM signal Tockman used at the bank."_

_"Can you trace it?" Oliver asked._

_"As we speak." Felicity worked on tracing the signal, and after a moment the location on the map changed- to Verdant. "It's leading back to our network." Felicity said, her voice filling with dread. "Tockman's piggybacking off my hack. It's a trap. He-he's trying to break into our network." She realized, working frantically to keep him out._

“Oh shit.” Roy muttered as everyone tensed.

 

_Suddenly her screens flashed as Tockman broke through **I'm not trying. I am.**_

_From his hideout, Tockman smiled as the skeleton key did its' job. "Where are you? Are you home? Are you safe? Somewhere you think you're safe? Somewhere without windows for anyone to creep through? Underground, perhaps? You think no one can get to you? You think no one can touch you in the safety of your hidey hole?"_

_"Felicity—" Oliver started._

_**But I can.**_

“Wow, he’s really milking the whole ‘game master’ thing.” Tommy noted.

 

_Felicity gasped as the monitors around her exploded. Diggle pulled her away as the servers, her custom built system, flared with sparks and arcing electricity, and in moments- it was all destroyed, leaving the Lair a dark, smoldering ruin._

“Wow, he can make things self-destruct?” Tommy said stunned.

 

“That’s the simplified version, but yeah.” Dinah nodded.

 

“Man, this is bad. He just put a road block in our ability to find him.” Diggle noted worriedly.

 

“He made it harder, not impossible.” Dinah pointed out.

 

_A short time later Oliver and Sara returned to find Felicity on the ground in front of the server racks, pulling out pieces and trying to find anything salvageable as Diggle watched on protectively._

_"How bad?" he asked._

_"Tockman used the skeleton key to penetrate our firewall." Felicity said distractedly. "And recode our security. Basically, he told our system to commit suicide. And it did." She sighed, throwing away another melted part. "Bravo, Clock King." She muttered._

_"Sara stopped Tockman's men before they could get away with the cash. So Tockman is going to be looking for another score." He thought for a moment. "Maybe we should give him one." He said finally. He looked down at Felicity. "Would you call Walter and have him liquidate 500,000 shares of Q.C. stock? Put it in cash in my vault at Starling National, and ask him to do it tonight."_

_"If Tockman wants to make another score…" Diggle started._

_"Who better to rob than a suddenly cash flush Oliver Queen?" Oliver finished._

_"And what if he doesn't take the bait?" Dig asked._

_"That's a good point." Oliver turned back to Felicity. "Make it 800,000 shares."_

_"Ok." Felicity said numbly._

_"What can I do?" Sara asked._

_"Go to your dinner. Your family's probably waiting for you." Felicity said._

_Sara sighed. "Right. Dinner at Laurel's. This is more important." She decided._

_"You can't do anything here, Sara." Felicity said snippily, turning back to look at her. "Your family's important, too."_

“Okay, I get that she’s feeling down, but no need to be such a bitch to my sister.” Laurel said angrily.

 

“It’s in her nature.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_"Yeah." Sara said unexcitedly._

_"Hey. You should go." Oliver told her._

_"Will you go with me?" she suddenly asked him._

_"What?" Oliver asked in surprise._

“So now Sara’s on the bad idea train to. Tickets must be cheap.” Tommy said dryly as Laurel gapped.

 

“And she thinks that will go over well?”  Laurel asked incredulously.

 

“She was hoping.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_Dig and Felicity glanced at one another for a moment before she went back to pulling out burnt computer guts._

_"I know I've wanted us all to get together for a while now." Sara said. "It's just, now that it's actually here, I'm nervous. I mean, last time I saw Laurel, it… didn't go very well, and…" she looked at him hopefully. "It'd be helpful to not have to go alone."_

_"I should probably stay here." Oliver hedged._

“Yes, very good idea.” Tommy nodded approvingly.

 

“Keep watching.” Dinah sighed.

 

_"What is it exactly you think you can do here to help?" Felicity asked, giving him a tired look_

“And now she’s being a bitch to my brother to.” Thea said as she glared at the screen.

 

“Hey, this is nothing compared to year three and the end of their relationship.” Dinah said.

 

_Oliver nodded. "Call if you need us." He said._

_"Yep." Diggle replied as the two went to change. He looked at the depressed hacker in sympathy. "You know, it's not your fault, Felicity." He told her._

_"Really? Which one of the rest of you put up the security safeguards?" she asked. "Maybe if it been Sara, we wouldn't be in this mess." She added harshly, tossing down another burnt piece._

“So now she’s talking about my sister behind her back. Just when I thought I couldn’t dislike her anymore.” Laurel growled as she glared at the screen.

 

_"Now, I know we haven't talked about this, but it must be difficult for you seeing them together." Diggle started._

“I doubt it was easy for my brother to see Laurel with Tommy. You don’t see him disrespecting Tommy.” Thea snapped.

 

“Cry me a river blondie.” Roy said unsympathetically.

 

“This isn’t high school. If you want to pretend like it is, maybe you should leave.” Laurel snapped.

 

_"This isn't about them being together." Felicity objected at once. "This is about me. Ok, Sara can analyze blood. She can kick ass. She can do anything." Felicity sighed. "And the one thing I'm supposed to be good at, I'm failing at miserably. And why do you even need me now that you have her?" she asked rhetorically._

_"Because you're irreplaceable, Felicity." Diggle replied honestly._

“Not really,” Dinah mused and everyone looked at her, “her abilities as a hacker could be done by anyone. Other than that, she brought discord and chaos to the team.”

 

_She looked up at his reassuring face, but she didn't feel at all reassured._

_"I have a lot of work to do." Felicity said, turning back to the computer. Diggle rose, pausing to put a hand on her shoulder before leaving her in peace._

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. Laurel walked into her room and moved to her dresser. She opened a small jewelry box and withdrew a bottle of pills, and was about to take one when Dinah's voice called out._

_"Laurel, Sara's here."_

_Laurel paused, looking at herself in the mirror. She put the pill bottle back and walked out of her room in time to see her mother open the door, revealing Sara and Oliver standing there._

_"Oh." Dinah said in surprise._

_"Hey, Mom." Sara said, hugging her mother._

_"Oliver." Dinah said. Oliver said hi and gave her a small bouquet of flowers. "Well, thank you, these are lovely."_

_"Thank you." Oliver said with a smile. As the moved into the apartment, he smiled at Laurel. "Hey."_

_Laurel glared at him, her arms crossed. "I don't remember your last name being Lance."_

_"Well, yeah, I certainly didn't want to crash your family dinner, but then Sara and I ran into each other, and she mentioned it." Oliver lied._

_"And I told him how Dad was making his famous chicken cacciatore." Sara added._

_"Actually-excuse me!" Quentin said, walking into the room with a couple of pizza boxes and nearly running over his ex-wife. "We're, uh, we're—" he paused in surprise. "Oliver."_

_"Hey, Mr. Lance." Oliver said awkwardly._

_"Yeah." He said, wondering himself why Oliver was there. By this point, so was Oliver. "Um, we're having pizza. I'm sorry. I had a little incident in the kitchen. I guess that's what happens when you haven't used an oven in six years." He laughed. "Want to grab a slice?"_

“Wow, you can actually feel the awkward.” Thea said dryly.

 

_Soon they were all seated around the table,, and Quentin was doing his best to keep the conversation light. For a short time, it seemed to be working." Yeah, when I was pitching a tower of caccitore- a cacciatore tower, yeah." He was joking._

_Oliver laughed, then looked to Dinah. "Are you still teaching, Mrs. Lance?" he asked._

_"Yes, I am." She said. "Greek and Medieval History at Central City University."_

_"Wow. You could probably give them notice." Quentin noted offhandedly._

_Dinah chuckled. "Why would I do that?"_

_Quentin blinked. "Well, I mean, you're going to come back to Starling, right?" he asked,_

_Dinah scoffed. "No. I'm not moving back to Starling, Quentin.' She said firmly._

_"Well, Sara's back." Lance said, patting her arm as Laurel poured herself more wine._

_"I have a new life in Central City, and, um, I have a wonderful job." Dinah said._

_"Well, there's jobs here." Quentin replied lightly, taking a sip of ginger ale._

_Dinah looked at him significantly. "More than a job. Um…I have someone." She admitted finally._

_"Oh." Quentin said, stunned._

“And of course that person is more important to you then both of your daughters. One of which recently CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD!” Laurel snarled, anger and hurt welling up in her.

 

“Mother of the year there.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

“Well, I won’t be taking parenting tips from here.” Roy said dryly.

 

_"Congratulations." Oliver said pleasantly._

_"You know, it's great, Mom." Sara said, not looking at her father as his heart broke again. "You deserve to be happy. Everybody does."_

_"Yeah." Quentin said quietly._

_Laurel looked around the table, then looked between Oliver and Sara. And suddenly she KNEW._

“Oh boy.” Tommy said as Laurel groaned.

 

“And here I go, being a bitch again.” Laurel said miserably.

 

_"Ohh. You've got to be kidding me." She said._

_"What?" Sara asked hesitantly._

_"You've been back like, what, a week?" Laurel scoffed as the two didn't look at one another. "And you're not even denying it."_

_"It's…it's complicated." Sara started._

_"Of course it is. It's you." Laurel spat._

_Quentin slammed his hands down on the table, startling them all. "Laurel, please." He said, trying to control his temper._

_"Dad, you are no better than they are." She shot back. "I mean, what did you think? Mom was just going to sit around and wait for you for six years to bake her chicken?" she asked sarcastically._

_"Ok, Laurel, enough!" Sara tried._

_"And sweep her back off her feet?" Laurel continued scornfully._

_"Enough, ok?" Sara said, firmer._

_"Yeah, you know what, it is enough!" Laurel shouted. She jumped up from the table. "Invite yourselves out when you're done." She spat, running out and leaving her devastated family- and Oliver- behind._

“I really don’t take being a bitch half assed, do I?” Laurel sighed in shame.

 

“This will be the last time really.” Dinah assured her and Laurel sighed in relief.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Sara had managed to pull the pilot from the plane and was trying to make him comfortable, hoping the boys would get back in time with the medical supplies. The man started groping at his jacket, trying to get into his pocket._

_"My wallet." He groaned._

_"Ok." Sara said, reaching over and pulling it out for him. She handed it to her and pulled out a picture. "She's my daughter." He gasped. "She's 12. I need to talk to her…"_

_"Your radio's broken." Sara said sadly._

_The man groaned and gasped in pain. "Her mother died. Just after she got out of diapers. Cancer." He explained. "And without me…" he cried, thinking about her, "She's not going to have anybody to look after her. So… I know I don't know you. And I know you don't know me. But-" he put the picture into her hand. "Please make sure my daughter's ok." He begged. "Please."_

“That’s one hell of a thing to ask.” Roy noted.

 

_Present-_

_Laurel stormed out of her apartment, wanting to find a quiet place to get drunk. Moments later, Oliver followed her out into the hall._

_"Hey!" he shouted angrily._

“And here comes the arguing.” Laurel sighed.

 

_Laurel spun around to face him. "You are unbelievable!" she shouted back. "You lecture me on how I need to repair my relationship with Sara when you're the one who messed it up in the first place. By screwing her! And now you're doing it again."_

_"You're right. This is all my fault." Oliver said._

“No its not. Not all of it.” Laurel sighed.

 

_"Yeah. Yeah, yes, it is." Laurel agreed._

_"And is you losing your job, doing drugs and being a drunk, is that my fault?" Oliver asked harshly. "Is that your family's fault, or are you going to blame Tommy for dying?"_

_"Screw you, Oliver." She spat._

_"I have stood by you through everything- the DUI, losing your job; and Laurel, I was concerned about your well-being when you were trying to get my mother the death penalty!" he exclaimed._

_"Yeah, you've been a real stand-up kind of guy." She replied sarcastically._

_"Laurel, do you think you're the only one that is having a hard time?!" he shouted. "Do you think you're the only one with family issues? You have- you have no idea what is going on with my family right now.”_

 

“Um, he wasn’t telling anyone what was going on between him and mom.” Thea pointed out.

 

“But I knew about Merlyn,” Dinah pointed out, “if I hadn’t been so wrapped up in myself and my addiction, I probably would have figured out what had happened and tried to help him through it.”

 

_But I am still standing here. And you are still blaming everybody but yourself." He told her._

_"Are you done?" she asked._

_Oliver looked at her disgustedly. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm done. I'm done taking the blame. And I'm done caring. Why don't you go have a drink? Get wasted, go… go to Verdant. I'll pay for it." His disgust turned to sadness. "I have loved you for half my life." He told her. "But I'm done running after you." He turned and walked back into her apartment. Laurel wiped the tears from her eyes as she turned to leave the building._

“He was kind of a jerk there.” Tommy said a little angrily.

 

“Maybe,” Dinah allowed, “but a lot of the things he said are things that I needed to hear. Regardless of whether he was a jerk or not, him saying those things is what inspired me to get help finally, so I count that as a win.”1

 

_Later that night Oliver and Sara made their way back into the darkened Lair. The found Diggle seated at Felicity's station, pounding impotently on the keys as DOS code scrolled across the screen. "Have you seen Felicity?" Diggle asked them._

_"No." Oliver froze. "Wait, why?" he asked at once._

_"I went to Big Belly to get some take-out. When I came back, she was gone." He said. "I haven't seen her for hours."_

“Oh god, please tell me she didn’t do something reckless.” Diggle begged.

 

“Would you like me to lie to you?” Dinah asked and Diggle groaned.

 

_Oliver frowned. Suddenly his cell phone started ringing. He pulled it out and noted it was Felicity. Nodding to Dig, he answered the call. "Hey."_

_"Tockman took the bait." Felicity said. "The money you had Walter deposit. I'm reading his signal at Starling National."_

_Oliver frowned. "Wait-" he said, suddenly very concerned. "How do you know that?"_

_"Because I'm here." She said form the bank._

_"What?!"_

“Is she insane?!” Tommy exclaimed.

 

“What on earth would possess her to be so reckless, putting herself in danger and possibly compromising the mission?!” Diggle demanded.

 

“Insecurity.” Dinah said simply and Diggle growled.

 

“Well her insecurity is getting in the way of the mission.” Diggle growled.

 

_Felicity was using the computer set up directly in front of the vault. It was only a few minutes after her call to Oliver that she heard footsteps heading down the stairs towards her, and doing the only thing she could think of, she ducked down behind the computers' podium. She knelt there, hoping they wouldn't notice her long enough for her to make an escape, when suddenly and hand grabbed eh arm and yanked her up. She yelped in surprise- then sighed when she saw it was Diggle. He gave her a look, but before she could say anything a throat cleared. She looked to the stairs to see a very cross Oliver standing there in full gear._

_"What are you doing here?" he asked tiredly._

_"I'm tracking Tockman." She said. "He fried our computers, so I'm using the banks to trace the skeleton key's signature."_

_"And the jacket?" Sara asked, noting that Felicity was wearing her leather jacket._

_"I was cold."_

_"Hmm." Sara smirked fondly at the hacker._

_"Diggle, get her out of here." Oliver ordered. Diggle moved to comply when suddenly the alarm sounded._

_"Tockman disabled the bank's security system." Felicity said, running back to the computer. "I re-abled it." She said proudly._

“So now she wants a cookie for doing her job?” Roy asked blankly, staring incredulously.

 

_She pulled up the security cameras, and they saw Tockman's men entering._

_"They're blocking our way out." Diggle noted._

_"I'll deal with them." Oliver said, heading up the stairs._

_"Tockman's signal's strong." Felicity said. "He's here, he's close."_

_"Find him, Felicity." Dig said._

_**No need.** Tockman's voice sounded over their comms. **I'll tell you exactly where I am. I'm everywhere. At the moment, I'm particularly focused on the sub-level. The gas mains, specifically.**_

_Felicity pulled out her tablet and ran a diagnostic. "Oh, my God." She said as the schematics of the bank came up. A warning was flashing on the screen. "He shut down the gas main release."_

_"And why is that bad?" Sara asked._

_"The build-up could cause an explosion." Diggle stated._

_"It will. It'll blow up three square blocks." Felicity said._

“Good god.” Laurel breathed, imagining all the people that would get caught in the crossfire.

 

“Man, this is bad. Really bad.” Tommy said alarmed.

 

_"No, it won't." Dig growled, moving off towards the basement access._

_Up in the lobby, Oliver made quick work of the two goons- taking one down with a bola arrow to the legs, and then punching the second goon that tried to rush him. The first tried shooting the vigilante, but the Arrow easily shot the gun out of his hand._

_Down in the basement, Diggle found the shut off valve and struggled to close it as the gauges crept closer to the red line._

_Back up by the vault, Felicity grinned at her table. "Wait. Tockman overplayed his hand." She said. "The gas main's in the city's network, that's where I live."_

_"Am I supposed to understand that?" Sara asked, confused._

_Felicity blinked. "Ohh. In trying to blow us up, he gave me a way to track him down." She said, dumbing it down._

_"That I understood." Sara replied with a grin._

“Yeah, it’s payback time you bastard.” Roy said with a savage grin.

 

_In the lobby, the first goon cut the wire loose and used it like a whip, swinging it at the Arrow. Oliver ducked, easily blocking the attack and handily dispatching the man._

_From his overwatch position, Tockman screamed in frustration as he was once again denied the money._

_In the basement, Diggle had grabbed a metal bar and jammed it into the stuck handle. With a yell, he managed to force the valve closed, shutting off the gas and disabling the impromptu bomb._

“Oh thank god.” Laurel said as they all breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“Wait a go Dig.” Tommy told Diggle who just shrugged.

 

“Just doing my job.” Diggle said with a satisfied smirk.

 

_After securing the two goons, Oliver activated his comms. "What's happening?" he demanded._

_The Canary followed Felicity's directions through a service tunnel into an adjoining building. A new addition to the bank that was being remodeled, it was filled with scaffolding and draped with tarps, instantly creating dozens of hiding places. The Canary slowed, moving cautiously. Not as cautiously was Felicity, who ran in after her and startled the vigilante. Sara was about to admonish her when Felicity saw Tockman round a pillar with a gun raised._

_"Look out!" she cried, pushing Sara to the ground as Tockman opened fire._

“Does she honestly think Sara couldn’t have avoided that? And why was she even there anyway, why did she follow Sara?” Diggle demanded.2

 

“I feel like I keep repeating myself: she likes to feel important because she never felt import growing up.” Dinah explained.

 

“Well its interfering with the job.” Roy noted.

 

_"You don't even know why I'm doing this." Tockman cried, approaching the two women. Sara pulled herself into a crouch while Felicity lay on the ground, gasping in pain from the bullet wound to the shoulder she had taken. "The money's not for me! I'm doing this all for her!"_

_"Doesn't make it right." The Canary replied._

_Tockman sneered at the woman, raising his gun to her head. "Tempus fugit." He said._

_"Time flies." Felicity gasped, hitting a button on her tablets' screen. Suddenly there was a bright flash of electrical discharged from Tockman's breast pocket, and the man screamed in pain before dropping to the ground, twitching._

_"What the hell was that?" Sara asked, dumbfounded as she got to her feet._

_"His cell phone. I uploaded the same virus he used on my gear in the foundry." She said, her satisfaction shining through the pain. Suddenly she frowned. "I didn't just kill him, did I?" she asked worriedly._

_Sara ran over to the man, kicking the gun away from him. She knelt down and found a pulse. "Just knocked him out." She assured Felicity as she came back to check on her._

“Well then she just got very lucky.” Diggle said, disturbed by what Felicity’s recklessness had caused.

 

_"We did it." Felicity said._

_Sara smiled at the hacker. "You did it." She said fondly._

“So now we’re going with ‘Felicity is the hero of the day?’” Tommy said in disbelief.

 

“You understand why Hal joked about her being alien.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair a short time later. Oliver had rigged up some work lights, and Felicity sat on a stool, her jacket and shirt removed so that Sara could tend to the bullet wound. As Sara stitched her wound, Oliver and Diggle stood a short distance away, their backs turned to respect Felicity's modesty as she was only clad in her bra from the waist up._

_"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Oliver called over his shoulder._

_"Mm-mm. You guys never go to the hospital." Felicity said firmly. "Besides, Dig gave me some of those aspirins. Are you spinning?" she asked suddenly._

_Oliver glanced at Diggle. "Aspirin?" he asked._

_"Oxycodone." Diggle replied. The two men grinned at one another._

_"I wouldn't be here if you hadn't been so brave." Sara told her "Thank you."_

There were scoffs around the room.

 

_"It was nothing." Felicity replied happily. "I've always wanted to say I've taken a bullet for someone, and now I can. So really I should be thanking you."_

_Sara chuckled. "All done." She said, placing a bandaged over the wound before draping Felicity's' shirt over her shoulders._

_"Not bad, but you're still going to have a scar." Sara told her._

_"My own scar. Yay." She smiled._

_Oliver walked over to her. "You all right?" he asked. "Diggle had mentioned that maybe you were feeling a little left out." He clarified._

_"What?" She frowned. "No. I was just use to being your girl. I mean, not your girl-girl. Your girl. I know it sounds like the same word, but it means something different in my head." She rambled through the drugs._

_He placed a gentle hand on her cheek. She leaned into it happily. "Hey." He said, trying to get her attention._

_"Hmm?"_

_"You will always be my girl, Felicity." He assured her. She smiled, and he turned and walked off to get changed._

“Ugg, is that when Ollie…” Thea trailed off.

 

“No, Sara kept him from that delusion. IT wouldn’t be until they broke up that he would succumb to it.” Dinah explained bitterly.

 

_Felicity smiled happily at Diggle. "Can I have another one of those aspirins?" she asked him hopefully. He grinned in response._

_The next morning, Oliver walked into the empty club to find Sara behind the bar. "Hi." She said to him, holding out a drink. "Try this." He took the glass and took a cautious sip, and was surprised how good it tasted. "Good, huh?" she said with a grin,_

_"It's really good." He said._

_"Mm-hmm."_

_"And what are you doing back here mixing drinks?" he asked,_

_"Thea hired me." She explained. "I am the new bartender." She said._

_"Uh-huh." Oliver noted with a smile._

_"I bartended in college, and, uh, well, it's kind of hard to get a job when international assassin is the highlight of your résumé." She explained._

“Yeah, I imagine it’s pretty hard to get a job that way.” Roy said dryly and everyone snickered.

 

_"You're going to do great." Oliver assured her. His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out, looking down at the screen. He frowned at the text from Thea._

_-Come Home 911-_

“What happened?” Thea asked worriedly as the time travelers tensed.

 

“Just watch.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"I have to go home." He said, concern in his voice._

_"Is everything ok?" she asked._

_"I hope so." He said. He headed for the door, but stopped when Laurel walked in._

“Oh boy.” Laurel said but Dinah smiled.

 

“Relax, just watch.” Dinah told her.

 

_"You can go." She told him after a moment, and then glanced at her sister. "I'm not here to kill her or anything."_

_Oliver stared at her, and then headed out._

_Laurel started walking towards the bar. "I remember you used to bartend at that skeevy bar with the peanut shells all over the floor." She started._

_"Yeah, Oblivion." Sara said._

_"Right." The two sisters stood the length of the bar apart. It felt longer to them both. "I'm not here for a drink or anything." Laurel assured her._

_"Then why are you here?" Sara asked._

_Laurel took a shuddering breath. "Because I realized that that I went on that boat with you, too.' She said at last. "And I've been slowly drowning for all of these years. And after every heartbreak or set-back or loss I sank deeper into the dark water." Tears were streaming down her face. "And so when I saw you, so beautiful, and so alive, I realized that I'm not those things. Not anymore. So please," she begged, "Please don't hate me, Sara. Please."_

“Um, I think if anyone had a right to hate someone, I had a right to hate her.” Laurel pointed out.

 

“Maybe, but what she did to me was six years ago. Whereas I have been a bitch to her since she came back. And I just wanted to forgive and forget at that point.” Dinah explained.

 

_Sara moved quickly to her sister and pulled her into a hug. "I missed you." She said as she too broke down into tears._

Laurel smiled; happy she had finally recoiled with her sister.

 

_Laurel left soon after that, and Sara found herself sitting in the stock room, still crying._

_"Didn't think anything could make you cry."_

_She looked over and saw Sin standing in the doorway. She smiled at the girl. "Guess I'm not as tough as you thought." She quipped._

_"So… why the running mascara?" Sin asked._

_"I had- I just had a moment with my sister." She smiled. "It was a good one."_

_Sin sat down on the crate next to her. "That's good." She said cautiously._

_"Hey," she punched Sin lightly on the shoulder. "Laurel's my big sister. I still have room for a little one." She assured the girl._

_"Good." Sin said with a grin. "I don't know what I'd do without you." She hugged her._

_Sara clasped her warmly on the shoulder. "Well, you won't have to find out." She promised._

_Slightly embarrassed by her behavior, Sin got up. "I'm going to go find Roy." She mumbled, heading out of the stock room. Sara watched her go, the pulled out her wallet. She opened it and with withdrew a worn picture that she had carried with her since the island- a picture of a young Sin._

“Sin was the pilot’s daughter.” Diggle realized and Dinah nodded.

 

“Yeah. She looked up Sin after she saved her from those would be rapists.” Dinah explained.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Sara sat by a fire looking at the picture the pilot had given her. She looked past it at the pilot, who had died a short time ago._

_"Got it." She looked up to see Slade and Oliver running around the plane._

_"It's too late." Sara said sadly "He's gone." Slade threw up his hands in disgust. "We're all going to die here." Sara lamented. "Just like him."_

_Oliver, kneeling by the pilot's body, shined his light into the plane. "No, we're not." He said suddenly, reaching into the fuselage. He withdrew something and tossed it to Slade. "I think I found our way on to the freighter." He said._

_Slade looked at the package with hope. "Parachute." He said._

“They have a way onto the freighter now.” Thea perked up.

 

“Considering what happened, I can’t decide if that’s a good or bad thing.” Dinah sighed and everyone else tensed.

 

_Present-_

_Later that morning, Quentin took a seat at his AA meeting. He looked up in surprise as Laurel hesitantly walked in. She sat down across from him, giving him a small smile. He smiled back in encouragement._

“Oh thank god, I finally got help.” Laurel sighed.

 

“I told you.” Dinah reminded her and Laurel shrugged.

 

“Seeing is believing.” Laurel quipped.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. "Thea!" Oliver shouted worriedly as he ran into the house._

_"Oliver." He stopped and sighed as his mother came into the hall. "What's wrong? Is everything all right?" she asked worriedly._

_"Thea texted me there was an emergency at the house." Oliver said shortly._

_"There's no emergency. I'm in the middle of a meeting and Thea's not even here." Moira replied shortly._

_"Well, then why would she…" he trailed off, then sighed in realization. "I can't believe she would do this." He said._

“You’re a sneaky little devil.” Roy told Thea, she smiled at him coyly.

 

“Stick around and you’ll find out how much.” She quipped.

 

Tommy narrowed his eyes before it all clicked. He jumped to his feet and everyone whirled around as he lunged for Roy.

 

“I’ll kill you!” Tommy shouted as he was restrained by Diggle.

 

“Calm down Merlyn.” Diggle told him as he pulled him back.

 

“He slept with my sister! You seduced her!” Tommy snarled.

 

“Technically, I seduced him.” Thea clarified and Roy turned his snicker into a cough.

 

“You what?!” Tommy said outraged.

 

“I’m not six anymore Tommy!” Thea snapped annoyed.

 

“She’s right, calm down.” Laurel told him.

 

“She’s still underage!” Tommy protested.

 

“By less than five months. It’s not like Roy’s a sexual predator Tommy. And from what Dinah is saying, they would have ended up together if not for outside interference. So calm down and sit.” Laurel said in a cold voice that had Tommy comply as he grumbled.

 

“If you continue acting this way, you’re only gonna alienate here.” Diggle muttered in Tommy’s ear.

 

_"Do what?" Moira asked._

_"She's trying to force us to talk because she's sensing the tension between us." Oliver explained._

_"And what did you tell her?" Moira asked._

_"Nothing. To protect her. Not you." He clarified._

“Man that’s cold.” Roy muttered.

 

“Not like this isn’t a long time coming.” Thea pointed out and Roy shrugged.

 

“I know, just saying.” Roy told her.

 

_"Mrs. Queen. Is everything ok?" a voice called out._

_"Yes, thank you." Moira said, adopting a friendly tone. "Uh, my son just dropped by." She stated, leading Oliver back into the lounge. "Oliver, I'd like you to meet Slade Wilson." She introduced._

“TO MEET WHO?!” Tommy exclaimed as they all started.

 

“Oh my god.” Laurel breathed.

 

“Mom.” Thea said as her heart pounded, fear for her mother and brother coursing through her veins.

 

_Oliver froze as Slade stood from the couch. He was older, he had a little more grey in his hair- and of course, the eye patch he wore courtesy of the arrow Oliver himself had stuck there._

_"It's a pleasure to meet you," Slade said, grasping Oliver's hand tightly in a seemingly friendly handshake, "Mr. Queen."_

“He’s in my house.” Thea said lightheadedly as the screen faded to black.

 

“Hurry up and start the next one!” Tommy barked at Dinah, worry for his best friend and the woman who had practically adopted him as her son pulsing in his veins.

 

Dinah nodded and started the next recording.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Let me start off by saying that I know this is still a very polarized scene. Some think Oliver was just a jerk to Laurel while others think this was a long time coming. Personally, I agree with both points up to a degree. I do think Oliver did go a little too far here. However, I think a lot of what he said were things that Laurel did need to hear. Up to this point, everyone’s attempts to help Laurel mostly consisted of talking to her as though she were a fragile piece of glass that would fall and shatter at the slightest movement. Which I get, but at the same time, it was not helping Laurel realize she needed help; it was not doing her any good to treat her like that. But, however you feel about this scene, Oliver’s words did make Laurel realize she needed help. Call me crazy, but I think that’s a good thing.
> 
> 2: The end of the episode makes Felicity out to be Sara’s savior but, when you stop to think about it, there are some flaws with that logic. For one, Oliver has been shown to be able to dodge multiple bullets at the same time. So it makes sense that Sara, who was trained by the man who beat Oliver like he was an amateur when they first fought, would have the ability to do that as well. The only reason she couldn’t was because Felicity was there behind her and one bullet might have hit Felicity. And Sara lost her weapons when Felicity shoved her, thus she was not able to attack him. And why exactly did Felicity follow Sara, what exactly could she have done to help? Because, from where I’m standing, Felicity being there just made things worse and prevented Sara from taking Tockman down effectively without injuring him severely, especially considering that Felicity could have killed him.


	49. The promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The viewers learn of the events that made Slade turn against Oliver.

_The memory set opened right where the last left off. As Slade dropped his hand, a still stunned Oliver asked the first question that came to mind. "What are you doing here?"_

_Moira, misunderstanding, frowned at her son. "Mr. Wilson just made a sizeable contribution to my campaign." She told him, walking back over to the two men._

_"How generous of him." Oliver's voice was raspy, still shocked by the return of his old friend._

_"Well, I felt compelled." Slade said with a pleasant smile. "It was the least that I could do for your mother. And what this city needs is a pro-business mayor like Moira to spread growth through urban investment."_

“Like you care about who becomes mayor.” Roy sneered, the tension in the room mounting.

 

“Why is Ollie not telling mom who this guy is!?” Thea demanded worriedly.

 

“Mom, this guy is a psychopath who wants to kill us all because he blames me for the death of the woman he loved. How do I know this? Because I’m The Arrow,” Tommy deadpanned and everyone looked at him, “doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it?”

 

“But mom knew!” Thea protested.

 

“And how was he supposed to know that?” Roy asked and she was silent.

 

_"And we were just discussing how to combat the rising wage gap." Moira added._

_"And the answer lies in your budget proposal." Slade said. He moved away from Oliver, walking around Moira and putting a 'friendly' hand on her shoulder._

“Get your damn hands off my mother.” Thea growled.

 

_"You know, when I look at your mother, I think about everything that you went through after the quake." He started. "All I can say is, you and I have something in common." He told her._

_"What's that?" Moira asked._

_"I know how difficult it is to pick yourself back up when other people have written you off." He said honestly._

_Moira shot a look to her son. "Indeed." She agreed._

_Slade looked at Oliver with mock concern. "What's wrong, Mr. Queen? You look a little piqued."_

_"I'm fine, thank you." Oliver lied, desperately trying to compose himself._

“He’s off his game. Slade showing up has completely shaken him, this isn’t good.” Diggle noted concerned.

 

_Moira smiled as a maid wheeled in the drink cart. "Ah, thank you, dear." Moira said happily. "Oliver, Mr. Wilson was kind enough to bring a bottle of authentic Australian rum." She said. Oliver looked down at the cart- the bottle of Reuther Rum, the glasses, the ice bucket-_

_The ice pick._

_"Will you join us in a drink?" Moira asked, oblivious to the tension._

_"Yes, of course." Oliver said._

_"Wonderful." Slade said. He prepped three glasses with a finger of rum._

_"What shall we drink to?" Moira asked as he handed her a glass._

_Slade handed one to Oliver, than raised his own. "To friendship." He declared._

“Well, Slade certainly has a twisted sense of irony.” Laurel said dryly.

 

_He and Moira took a sip; Oliver followed a moment. All three were silent as the rum went down._

_"Oh, delicious." Moira complimented._

_Slade looked around the room, noting the large model of a sailing ship. "This here is a beautiful piece." He said, moving over to it to examine it closer. "Tell me, does your family spend much time on the water?"_

_"Uh, no." Moira said hesitantly. "Not since my late husband…"_

_"I'm sorry, Moira, forgive me." Slade said, looking abashed. "I do remember reading about that accident in the paper." He looked at Oliver . "You were a brave soul."_

_"I don't like to talk about it." Oliver replied._

_"I can understand." Slade said. "All that time on that island… it must have been hell for you."_

“You would know.” Tommy sneered.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Oliver ran._

_Through the forest, along the coast. Up hills and down through valleys, he ran and fired arrows at random targets carved into trees along the way. The more times he ran his course, the closer his arrow came to hitting the center of the targets._

_As he finished his latest run through the course, Slade pulled the arrow out of the tree where it had hit the bulls eye. "Shado would be proud." He said._

“Coming from him, that’s high praise.” Laurel noted surprised.

 

_Oliver huffed, catching his breath. "Thank you. But those trees don't move, or shoot back. Ivo's men on the freighter will."_

_"Then shoot first." Slade advised._

_The two made their way back to the fuselage. Slade pulled out his map to go over the logistics with Oliver one more time. "Ivo's freighter is located here." He said, pointing to a spot on the bay. "He keeps eight men on deck. Three on the starboard, three on the port and two up in the bridge. But our bigger concern are these GP 25 grenade launchers that they're walking around with at all times."_

_"Do they have night vision?" Oliver asked._

_"Not according to blondie." Slade jerked his head at Sara, who stood over at their makeshift table prepping some special 'medicine'._

_Oliver joined her at the table. "That smells awful." He noted._

_"It'll taste even worse." Sara replied._

_"But it'll work?"_

_"I spent a year with Anthony Ivo. I know how he thinks. It'll work." She assured him._

“What the hell is that stuff?” Roy asked looking at it disgusted.

 

“Something to help the plan.” Dinah said vaguely and Roy rolled his eyes.

 

_Oliver nodded, then took her by the arm and led her out of the wrecked plane. "Hey, what about the Mirakuru?" he asked once they were outside._

_"Well, what about it?" she asked._

_"Well, look, I mean, it can cure, I don't know, maybe anything." Oliver started. "Maybe… maybe it's a miracle drug." He dropped his voice. "But it's also something else. Something that people like Ivo should never be allowed to control." He stated firmly._

“Truer words never spoken.” Tommy muttered darkly.

 

“Hear hear.” Thea agreed wholeheartedly.

 

_"What about Slade? He might not let us." Sara pointed out._

_"Might not let you do what?" they turned to see Slade leaning against the doorframe. "You think we should destroy the Mirakuru?" he guessed._

_"This thing doesn't go our way… we can't let Ivo have it." Oliver told him._

_Slade considered that for a moment. "You're right." He said finally. "We should burn it."_

“Did he just agree to something reasonable?” Tommy asked shocked as the time travelers stared and Dinah winced.

 

“Just watch.” Dinah said in a voice that put them all on edge.

 

_Later that night Sara and Oliver stood in front of a small fire. In the center of the fire was the wooden crate of Mirakuru._

_"Anthony devoted his entire life to finding this." Sara said a bit melancholy. "Nobody even thought it was real. It was his dream." She shook her head._

_"Did he ever say why?" Oliver asked, curious._

_"He wanted to save the world." She sighed._

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that he told her yet another lie.” Dinah scoffed.

 

“So then why did he want it?” Thea asked confused.

 

“You’ll see it before the end of this recording.” Dinah promised.

 

_"We need to talk about tomorrow. About what to do with Anthony once we take the freighter."_

_"What do you mean?" Oliver asked._

_"Because Slade wants to kill him." Sara said._

_"I'm not going to let that happen." Olive said at once._

_"No, Slade wants to kill him for Shado." Sara pressed on, trying to explain. "Oliver, you don't know him like do. Look, if he's given the chance, then he's going to turn this around. He's going to make Slade think that it's your fault that she's dead. That you chose to save me instead of her." Oliver sighed in exasperation. "You can't give him that chance." She told him._

“I think I’m seeing where this is headed.” Diggle noted and Dinah sighed.

 

“Maybe things would have been different if Ollie had just listened to Sara, maybe. But he didn’t and there’s no way to know for sure if it would’ve changed anything anyway.” Dinah said wearily.

 

_"Sara I can't." Oliver started._

_"You've killed before." She argued._

_"That's not what you are talking about." Oliver shot back. "You are talking about executing somebody in cold blood."_

_"Look, Slade has the Mirakuru in him. He's unstable." She reminded him. "If he loses control; if he snaps again, then we're both dead. You have to kill Ivo." She pleaded._

“I’m not sure Ollie could have killed someone in cold blood without proper motivation. And saving his own ass wasn’t enough motivation for him.” Dinah mused.

 

_Later that night, the two made their way back to the fuselage to continue prepping. As Oliver stocked his quiver, the sound of metal on glass caught his attention. He looked up to see Slade standing in the door tapping the edge of a half-filled bottle of Reuther Rum with his knife. "Who's thirsty?" he asked with a grin._

_"Where'd you get that?" Oliver asked in wonder._

_"Who cares? Let's drink it." Sara said happily. She grabbed three tin cups, then handed the other two to the men._

_"Ahh, this is one of the few precious pieces of cargo to survive the crash." Slade said, pouring some rum into each of the cups. "Billy Wintergreen and I were planning on saving it for a rainy day but considering, God willing, this is our last night on the island…"_

_Sara raised her cup. "To taking the freighter." She toasted._

_"To getting off this island forever." Oliver added._

_"To Shado." Slade finished. The three drank happily._

“The bottle at the beginning…” Laurel put it together.

 

“Slade is a master at psychological warfare. And he took great pleasure in using it on Ollie.” Dinah explained darkly.

 

“Bastard.” Tommy sneered.

 

_"Mmm." Sara said appreciatively._

_"You know, if something happens to me tomorrow…" Oliver started, but Slade cut him off._

_"You can't think like that." The soldier told him, walking past the two to get into his sleeping bag._

_Oliver looked at Sara. "If I don't make it I need you to…" he swallowed hard. “To tell my mom and my sister that I wasn't that same, stupid kid that got on that boat. Tell them I was different."_

“Ollie…” Thea trailed off, tears in her eyes as Roy wrapped an arm around her.

 

_"Ok." Sara said after a moment. "And if I don't make it," she said to Oliver, "Tell my family that I died on 'The Gambit'."_

_"Why?" Oliver asked in confusion._

_"Let them remember me the way that I was." She replied simply._

“Sara.” Laurel sighed sadly.

 

_Slade exhaled loudly from his bunk. "We should all get some sleep." He told them._

_That night, Oliver dreamed. He was in a field. Across from him, Shado stood._

_"I've missed you." She said._

_"Shado?" Oliver said in shock. "How are you still alive?"_

_"I'm not alive. Remember?" she said. "I'm dead. Because you chose Sara over me." Suddenly Shado had a long, curved blade in her hand and began stabbing Oliver, who stood there, frozen. "Why didn't you choose me? Why didn't you choose me? Why didn't you choose me?!"_

_Oliver gasped as she shot awake the next morning, still feeling the lingering panic from his nightmare._

“Damn, that’s a lot of guilt there.” Tommy winced.

 

“Just the first of many things he would blame himself for.” Dinah noted sadly.

 

_Rise and shine, kid." Slade said. "It's time."_

_Oliver walked over to a small wooden crate. Opening it, he found Yao Fei's hood- Shado's hood. Reverently he took it out, feeling the fabric between his fingers. After a moment, he put it on, fastening the straps around his waist, then pulling the hood up over his head. He looked at his companions, and Sara smiled and nodded at him. Slade looked as well, and then moved over to his own crate. He opened it and withdrew his black and gold mask._

_Soon the three were hiking across the island. Oliver looked over at the bay, staring at the form of the freighter. On board the ship, the prisoners were doing the only thing they could do to pass the time- rolling dice._

_"Glaza zmei!" Anatoli chuckled. "Better luck next time, Hendrik." He said, handing the dice back to the man in the next cell._

_Hendrik took the die with a snarl. "You cheat! He cheats!" he shouted._

_"So do you." A man said from the third connecting cell. He was a wiry man with sandy blonde hair, glasses, and a crucifix around his neck, and he sat on the floor reading a bible. "He just cheats better."_

_"Get up, preacher boy." Hendrik snarled. "I said get up, coward!" Preacher said nothing, merely picked up a rat and petted it. Hendrik spat in his face._

“Jerk.” Tommy muttered.

 

“That’s the most polite thing you could call him.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_The men all started screaming and hollering, banging their tin cups against the bars of their cells. They all fell client as the new captain made his way down into the cell block. Soon they were all rhythmically clapping their cups against the bars as the Captain walked up to Anatoli's cell. "Ivo wants to see you." He growled in a low, menacing voice as he opened the cell._

_"Have faith, my friend." The preacher said. "God will protect you."_

“Not from these guys.” Diggle muttered darkly.

 

_"There is no God." Anatoli said as he was led out of the cell block. "If there was, He's not on this ship."_

_In his lab, Ivo was talking on his satellite phone. "How is she?" he asked._

_A man on the phone replied in a somber tone. 'I'm sorry, Anthony. I wish I had better news to give you, but her condition is progressing quicker than we anticipated.'_

_"Have you tried upping her dosage?" Ivo asked, looking through the file on the Mirakuru._

_'Twice already, but we both know modern medicine has its limitations.' The man reminded the good doctor._

“Who’s he talking about?” Diggle narrowed his eyes.

 

“Ivo’s wife.” Dinah explained, deciding there was no point in hiding it.

 

“What?” Tommy asked startled as they all looked at her in shock.

 

“After I saw the memories the first time, I did a little research. She had Alzheimer’s and Ivo heard about the Mirakuru, so he went looking for it, thinking it could cure her.” Dinah explained.

 

“I’d feel sorry for him if he hadn’t shot Shado and tortured all those people.” Thea muttered.

 

_"Oh, yes, I know quite well." Ivo said in frustration. "Thank you, Doctor." He hung up the phone just as Anatoli was led in. He paled when the men threw him into a modified dentist's chair and began strapping him down._

_"No. No, wait." He said desperately. "Wait, Mr. Ivo. My family is Bratva. Russian mafia." He explained. "They pay millions for me."_

_"I'm sorry, I have very little use for money." Ivo said, turning on the overhead light. He picked up a menacing looking tool and held it up for Anatoli to see. "I do, however, require an eye for my research."_

“And there’s why we don’t feel bad for him.” Roy said disturbed.

 

_On a cliff overlooking the bay, Oliver took up his position. He pulled out his micro binoculars, confirming the position of the freighter, then calmly withdrew a tar-covered arrow and lit it. He calmly took aim at the explosive pyre he had pre-built on the shore below, drew back the string, and fired-_

_And, it missed._

_Oliver stared at the still-intact pyre incredulously._

_"Well, we don't have all day." Slade noted dryly as he and Sara looked on._

_"There's a breeze." Oliver argued lamely._

“Right. A breath.” Roy drawled as everyone snickered.

 

_He withdrew another arrow, lit it, and fired. This time he looked on in satisfaction as the pyre exploded._

_And just in time, as on the freighter Ivo was about to dig out Anatoli's eye. He dropped the instrument and raced to his window, looking at the shore and seeing the tall gout of flame. "They're on the beach." He said. He turned to the Captain, who stood their holding Anatoli's head still. "Take them. Alive." He ordered._

_"What about him?" the Captain asked. Ivo indifferently waved him off, and Anatoli collapsed in the chair in relief._

_From the cliff, Sara watched an approaching launch through her binoculars. "They're coming." She said. "Two men, armed."_

_"You know, when we first tried to get off this island, it was as strangers." Slade said to Oliver. "But now it's as brothers."_

“Shame that‘s all about to end.” Dinah sighed as the time travelers all tensed.

 

_Oliver turned to Slade and nodded. "See you on the freighter." He told his friend, before moving off towards the coast._

_A few minutes later, the two pirates landed on the beach. They moved towards the pyre cautiously, stopping as they saw Oliver standing there, his hood up, his bow in his hand._

_"There." The captain told his companion. The two raced towards Oliver, who turned and ran off. He didn't make it very far before he tripped over a tree root and crashed into the ground. As he started to pull himself up, a punch form the captain knocked the fight out of him. "You're lucky Ivo wants you alive." The Captain snarled as he and his companion pulled Oliver up and dragged him back to the launch._

“Didn’t they find it weird at all that Oliver didn’t run off?” Tommy wondered.

 

“Ivo’s crew was assembled for brawn, not brains.” Dinah explained.

 

_A short time later, Oliver was dropped back into his original cell on the Amazo._

_"I told you I'd come back." Oliver told Anatoli weakly from the floor._

_"Fantastic. We're saved." Anatoli said dryly._

_As night fell, Oliver stayed motionless in his cell. A squeaking noise caused him to look up, and he saw a rat crawling over his chest. Gingerly he picked it up by the tail and set it back down on the deck, where it scampered over to the Preacher's cell._

_"He likes you." The preacher said. "Don't worry, he won't bite. Reverend Thomas Flynn." He said in greeting._

_"Oliver Queen." Oliver replied._

_"This is Abraham." He said, gesturing to the rat. "I remember you from before. You escaped."_

_"With that blonde whore." Hendrik added maliciously as he did one-armed pull-ups in his cell._

“Watch what you say about my sister, you bastard.” Laurel sneered as she glared at the screen.

 

_"That's Hendrik." Flynn said. "He's a charmer."_

_"Yeah, I hope she rots in hell." Hendrik snarled._

_"Hey, Sara was a prisoner, just like all of us." Oliver shot back hotly._

_"Right. Funny, I never heard her scream." Hendrik replied._

“Because her prison was psychological, not physical.” Diggle mused.

 

_Oliver tuned the man out. "How long have you been here, Thomas?" he asked the Preacher._

_"A little over a year." Flynn replied. "I was working as a missionary in Maliku, just off the coast of India. This ship docked there for supplies, Dr. Ivo asked me to come aboard to administer last rites for a dying man." He chuckled wryly. "My mistake."_

_"I'm sorry." Oliver said._

_"Don't be." Flynn replied. "Can you imagine a better place for a man in my line of work?"_

“Wow, he’s so…optimistic.” Laurel said stubbed.

 

“He must have had true strength of character to remain that way in that place.” Diggle said, feeling great respect for the preacher.

 

_Oliver looked up as his cell was opened. The prisoners all started their rhythmic clanging as Oliver was led out of his cell. "Hey," Anatoli called to him. "Prochnost."_

_Soon Oliver was strapped into the chair Anatoli had been mere hours before. Ivo sighed happily. "Mr. Queen. Welcome back." He said, clapping his hands together once. "My men are still searching the beach for your friend and Sara. They have the Mirakuru. So," he leaned down over the chair, looking right into his eyes. "Where are they?" he demanded._

_"Go to hell." Oliver replied in a whisper._

_"Maybe you'd like to rethink that." Ivo said. He picked up one of his tools and used it to cut open Oliver's shirt on his arm._

_"Ivo… you torture me all you want to. I am never going to tell you where they are." Oliver said defiantly._

_"No." Ivo agreed, lifting a syringe filled with a milky-white fluid. "Not willingly."_

_"What is that?" Oliver asked in a panic as he thrashed in the chair. The Captain grabbed him from behind in a chokehold to hold him still._

_"Oh, this? See, this is sodium pentothal." Ivo said conversationally. "It's more colloquial, yet very descriptive name, is truth serum."_

“Oh shit.” Roy said as they time travelers all stared in horror, none of them seeing Dinah’s smile.

                                  

_"No, wait, wait!" Oliver stammered in panic as Ivo injected him. "No, no, I'll tell you everything!" his face began to relax as the drugs started to take hold._

_"Let's begin." Ivo said._

_Present-_

_Slade and Moira were laughing genially, sitting next to one another in the lounge. Oliver sat across form them with a stony look on his face. "Are you married, Mr. Wilson? Do you have any children?" Moira asked._

_"Sadly neither." Slade replied._

_"Well, there must be someone special in your life." Moira insisted._

_Slade sighed, placing his drink down on the table. "There was." He admitted. "But she passed away a few years ago."_

_"I'm sorry." Moira said sympathetically._

_"My mother and I have had to deal with a lot of loss, unfortunately." Oliver interjected. "And eventually we learned… that you just have to move on."_

“Oh man, not good.” Thea winced.

 

“What?” Roy asked confused.

 

“What she means is that Mrs. Queen is just gonna take that as Ollie being disrespectful to her guest in order to spit her.” Laurel explained lowly.

 

“Oh…that’s not good.” Roy said lamely.

 

_Slade smirked at him. "I don't believe that." He said. Slade stood and moved to the mantel, admiring a painting that hung there. "You know, I heard that your family has an affinity with the fine arts." He said, changing the topic of conversation smoothly._

_"Yes, my husband amassed quite the collection of 19th century American landscapes." Moira said._

_"Hmm. I'd love to see them." Slade suggested._

_"Maybe another day." Oliver said harshly, rising quickly from his seat. "We have some family business that we need to discuss right now." He told Moira urgently._

_"I'm sorry." Moira said as she rose, appalled. "My son seems to have forgotten all his manners."_

“Man, he’s really off his game. That’s not exactly helping his case.” Diggle noted.

 

_She chuckled. "Let me just get my staff to open up the rest of the house." She offered, moving out of the room._

_"Thank you." Slade said. An instant later he spun around, catching Oliver's hand in an iron grip. He squeezed, and Oliver gasped in pain and was forced to drop the ice pick to the floor._

_"Mom? Ollie?" Oliver looked over in horror as Thea walked in the house._

“Oh no, why did I have to come home with the psychotic killer in the house?” Thea groaned as Tommy put his head in his hands, Laurel stiffened, and Roy’s arm around Thea tightened.

 

_"Not yet, kid." Slade said with a sinister grin. "I'm still going to meet the rest of your family."_

_Out in the foyer, Thea looked around. "Hello?" she called out. Out of habit she walked into the lounge. Oliver kicked the ice pick out of sight and Slade let go of his hand. The two moved a more respectable distance from one another, now looking like nothing more than two friendly acquaintances. "Hey, Ollie, have you and mom talked, 'cause this whole not speaking thing…" she started, heedless of the other man in the room._

_"Thea, now is not a good time." Oliver said sharply._

_"Who's your friend?" she asked pleasantly._

_"Slade Wilson." He said with a charming smile. He move forward and took her hand gently. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard such wonderful things from your mother."_

_"About me." Thea chuckled._

“He knows, doesn’t he?” Laurel breathed and everyone looked confused.

 

“About Merlyn? Yeah.” Dinah nodded as everyone stared in shock.

 

“How the hell does he know? Only a few people knew.” Thea demanded as her mind whirled.

 

“Someone told him. You’ll find out who soon.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"Thea, what perfect timing." Moira said happily as she walked back into the room. "This is Slade Wilson, and I—_

_"They've met." Oliver said angrily._

_Moira shot him an annoyed look. "-was just about to show him our collection." She continued, ignoring Oliver. "But you're far better suited." She said. "Come." She said, leading the two out of the room and towards the East Wing. Reluctantly, Oliver followed._

_Thea chuckled as she led the group on the impromptu tour. "Senior year, I was obsessed with art." She revealed. "My teacher made me bring my entire art history class over here to show our pieces. It was exactly as mortifying as it sounds."_

_"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't." Slade said. "But you're a very lucky girl to have known such privilege. And I am fortunate to have your entire family here." He said with a happy chuckle, once again placing his arm on Moira's shoulder as Oliver followed behind, glaring._

“Damn, he’s good. Throwing Oliver off his game by exposing himself, getting close to Oliver’s family, and getting almost unrestricted access to the Queen’s home.” Diggle said impressed by Slade’s ability to strategize.

 

“But why expose himself? Why get close to the Queen’s at all?” Tommy asked, not understanding.

 

“Psychological warfare. He wants to ware Oliver down before he kills him. This is only step one of his plan.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_Five years ago-_

_"Oliver." Ivo said, shining a pen light into his eyes. "Oliver, what's your name?"_

_"Oliver Jonas Queen." He replied dully._

_"Oliver, where were you born?" Ivo asked, shutting off the light._

_"Starling City." Oliver replied with a smile._

_"Why did you build a bonfire on the beach?" Ivo demanded._

_"So you'd see it." He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world._

_"I told you." The Captain snarled._

_"Was the bonfire a trap?" Ivo asked._

_"Not a trap. It was a…" he searched for the right word. "A distraction."_

_"How was the bonfire a distraction?" Ivo asked. "Where are Sara and Slade right now? Where are they?!" he demanded._

_"They're on the freighter."_

_Ivo paled. "Where on the freighter?"_

_Oliver struggled not to answer, but he did anyway. "They're in the engine room because we have a raft." He said._

“Damn it!” Tommy cursed.

 

“Just watch.” Dinah told him and everyone looked at her, wondering what they didn’t know that she did.

_"Sound the alarm." Ivo ordered the captain. "I want every man on this freighter down in that engine room. Search the entire floor. Go!" The captain took off._

_"Oliver Jonas Queen." Oliver mumbled as the alarms started going off. As most of the pirates made their way down to the engine room, a small contingent led Oliver back towards his cell._

_Earlier-_

_'It'll taste even worse.' Sara told him._

_'But it'll work?' Oliver asked._

_'I spent a year with Anthony Ivo. I know how he thinks. It'll work.' She assured him as she finished making the paste._

_'What is it, exactly?' he asked._

_'Cocculus indicus.' Sara said. 'It's a natural source of picrotoxin, which will counteract effects of barbiturates—'_

_'like sodium pentothal.' Oliver finished._

_'Ivo's favorite.' Sara confirmed. 'But you still got to act stoned to sell it.' She warned him._

_Oliver grinned. 'Lucky for me. Before all this, I had a lot of practice.'_

“That’s ingenious.” Diggle grinned as the time travelers all breathed a sigh of relief.

 

_Oliver immediately dropped the act, and then proceeded to drop the two guards. He grabbed one guard's keys and took off for the cell block._

_On the cliff, Sara was observing as the pirates moved into the ship._

_"They're clearing the decks." She shouted over the wind. "The top of the ship's emptying."_

_"Are you ready?" Slade grunted, letting the parachute out and allowing the wind to fill the sail._

_"You really don't want an honest answer to that." Sara said. On her back was Oliver's bow and quiver they had recovered earlier. "But you've done this before, right?"_

_Slade ran at Sara and grabbed her around the waist with one arm, then threw them both off the cliff. "Nobody's done this before!" he shouted as they went airborne. They sailed through the air, crossing the bay and making an impossibly soft landing on the deck of the ship. As Slade shrugged off the parachute, Oliver made his way onto the deck._

_"Here, I think these belong to you." Sara said, handing him his weapons._

_"We're on a clock, and she needs to free the prisoners." Slade said._

_"Ivo sent his men to the engine room just like we planned." Oliver replied._

_"More convenient for me to take them out." Slade noted, pulling on his mask. "Go find Ivo. He can't get off this ship. But don't kill him." He said sharply." Son of a bitch is mine." He said, pulling his gun._

“I’m hoping Ollie kills him but something tells me it doesn’t work out that way.” Laurel sighed.

 

“You’ve got good instincts.” Dinah told her.

 

_Present-_

_"And here we have a Curtis Swan from 1882." Thea was saying, showing off another of the many works of art in the East Wing. "Fun fact about this one- he actually painted it with his left hand due to severe arthritis."_

_"It's absolutely exquisite." Slade said, moving closer and running his hand over the frame._

_"I know." Moira said. Off to the side, Oliver had slipped his phone out and quickly hit Felicity's speed dial from memory. "I can't tell you how many offers we've had from private collectors for it."_

_"But it was one of dad's favorites." Thea added, turning to her brother. "Wasn't it, Ollie?" she prodded._

_"Yes, it was." He said, looking at his mother. "He loved that one."_

_"Then you must never sell it." Slade advised. "I believe that when we lose someone we love, we have the obligation to honor their memory."_

“Your definition of honor clearly differs from mine. Shado would be ashamed of all that you’ve done in her name. all you’ve done is insult her memory.” Diggle said angrily.

 

“Couldn’t have said it better myself John.” Dinah agreed.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Felicity's phone started ringing on the edge of her desk, but it was ignored as Sara tried to lead Roy in a little archery practice. Another arrow, another hit way off the target._

_"Oof. I think eventually I'd hit something." Roy groused._

_"Be patient." Sara advised. "Ollie makes it look easy."_

“MA, I really sucked at first.” Roy noted and Thea giggled lightly.

 

“You’ve seen now that it takes practice. Plus, in your defense, the Mirakuru made you have unsteady hands. Your shooting improved a lot once you got that out of your system.” Dinah explained and everyone perked up.

 

“So there is a cure.” Tommy said hopeful and Dinah smiled mysteriously.

 

“Just watch.” She said vaguely.

 

_"Is anyone going to get that?" Felicity called as she and Diggle returned from their Big Belly Burger run. "I'll take that as no." she dropped the bag of food on the edge of the table and picked up her phone. "No worries. No matter where I go, I'm just answering phones. Hello?" she said, picking up the call. She frowned. "Oliver?" She smirked as she set the phone down on the table, and then hit a key to tie it in to the Lair's speakers. "Well, I do think we have been butt dialed." She noted wryly._

_** And here is a Joseph Cooper from 1890.** Thea was saying over the line, oblivious._

_Roy perked up at once. "Hey, that's Thea."_

_**That's gorgeous.**_

_Sara froze. "Wait, hold on. I know that voice." She said, a feeling of ice in the pit of her stomach forming._

“That’s why Ollie called, because he knew Sara would recognize Slade’s voice.” Laurel realized and Dinah nodded.

 

“Slade’s voice is not one you’d forget after everything he did.” Dinah explained.

 

_**I actually have a painting from his first solo exhibition in Boston.** Slade continued._

_Sara paled. "Oh, God, no." she whispered._

_"Who is that?" Diggle demanded, on guard at once._

_"His name is Slade Wilson. And unless we stop him, he's going to kill Oliver and his entire family." Sara said urgently. "We have to move. Now." Sara walked over to the equipment rack and pulled out a knife. She tested the edge with her thumb._

_"Are you sure it was Slade Wilson? I thought he was dead." Diggle said, remembering what Oliver had told him._

_"I'm sure. That's not a voice I'd ever forget." She slid the knife into a holster attached to the back of her belt. "What's the biggest gun you got down here?"_

_Diggle pulled out a hard case that contained a Robar RC-50 .50 sniper rifle. "That might work." Sara noted grimly._

_"Might?" Roy asked, dumbfounded._

_"He has the Mirakuru in him." Sara told him._

_"So do I." Roy said, pulling up his hood. She noted his shaking hands._

_"Can I trust you?" she asked._

_"I'll be fine." Roy assured her._

“For now.” Dinah mused and Roy groaned.

 

_"Slade was a trained killer even before he was injected." Sara told the men as they moved to leave. "You get the chance, you get a shot, you put him down."_

_Felicity watched them leave, once more feeling helpless. "Please save Oliver." She said._

“So the only one they need to save is Ollie. So I guess my mom and me are expendable then. Okay.” Thea said as everyone glared at the screen.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Alarms were blaring all over the Amazo as Sara ran around, unlocking every cell she could._

_"Why are you doing this?" Anatoli asked as she unlocked his cell._

_"I'm with Oliver now." She replied._

_"Why should I believe you?"_

_"Because you don't want to die! Go!" She yelled. Taking her for her word, Anatoli ran off. Sara moved to Flynn's cell and unlocked it, letting the preacher out, then moved to Hendrik's cell. As soon as the door was unlocked, Hendrik burst out, grasping her by her throat and slamming her to the ground._

_"You helped that maniac torture us." He snarled as he choked the life out of her._

_"No!" she gasped, terrified._

“Get your hands off my sister you bastard.” Laurel snarled.

 

“Don’t worry, she gets out mostly unharmed.” Dinah assured her, even as she herself glared at the screen.

 

_Down in the engine room, Slade was going all out in massacring the pirates. He tossed them around like rag dolls, shrugging off their best hits like they were nothing. A few of the pirates, seeing the hellish figure of the man in the mask tried to run, but Slade didn't allow them to escape._

“Damn. He was ruthless before, but now he’s just a monster,” Diggle muttered as the time travelers all stared, greatly disturbed by Slade’s brutality, “To be honest, I don’t think Slade could’ve been saved at this point. The man that Oliver knew was already gone.”

 

“Perhaps you’re right John.” Dinah mused.

 

_In the cell block, Sara was almost unconscious when Flynn came up behind Hendrik and clocked him on the head with a pipe. Sara gasped, sucking in large volumes of air as he pushed the man off of her. "Follow me." She coughed, leading the preacher out of the cell block towards freedom._

“Thank god.” Tommy rubbed soothing circles on Laurel’s back as she sighed in relief.

 

_All around them the prisoners were running wild, taking out their anger on the guards. Some guards opened fire, but were quickly overrun by the numerous prisoners._

_"Where's Ivo?!" One man shouted, looking for the source of their pain._

_"He's heading to the bridge!"_

_Oliver, hearing that, made his way up. When he reached the top deck, he saw Ivo pacing in the wheelhouse, and made a run for it. He was stopped by one guard whom he quickly dispatched, yanking a grenade off the man's vest before dropping him to the deck._

_In the wheelhouse, Ivo was nervously pacing as the phone rang. "Answer the phone." He muttered. Finally, a woman's voice answered._

_"Hello?"_

_"Jessica, it's me." Ivo said._

_"Who?" she asked._

_"It's Anthony."_

_"Anthony." The woman said as an explosion ripped through the deck outside the window. "I was married to a boy named Anthony."_

_"I know, sweetheart." Ivo said sadly._

_"But he went away." She said absently._

_"I went to find a cure. And I found one, sweetheart. I found it, and soon, we're going to be—" he paused as he heard footsteps outside the door._

_"He was a doctor, but he went away." Jessica noted absently._

_Ivo smiled sadly, and then was thrown to the ground as Oliver's grenade blew the door off the wheelhouse. Ivo groaned as he tried to pull himself up. He glared at Oliver as he raced in, his bow raised and ready to fire. "It's harder than it looks, isn't it?" Ivo asked. "Killing an unarmed man."_

“Killing is never easy, even in self-defense. This wasn’t self-defense, this wasn’t part of any war, this was cold blooded murder. It’s why Ollie couldn’t do it. He’s not, nor will he ever be, a ruthless, remorseless killer.” Dinah noted.

 

_"It seemed pretty easy when you murdered Shado." Oliver snarled._

_"I didn't murder her, Oliver." Ivo protested._

_"Ivo, you shot her in the head!" he shouted._

_"I gave you a choice! You chose Sara." Ivo shouted back. "You blame me, but that's because you can't face your own guilt! I loaded the bullets, yes, I pulled the trigger." He smirked at Oliver. "But you- you aimed the gun. And you hold yourself responsible. Don't you?" he asked._

_"Yes." Oliver admitted. "But that doesn't mean I won't kill you."_

_"The question is," Ivo said, looking past Oliver. "What will he do?"_

“Oh no.” Tommy breathed as the time travelers all tensed.

 

_Oliver slowly lowered his bow and turned to see Slade standing there, still in his mask. As he walked into the wheelhouse, he pulled it off._

“This is when it happens.” Diggle said and Dinah nodded.

 

“This is when it happens.” Dinah told him.

 

_"Is it true?" he asked, heartbroken. "Tell me."_

_"Slade, I tried to tell you- "Oliver started._

_"Tell him, Oliver." Ivo interrupted, pulling himself back to his feet. "I was angry, like you are right now. And I wasn't thinking clearly."_

_"Shut up!" Oliver snarled at the doctor._

_"I acted rashly; I told him to choose between Shado and Sara."_

_"Don't listen to him." Oliver pleaded. "He's a monster, he will say anything. You know that he will!"_

_"Tell him I'm lying, Oliver." Ivo taunted. "Say it."_

“He knows Ollie won’t do it, he just heard him say he blames himself.” Thea snarled.

 

“He knew he was done for, so he figured that he might as well make sure Ollie dies to.” Dinah said, glaring at the screen with everyone else.

 

_"I can explain…" Oliver started weakly._

_"You've known…" Enraged, Slade drew his sword and swung it at Oliver. Oliver ducked as Ivo bolted out of the room. He moved over to the wheel, trying to escape, but Slade swung again. Oliver moved back, dragging the wheel and causing the ship to make a hard turn to port. Everything not bolted down crashed to the decks except Slade, who kept his feet. Reaching down, Slade grabbed Oliver with one hand by the neck and lifted him over his head, slamming him into the ceiling._

_"Slade…" Oliver gasped. "Please…Ivo…."_

_"He's dead." Slade snarled. "As dead as you are!" Suddenly the ship ran aground, the crash jolting both men and sending them crashing to the ground._

“Thank god.” Thea breathed a sigh of relief that her brother was alright.

 

“It wasn’t a long reprieve.” Dinah said and the time travelers paled.

 

_Out on the deck, the surviving Pirates poured out of the holds and started opening fire on the prisoners who were also pouring out in a desperate big to escape. Some prisoners who had grabbed weapons exchanged fire. Huddled near the edge of the ship farthest from shore, Flynn tried to look out with a piece of broken glass to count the pirates as Anatoli and Sara huddled close next to him._

_"How many?" Anatoli asked. A random shot shattered the mirror before Flynn could get an accurate count. An armed prisoner was shot dead near them, dropping his AK-47 to the deck. All three looked at the gun._

_"This one time, you can pray for me." Anatoli said, diving for the gun. He opened fire, taking out serval pirates. But he clip ran out just as another approached, and Anatoli looked on helplessly as the man drew a pistol to shoot him-_

_Then suddenly there was an arrow in the man's leg, and Oliver was there._

“Thank god he got away.” Thea said as the time travelers all sighed in relief, note noticing Dinah’s grim expression.

 

_"Behind you!" Anatoli shouted, and Oliver spun and fired another arrow into another pirates shoulder. A third threw a knife at him, and Oliver ducked and rolled forward, firing and killing the man as he came up._

_"Ollie! Are you ok?" Sara shouted as he ducked down next to them. "Where's Slade?"_

_"He knows!" Oliver replied. It was all he needed to say. All around them, the pirates were regaining control._

_"We've got to get off this ship!" she cried._

_"No!" he shouted, unwilling to give up his chance to go home._

_"Ollie, it's over! It's over!" she cried. "We've got to go! We can still swim back to the island."_

“Please listen to her.” Tommy begged, wanting his best friend as far from Slade as possible.

 

_"She's right!" Anatoli said. "We must hurry!" Oliver nodded, and then donned the hood as the small group dashed for the edge of the boat. One by one they jumped overboard, but as Oliver made the leap, Slade came out of nowhere and grabbed him by the leg. Oliver slammed against the side of the ship, and then Slade hauled him up, swinging him like a bat and sending him crashing to the deck._

“Oh no.” Thea whimpered as Roy wrapped his arm around her tighter, everyone watching as the tension in the room mounted.

 

_Oliver struggled to sit up as Slade sauntered over to him. "Slade, wait—" he tried, but one punch knocked him out._

_It was over. The revolt had been put down. As the surviving pirates put the prisoners back in their cells, Slade tossed Oliver into a cell of his own. He closed the door and glared at his friend._

_"Stop. Don't move." Slade turned to see the Captain, flanked by four of his men, all holding weapons on him. "Get in the cell." He ordered._

“Bad move man, bad move.” Roy noted.

 

_"I do not take orders from you." Slade said calmly._

_"I am this ship's Captain." The man spat._

_Slade calmly walked towards him, pausing only a moment when the Captain shot him. Undeterred, he reached out and grasped the man's head between his hands, and SQUEEZED. The Captain's head squashed like a grape, and Slade let the body drop to the deck. "Not anymore." He said contemptuously. He glared around the cell block. "This is my ship now. Any objections?" he asked rhetorically. As one, the pirates all quietly disarmed and stepped away from their guns._

“Damn, Slade’s really lost it.” Roy noted.

 

“Yeah, he has. And he’s just getting started.” Dinah said darkly.

 

_Present-_

_"Slade Wilson is dangerous." Sara reminded her team over their comms. "No chances, no mistakes."_

_"I'm in position." Dig said from his impromptu sniper's perch in the bushes. "When Slade comes out, I'll have the shot."_

_"Felicity?" Sara asked,_

_From the lair, Felicity pulled up a map of the Manor. "Thermal imaging's coming up now. They're in the northwest hall."_

_Sara jumped up, catching a bar and pulling herself up to the second floor. "Roy, remember, just get Thea and Moira away from Slade. Don't start a fight, you'll lose." She told Roy as he walked up to the front door. "Ok?"_

_"Ok." Roy said, pushing his hood back._

“Wow, you listened.” Thea said surprised as she looked at her boyfriend and he shrugged.

 

“It’s been known to happen from time to time.” Roy quipped.

 

_"Let's go." Sara said as Roy walked in the front door. On the second floor, she used her knife to slip the latch on Oliver's window, and silently made her way into the house._

“The Queen’s really need to upgrade their security.” Diggle noted.

 

“I’ll talk to Moira about it.” Laurel promised.

 

_She paused upstairs as she heard Slade laugh._

_"Thank you again for such a wonderful and insightful tour." Slade said jovially as Moira led him back out into the foyer. Thea turned and gave him a friendly smile as Oliver slipped into the archway of the lounge. "You were a remarkable guide." He complimented._

_"Did you have a favorite?" Thea asked._

_"I found 'The Promise' to be particularly compelling." Slade said, glancing over at Oliver._

_"Thea, you home?" the small group turned to see Roy walk in._

_"Roy! I thought I was meeting you at Verdant." Thea said in surprise._

_"Oh, yeah." Roy replied, glancing over at Oliver and giving him a subtle nod._

“Not a bad cover, but you need work.” Tommy told Roy.

 

“I’ll get right on that.” Roy said dryly.

 

_"Uh, this is, uh—" Moira began awkwardly._

_"I'm Roy Harper." Roy said, extending his hand._

_"Slade Wilson." Slade replied amicably. He moved close and shook his hand. They were still as each took the measure of the other's strength. "That's a particularly firm handshake you have there, son." Slade said with a grin._

_"Yeah, you too." Roy replied._

_At the top of the stairs, Sara appeared. She looked at Oliver, who subtly shook his head, then slipped the knife back into the holster and covered it with her jacket._

_"Ollie." She said, drawing Slade's attention. He looked up in surprise, shock, and then delight as Sara came down the stairs. "There you are."_

_"Sara, we didn't hear you come in." Moira said warmly._

_"I didn't want to interrupt the tour." She lied._

_"Mr. Wilson, this is my son's friend Sara Lance." Moira introduced as Sara moved to stand next to Oliver._

“Right. Friend.” Tommy said dryly.

 

_"Of course." Slade said, reigning in his emotions. "You're the girl who came back from the dead."_

“And I suppose you would know.” Laurel sneered.

 

_"Ah, we're just glad to have her home." Oliver noted._

_"Well, I can see." Slade replied. "I mean, it's hard to find that special someone who means everything to you. You were very lucky."_

_"So…" Oliver looked around at his team, then back to Slade. "What would you like to do now? Mr. Wilson." Oliver asked._

_Slade smirked at the pair, and then looked back at Roy. "Well, I'd hate to break up the party," Slade told Oliver. "But I think I should be going." He chuckled as he allowed Moira to show him to the door. "I look forward to seeing more of you, Moira."_

_"Oh." Moira said, blushing as he kissed her cheek._

“I think he should get as far away from my mother as humanly possible.” Thea said as she glared at the screen.

 

“Hear hear.” Tommy agreed.

 

_"And your lovely family." Slade said, smiling pleasantly at Thea._

_"Dig's got a shot lined up outside." Sara whispered to Oliver._

_"Mr. Wilson." Oliver said suddenly. "May I walk you to your car?"_

_The two men walked out. As Oliver escorted Slade to his Lamborghini, Dig lined up his shot. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, though- a figure came up behind him and smashed him across the back of the head, knocking him out._

“What the, who was that?!” Tommy demanded shocked as Diggle leaned forward.

 

“Slade was one step ahead of you guys.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"Cyrus Gold, the men in the skull mask, all this was you." Oliver was saying, waiting for the shot. "They worked for you."_

_"Well, I have my allies, just as you have yours." Slade remarked casually. "John Diggle, for example. I suppose you're wondering why he hasn't taken his head shot." Oliver looked startled. "Don't worry. He's still alive-for now."_

_"Slade." Oliver hissed as the businessman opened the car door. "What do you want?"_

_Slade scoffed and climbed in. He closed the door, and then rolled down the window. "Five years ago, I made you a promise. Do you remember?" he asked. Oliver nodded. "Well, I'm here to fulfill it. I'll see you around, kid." He said cockily as he drove off, leaving Oliver standing alone in the dark._

“What promise?” Laurel asked uncomfortably.

 

“Just wait a few minutes.” Dinah said simply.

 

_Five years ago-_

 

_The escapees gratefully hugged the sand as they finally made landfall. "We made it!" Anatoli said happily. He looked around. "Where's Oliver?" he asked suddenly. Sara looked around, a feeling of dread falling over her._

_On the Amazo, Oliver still lay in his cell when Slade opened the door. Slade stared down at his former friend in silence for a moment before he spoke. "I need you to see something." He said. He moved out, and a guard came in and dragged him out, tossing him to the deck in the center of the cell block as two more guards led out Anthony Ivo._

_"Ok. Wait." Ivo started. "You need me. Ok, you have the Mirakuru in you." He bargained._

_"Not just in me." Slade pulled out several syringes filled with green fluid- the Mirakuru. He looked down at Oliver. "You burned a box full of dirt." He told him as Oliver looked on, dejected._

“What the hell?!” Roy exclaimed as the time travelers stared in shock.

 

“Slade never had any intention of letting Oliver and Sara burn it, did he?” Diggle asked and Dinah shook her head, confirming his thought.

 

“I don’t know if this was the serum or if Slade was always like this deep down inside, but you were right John, the Slade Ollie knew died long before he learned the truth about Shado.” Dinah explained.

 

_"I can help you understand how it works." Ivo continued to bargain. "I've spent my entire life studying it, all right?"_

_"It was you." Slade said, interrupting him. "You were the one who killed Shado."_

_Ivo paled. "No. No, he chose." Ivo said, pointing at Oliver. "It was him."_

_"Give him your gun." Slade ordered a guard. The man instantly held out his pistol. "Take it." Slade ordered Ivo, who reluctantly took the gun. "And show me… how you killed Shado. Show me!" he roared._

_Hesitantly, Ivo pointed the gun at Oliver, who rose unsteadily to his feet. "Slade," he said weakly. "This isn't you. It's the Mirakuru. And you're sick!" he said._

_"I don't care." Slade said._

_"I was trying to protect Sara." Oliver admitted. "But I didn't want Shado to die. I cared for her, too. You know that I did!" he cried._

_"I don't care." Slade said, turning to face Oliver._

_"You said we were brothers." Oliver reminded him. "You said that."_

_"Is that how you did it? Is that how you pointed the gun at her?" Slade asked Ivo._

_"Yes." He replied weakly._

_Growling, Slade spun and brought his sword down, severing Ivo's hand from his arm. Ivo screamed in agony as he fell to his knees, clutching the stump of his arm as it bled. "Get him out of here." Slade ordered the guards, who picked up Ivo and dragged him out._

“Well, can’t say I’m sorry about that.” Thea said and no one disagreed with her.

 

_"Why don't you just kill me?" Oliver asked wearily._

_"To kill you now would be a mercy." Slade replied. "You cannot die until you have suffered the same way that I have suffered. Till you have known complete despair. And you will. I promise."_

“He really did turn into a complete psychopath, didn’t he?” Thea asked disturbed.

 

“Yes, he did.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_Oliver walked back into the house, feeling as dejected as he had in that cell block five years earlier. He found Moira in the lounge, cleaning up._

_"Mr. Wilson leave?" she asked._

_"Yeah." Oliver replied quietly. "It's getting pretty late, I'm going to go, too."_

_"Hmm. Oliver." She began sharply, not even looking at him. "I know you and I have our differences, but they hardly excuse your behavior tonight." She glanced at Oliver, but quickly turned away. "If this is the way you're going to act around me from now on, then don't come by the house anymore." She ordered, moving out of the room. Oliver turned and walked out as well, heading for the door._

_Later that night, as Slade sat in his office with his eye patch off, he looked at his three screen setup as all of the micro cameras he had planted transmitted their feeds. He sat back, watching, plotting his next moves to destroy them utterly._

“He bugged the house.” Thea breathed, horror setting in.

 

“Yes, he did.” Dinah nodded.

 

“Please tell me Ollie showed us the lair so we’d believe him,” Thea begged and Dinah was silent, “Are you kidding me?!”

 

“He did consider it, but he had to consider something very carefully.” Dinah said.

 

“What, how mad we’d be?!” Thea snarled.

 

“That telling you his secret was what Slade wanted him to so,” Dinah said and Thea’s rage died a little, “Slade was an enemy unlike any he had ever faced before. He knew almost everything about Ollie, so Ollie had to be very careful. In the end, Ollie wasn’t willing to risk your lives like that. It may not have turned out so great, but he did the best he could. He’s not perfect, he made mistakes, but he has always just wanted to protect you Speedy.”

 

Thea sighed but just leaned back into Roy, who wrapped his other arm around her.

 

“So, one more then I think we should get dinner and turn in for the night.” Dinah said before she started the next recording.


	50. Suicide squad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diggle is confronted with painful memories from his past as his onscreen self is reunited with an old enemy. Slade begins using psychological warfare against Oliver.

_The memory set opened in the Lair, where Oliver had set up a small fold out bed, which he now shared with Sara. Oliver gasped as he awoke suddenly. He sat up, shaking off the lingering effects of the nightmare, then looked back to his partner. "Sara." He said quietly, trying to rouse her. "Sara?" he tried again, shaking her gently . When he pulled his hand back, he saw blood. Hesitantly he reached over and rolled Sara onto her back-_

_But it wasn't Sara. It was Shado._

_"Murderer." Shado hissed at him-_

_And Oliver sat up in the bed, now truly awake._

“Damn.” Tommy said as they all stared at the screen sympathetically.

 

“Ivo really did a good job on convincing Ollie it was his fault.” Laurel sighed.

 

“I told you, in Ollie’s eyes, he is the villain of his own story.” Dinah said sadly.

 

_Slowly he pulled himself up, pausing to look back at the sleeping Sara, then rose from the bed and grabbed is phone. He quickly pulled up a contact and dialed. "Mne nuzhno vstretit'sya svami." He said quietly when the man on the other end picked up._

_A short time later, Oliver made his way to the Auto Repair shop that served as a front for the Bratva._

_"Aleksi. Kak Ty, moy drug?" (How are you, my friend?) Oliver said with a smile as he shook Alexi's hand._

_"What can I do for you?" the Russian asked. "There's no gulags here in Starling City."_

_"Anatoly talks too much." Oliver said with a chuckle. Absently he noted the several other Bratva soldiers that came out. "Eto verno. I need you to find a man for me. His name is Slade Wilson. He's rich, Australian, and he's missing an eye. I need to know where he sleeps." He said._

_"First, I need your assistance with my business." Alexi countered. "There is a man who owes me a substantial amount of money."_

_"I am not here to trade." Oliver countered._

_"You know how our brotherhood works." Alexi said. "I do a favor for you and you do one for me."_

_"Put it on my tab, Alexi." Oliver said tiredly. "I don't have time for these games."_

_"Make time." Alexi said as his men moved behind Oliver. "My services are of no use to you unless yours are of use to me."_

_Oliver smiled wanly, and then turned as if to leave. Suddenly he lashed out; punching the first man in the face, then ducked a swing from the second. As he came out he grabbed the second man's gun from his belt even as he grabbed the first goons gun from his hand, then pistol whipped the second man. He came up pointing one gun at the first goon, then turned to face Alexi and pointed the second gun right at his head. "I know exactly how this brotherhood works, and right now, it works for me." Oliver growled. "U nas yest' ponimaniye? (Do we understand each other?)"_

“Damn, does Ollie realize how bad of an idea this is? I mean, pissing off the mob is suicide!” Tommy exclaimed as he stared in shock.

 

“He wasn’t thinking of that. Slade being back terrified him to his core, the only thing that scared him ore then Slade was losing the people he loved to Slade. He wasn’t thinking long term; he just wanted to defeat Slade as soon as possible.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene changed back to the lair a short time later. Oliver walked back in to find Sara seated in Felicity's chair, waiting for him._

_"I woke up and you were gone." She began._

_"Yeah. I wasn't tired." Oliver lied._

_"You should be." Sara said. "When's the last time you actually slept?"_

_"Right before I found out that Slade Wilson is still alive." Oliver admitted._

_"Do you want to talk?" Sara asked, rising from the chair and moving over to him. "I mean I know neither one of us are very good about sharing our feelings,"_

“That’s an understatement.” Roy drawled and the others snickered.

 

_"but… I mean, I get it. Slade, and," she sat down next to him at her station. "And it's a lot, and, you know, it's ok if you're scared. I am, too." She admitted._

_"I'm not scared." Oliver argued. "Slade came back to Starling City with an agenda. First, he tries to mass produce the Mirakuru. Then he shows up at my mother's house. So he wants a fight, fine. I'll give him a fight. And this time, when I kill him, I will make damn sure that he stays dead." He growled. "I just need to find him." He said plaintively._

_The scene changed to outside Felicity's' house, where Diggle had been on stake-out all night._

_He chuckled when she came out, dressed in her pajamas, slippers, and coat carrying a mug and walked right up to his car. She opened the door and climbed in, handing the mug to Dig. "Ooh, coffee?" he asked._

_"Hot cocoa."_

_"Hmm." He took a grateful sip. "What, no marshmallows?"_

_"I'm out." She said, closing the door. "What are you doing here, Dig?" she asked._

_"Keeping an eye on things." He replied._

_"Ok." She said. "And by things, you mean my neck. The one you think Slade Wilson's going to break in my sleep."_

_"Yeah, something like that." Dig said. "Look, I have extra security details on Oliver's mother. Roy's keeping an eye on Thea; Sara's staying close to Laurel."_

“All good precautions.” Diggle nodded in approval.

 

_"So I get you sitting outside of my house like that lacrosse player my freshman year of college." She stated. Dig chuckled. "What?" she said mock-defensively. "You know, I had a life before you and Oliver, yeah?"_

_"Right." Dig said with a tired smile. "I just want to make sure you're ok, Felicity." He said earnestly._

_"And I love you for it." She said. "But if Slade wants to kill me, he can. There's nothing you can do to stop him."_

“That may be true but at least we’d know if Slade was targeting her.” Diggle frowned.

 

_"So go home." She told him firmly. "Ok?"_

_Felicity climbed out of the car. "Hey." Dig called out. He handed the now empty mug back to her. "Nice jammies." He said. She smiled, then turned and walked back into her house. Diggle made sure she was inside, then moved to start his car when his phone beeped. Picking it up, he saw he had a text from an unknown caller._

_—Ostrander Hotel Room 1141 Now—_

“What the hell is this?” Diggle sat forward and Dinah smirked.

 

“Relax, it’s nothing bad.” Dinah assured him.

 

_Frowning, he started the car and headed for the hotel. A short time later he found himself walking cautiously down the hall, his gun in his hand as he approached the room. He stopped at the door and banged on it with the butt of his gun. As he readied himself for combat, the door opened-_

_To reveal Lyla Michaels. Quite a bit of her, actually, as she stood there in a purple satin nightie._

“Why helllooooooo.” Tommy said eagerly as he eyed the screen shamelessly and Diggle scowled.

 

“I will gouge your eyes out with a screw driver. Slowly.” Diggle growled.

 

“I don’t see anything.” Tommy said quickly, covering his eyes as Diggle smirked and the others snickered in amusement.

 

_"What is all this?" he asked, walking into the room. "A little early for champagne, don't you think?" he said, noting the champagne and caviar set out for two._

_"Not for me." Lyla said, taking off the top and leaving her clad in even less nightie. "I just got back from a mission in Pyongyang."_

_"Well, damn. That was you?" Diggle teased._

_"I'm sorry. That's classified information." She said with a grin, wrapping her arms around him. "But I missed my ex-husband, new boyfriend. And A.R.G.U.S. has a standing reservation at this hotel for very important assets." She said before kissing him slowly. "Can you stay?" she asked._

_"Um, well, Oliver and I kind of have a…situation." He started, not trying very hard to say no._

_"Everything all right?" she asked, kissing his neck._

_"Yeah, yeah, we're handling it." Dig assured her._

_"So you can stay." She said._

_"Mmm." Diggle kissed her hard, then picked her up and carried her to the bed._

“You dog.” Roy shot Diggle an impressed look while Thea slapped him upside the head while glaring at him.

 

“You can uncover your eyes now Tommy.” Dinah said dryly and Tommy sheepishly uncovered his eyes as the others snickered.

 

_Six years ago-_

_The small unit let a column of refugees through a narrow pass deep in Afghanistan._

_"Hey." Lyla called out to her squad leader._

_"Is there a problem, Michaels?" Ted Gaynor asked as he and Diggle ran point._

“Oh great. This guy again.” Tommy said blankly as Diggle scowled.

 

_"We need to rest." Lyla said, separating form the refugees and coming up to the pair of soldiers. "These women are tired."_

_"We're all tired." Dig said with a wan smile._

_"It's a long hike back to camp. Keep going." Ted ordered. "Shall I go explain to the ladies why they want to get back before dark?" he added._

_"They're not allowed to talk to you." Lyla pointed out._

_"Why, 'cause I'm an American?" Ted asked._

_"Because you're a man." She shot back. "Five minutes." She asked._

_Ted nodded reluctantly, and Diggle held up his fist, signaling to stop. Lyla headed back to the women as Ted sighed._

_"Girls in the military. Can't keep up, don't join up, right?" he groused._

“Sexist bastard.” Laurel sneered as all the females in the room glared at the screen.

 

_Diggle kept his eyes on Lyla, seeing that she was keeping up just fine._

_Lyla headed to the back of the group and paused at one woman who had sat down heavily. "Do you need water?" she asked in Pashto._

_"It's my feet." The woman replied, lifting her feet and showing the sole to be blistered and cut._

“Damn.” Roy winced as they all stared, horrified by the condition of the woman’s feet.

 

_Lyla reached into her pocket and withdrew her extra pair of socks. "Here." She said, handing her the socks._

_The woman took them with a grateful look on her face. Lyla rose to check on the others, but the woman reached out and grabbed her arm. "There's something you need to know." She began, looking fearfully at the group._

_Moments later, Lyla approached a shifty looking man who was trying to keep his face hidden. She had her sidearm out and aimed, and Diggle noticed._

_"Whoa, whoa, hey, what's going on here?" he demanded as Lyla forced the man to his knees. "What's going on?" Ted asked,_

_Lyla ripped the shawl away from the man's face. "You recognize that face?" Lyla asked. "You should. He's on the U.S. military's high value target list." Diggle pulled out his pocket index book of high-value targets, and flipped through the pages before he finally found the right one._

_"Gholem Qadir." Lyla said, reading the bio from memory as she secured the prisoner. "Opium drug lord and arms dealer."_

“Qadir…isn’t he the one who you…” Laurel trailed off but Diggle nodded stiffly, a scowl on his face.

 

“What?” Tommy asked cluelessly.

 

“The one I killed a kid protecting.” Diggle said bitterly.

 

“Oh.” Thea said lamely as an uncomfortable silence stretched across the room.

 

_Diggle grinned at his C.O. as the resumed the march, forcing their prisoner ahead of them "What were you saying about women in the military?" he joked._

_Present-_

_"Why didn't we do fun stuff like this when we were married?" Lyla asked later as the two left the room._

_"And take time out from our busy schedule of driving each other crazy?" Dig replied, kissing her. As they broke apart, both froze as a new person walked down the hall towards them._

_"Amanda." Lyla said in surprise as Amanda Waller, flanked by two bodyguards, walked towards them._

“Oh great, it’s the psychotic director of the government organization.” Roy drawled as they all glared at the screen.

 

_“Don't look so worried, Agent Michaels." Amanda said coolly. "We've all availed ourselves of the Ostrander suite at some point in our careers.”_

“Who would go to a hotel with you?” Thea asked disgusted.

 

“Either someone crazy or someone without a soul.” Dinah muttered.

 

_Something's come up; I'll need you to come with me." She said bluntly._

_"Duty calls." Lyla said sadly._

_"Yeah, guess so." Dig replied, bending down to give her one last kiss._

_"Actually," Amanda said, drawing their attention again, "I meant both of you." She revealed, to the pairs' concern._

“What?” Diggle asked stunned.

 

“It’ll all make sense in a few minutes.” Dinah promised.

 

_Less than twenty minutes later, Diggle and Lyla found themselves at the A.R.G.U.S. headquarter building, right on the edge of downtown Starling City. Waller led them into a sub control room and began the briefing by pulling up an image on the center screen._

_"What are we looking at here?" Diggle asked._

_"Hydroxy-cyclosarin. It's a nerve agent." Lyla explained._

_"The apocalypse in the form of a chemical weapon. And it's about to hit the open market." Waller revealed. "A.R.G.U.S. agents uncovered a manufacturing plant in Kahndaq. All samples were accounted for, except for one." She clicked her remote, and more pictures appeared- pictures of dead men, women and children. "Two weeks later, this footage was captured in a remote village in southern Qurac. One milliliter has a kill radius of ten miles. It only took half that amount to produce these results." Waller said._

“Half?” Tommy repeated weakly.

 

“If half of it can produce that…” Laurel trailed off as a pit of dread settled in her stomach.

 

“Not good.” Roy said as he paled.

 

_"Our sources have traced the sample through Europe to an estate in Markovia."_

_"So send in the army." Dig said quietly._

_"We send in the army, we risk an international spectacle our government can't afford." Waller countered. "This has to be off-book."_

_"If you need me to draw up the smash and grab, done." Lyla said. "But John isn't a field agent. He's not qualified." She argued._

_"Judging from how he and Oliver Queen spend their free time, I'd say his credits transfer." Waller said with a sly smile._

_"Hey, look, I don't want this thing out in the open any more than you do, but I'm not sending my boss in on another one of your business trips." He said harshly._

_"I have no intention of involving the Arrow." Waller said. "I need you."_

“Why does she need me?” Diggle demanded.

 

“Asked and answered.” Dinah said as the recording continued.

 

_"What for?" he demanded. Another click of the remote brought up a familiar picture._

_"Gholem Qadir." Waller stated._

_"We caught him." Diggle said in disbelief._

_"D.O.D. turned Qadir loose a few years ago." Lyla revealed._

“Are you kidding me?!” Diggle shouted enraged.

 

“Typical politics.” Roy scoffed in disgust.

 

“Typical corruption.” Laurel corrected.

 

_Dig gave her a look. "Who thought that was a good idea?"_

_"It's a complicated world, Johnny." She shot back._

_"The nerve agent's not the only WMD Qadir's tried getting his scummy fingers on." Waller continued. "Last month, he tried to buy Malcolm Merlyn's prototype earthquake machine."_

“Wait, I thought you said Damien Darhk was the one who wanted it.” Thea said confused as she looked over at Dinah.

 

“He was. Qadir was just the middle man, in league with Darhk.” Dinah said and Diggle growled.

 

“Is there any terrorist activity this bastard isn’t involved in?” Diggle demanded.

 

_"Thank you for stopping that, by the way." She added, almost sounding sincere. "Fortunately, he doesn't know about your involvement in that. He remembers you as the man who tried to save his life. The nerve agent's under lock and key at his estate in Markovia. He's scheduled to host a fundraiser there shortly."_

_"The two of us haven't exactly kept in touch." Diggle noted._

“Yeah, I tend not to keep in contact with terrorists.” Diggle seethed.

 

_We've got that covered, but our window is rapidly closing." Waller said._

_"Ok." He said with a resigned nod. "So I infiltrate the fundraiser, come out with the package. Sounds simple enough."_

_Waller smirked at him. "Nothing in this business is simple. You know that, Mr. Diggle. Follow me."_

_Diggle and Lyla followed Waller out of the briefing room, through a maze of corridors, and down into her private cell block._

 

_"I don't need you to get the nerve agent out." Waller was telling Diggle. "I need you to get your team in."_

_"My team?" he asked._

_"They're designated 'Task Force X'." Waller said, stopping in the middle of the hall. Three cell doors were open, all flanked by guards._

_"Give me a break." Diggle tensed as he heard a familiar voice. He started in shock as the three prisoners were led to their cells. He recognized all three of them- Mark Scheffer, the mad bomber that had called himself 'Shrapnel', Ben Turner, otherwise known as Bronze Tiger and the man who had actually stolen the prototype earthquake device, and…_

_"This ain't no task force." Floyd Lawton, AKA Deadshot said. "Let's call it like it is- Welcome to the Suicide Squad."_

“Deadshot.” Diggle snarled as everyone stared.

 

“Waller picked him up a few weeks after Russia. Found him in a bar.” Dinah explained.

 

_"It's not only prisoners who grow course and hardened from corporal punishment, but those as well who perpetrate the act or who are present to witness it." Shrapnel quoted as his restraints were removed and he was pushed back into his cell._

_"Oh, please stop giving him books." Turner said, annoyed with the man._

_"So this is your unit, huh, Waller?" Dig said in disgust. "What, OJ and Charles Manson weren't available?"_

_"This is a dangerous operation." Waller pointed out. "And these men have useful skills. Should the mission be compromised—"_

_"You'll just write them off. The Suicide Squad." He glared at Lawton as his restraints were removed and he was pushed back into his cell. Lawton blew Diggle a sarcastic kiss. "Yeah," Dig scoffed, "like he would ever make the sacrifice."_

“Never say never John.” Dinah shrugged and he stared at you incredulously.

 

“Are you serious?” He asked in disbelief.

 

“He saved and Lyla’s lives so you two could make it home to your son. He should’ve gotten a medal of honor, but politics made him out as a villain.” Dinah explained sadly and Diggle looked over at the screen, a seed of respect for Lawton growing in his heart.1

 

_He glared at Waller, then took Lyla by the arm and led her farther down the hall. "Lyla, I can't believe you're on board with this." He said. "Those men are murderers!"_

_"And what's the number of bodies between Oliver Queen and Sara Lance?" Lyla countered._

_"What they do, what I do, is completely different." Dig argued._

“Sara killed people that the League told her to, nothing more,” Dinah said softly as Diggle looked ready to protest, “not saying that she never killed anyone who didn’t deserve it, but Sara and Lawton aren’t that different except that Sara took a more honorable approach and never took any money or joy from what she did.”

_"Not really, John." She said. "Don't you see that?"_

_"What I see is you letting the man who killed my brother roam completely free." Diggle spat._

_Lyla shook her head. "It's not freedom. It's work." She said._

_"It's wrong." Dig countered._

“You always did find it difficult to see the grey in the world.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_"Do you cuties need some counseling?" a female voice asked from another cell. "I'm a trained therapist." Waller slammed her fist into the door shutting the woman up._

“Good old Harley. Don’t ask.” Dinah said and Thea closed her mouth.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. Laurel was seated at the bar, filling out a job application while spending time with her sister. She didn't, happily, have a drink in front of her._

_"Do you have previous experience in retail?" she said, reading the question off the application. She looked up as Sara. "Does shopping count?" Sara chuckled, but when she looked up she saw Oliver stalking into the club, heading towards their basement. Laurel noticed as well. "Sara?" she said, getting her attention back. "I've seen that look before. On my face in the mirror when Ollie goes into distant mode. Hang in there. He'll open up to you when he's ready." She advised._

“Only took him about a year.” Laurel said dryly and Dinah chuckled.

 

_"Yeah." Sara said tiredly. "You'd think so."_

_The scene shifted to downstairs, where Felicity was hard at work one her rebuilt computers searching for Slade. "I started by tracing the donation Mr. Wilson made to Moira's campaign." She told Oliver. "All of the money was routed through a series of offshore accounts. None of which link back to a local address, so I looked into credit card transactions and car rental agreements."_

_"What?" he asked in confusion._

_"He's got to get around somehow, just not by rental car." Felicity clarified._

_"Slade's former ASIS." He told her. "He knows how to be a ghost."_

“Yeah. Gold was dangerous but Slade? Slade was in a class by himself.” Dinah said grimly and the time travelers felt shivers travel their spines.

 

_An alert beeped and Felicity pulled it up. "Robbery in progress, Fifth and Giffen." She leaned back in the chair to look at him. "We're still in the crime fighting business, right?" she asked. Oliver turned to look at his suit._

_A short time later Oliver was wrapping up the two punks, when he slowly became aware of someone watching him from a rooftop, He turned to stare up, but saw nothing. Cautiously he made his way to the roof and looked around, freezing when he saw an eerily familiar sight- Slade Wilson's old, deteriorated mask, the one he had set on the shores of Lian Yu as a monument to his fallen friend, was hung up on a steam pipe. A brand new arrow pierced the left eye hole, mocking him._

“Slade’s taunting him, trying to get under his skin. And it’s working.” Diggle noted with concern.

 

“Slade really is a master of psychological warfare.” Laurel noted concerned.

 

_The scene changed to Markova, where Diggle's team had taken up their positions at the fund raiser._

_"Harbinger has eyes on the target." Lyla said as she spied Qadir walking into the room. "Light the torches." She ordered._

_From his position on the roof of an opposite building, Lawton looked through his scope. "Deadshot is a go." He said._

_On the street, Scheffer sat in an older model sedan. "Shrapnel's a go."_

_In the main room, Turner looked around the room, visually marking his targets. "Tiger's a go."_

_From her command post back at A.R.G.U.S., Waller watched everything through hacked security cams. "This is Mockingbird." She said over the comms. "Harbinger, you have a green light."_

“Mocking bird. Did she choose that codename herself or did someone with a twisted sense of irony do it?” Thea asked sarcastically.

 

“Knowing Waller, it wouldn’t surprise me if she chose it herself. She always did have a high, if delusional, opinion of herself.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"Freelancer, you're a go." Lyla said, signaling Diggle. He stood on a balcony overlooking the main floor. "Deadshot?" she asked._

_"Got Freelancer in my sights." Lawton confirmed._

_"What's stopping you from shooting me right now?" Diggle asked angrily._

_"Honor." He replied mockingly._

“I really hate that guy.” Diggle grumbled.

 

_Six years ago-_

_Qadir walked between Ted and Diggle now as the convoy continued on. "Can I trouble you for a cigarette, my friend?" he asked Diggle._

_"I don't smoke, and I'm not your friend." Dig replied, keeping a wary eye on his surroundings._

_"You know who I am? What it is I do?" Qadir asked._

_"You're dealing drugs, weapons and children." Dig shot back. "Play both sides of the conflict. Make money while your country burns."_

_"I do not have to be the only one. Let me go, I make you rich." He offered._

_Before Diggle could tell him to go to hell, Ted beat him to it. "You trying to bribe my men, Qadir?" he asked, getting in his face. "If we wanted to make a buck, this is the last place we'd be, moron."_

“Yeah, we’d be back home, robbing armored cars.” Diggle grumbled, still bitter over his old friend’s betrayal.

 

_Suddenly a shot rang out. "Get down!" Diggle yelled. On instinct, he took Qadir and threw him to the ground, covering him with his own body as insurgents opened fire. One of his men took a hit, and Diggle joined Lyla, Ted and the others in shooting back._

Diggle winced, knowing what was about to happen.

 

_Present-_

_Ready to play his part, Diggle turned to walk down the stairs- and walked right into Qadir. Instinctively he grabbed the other man to steady him. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was—" he allowed himself to look surprised. "Gholem Qadir." He said in amazement._

_"I do know what is less likely- that John Diggle would be clumsy, or I would find him here, of all places." Qadir said in surprise. "You like art, my friend?"_

_"I know a good investment when I see one." Dig said._

_"Out of the military, then?" he asked._

_"And in a more lucrative line of work." Dig replied._

_"What kind of work is that?"_

_Diggle gave him a smile. "The kind you don't get to ask about." He placed a warm hand on Qadir's arm. "It's good seeing you, Gholem."_

_"Everything all right here, Mr. Diggle?" Dig turned to see his 'bodyguard' Ben Turner._

_"Yes, he's with me." Diggle assured him._

_"So the soldier now has his own security." Qadir said, impressed._

_"In my line of work, when I do a good job, I tend to make enemies." Diggle said in confidence._

“You know, the only reason this bastard is buying your story is because he hasn’t seen you in five years.” Roy pointed out and Diggle nodded, looking thoughtful.

 

_"A good man turns bad. Bad man turns good." Qadir said. Diggle looked at him thoughtfully. "You changed my life, you know." He continued._

_"Trust me, that was never my intention." Diggle said honestly._

“Yeah, my intention was for you to rot in hell. Or as close to hell as I could get you.” Diggle growled.

 

_"The intelligence I provided your government, it saved many lives." He said. "Now as a free man, I give back when I can."_

“Bastard. Someone shoot me so I don’t have to listen to this bullshit anymore.” Diggle groaned.

 

_“Of course." Dig said, trying not the deck the man. He was saved when a moment later Deadshot opened fire, taking down Turner._

“Thank god for Lawton, never thought I’d say that.” Diggle said in amazement as the others snickered.

 

_Get down!" Dig yelled, tossing Qadir to the ground and covering him like he had done all those years ago as people ran screaming all around the room. After a moment the firing stopped, and Diggle scanned the roofs across the street. "It's all clear." He said._

_"Deja vu, my friend." Qadir said, looking thankfully at Digg as his own security man ran up to them._

_"Mr. Qadir!"_

_"I am fine." He assured the man, glancing at Diggle. "I do not believe I was the target."_

_Diggle looked at Turner, then down at Qadir's line of sight to see a small, 5.72 millimeter hole in his jacket. He turned to glare out the window; across the street, Lawton smirked_

Diggle rolled his eyes in exasperation but otherwise made no comment.

 

_"Like I said, when I do my job right, I tend to make enemies." Dig repeated._

_"We should go." The guard said, leading Qadir out of the room._

_On the ground floor, Lyla looked around. "Good job, Deadshot." She said. "You're a go for exfil."_

_"Already in motion." Lawton said, exiting the building at street level his gear was packed and he was replacing his eye patch when he saw his ride peel out without him. "Except, uh, I'm not the only one." He said in annoyance. "Shrapnel just bolted."_

“Well this isn’t part of the plan.” Roy noted.

 

_"Find him." Waller ordered._

_An agent pulled up his tracker, the posted it to a map of the area. "Picking him up, headed east."_

_"Shrapnel. Stand down and return to the rally point." Waller ordered over the comms._

_"I won't be conscripted into your moral army." Shrapnel replied, driving as fast as he could to get away._

_"Stand down! Final warning." Waller warned._

_"Especially not while in a country without an extradition treaty." Shrapnel said, dodging through traffic._

_"Very well." Waller said, pulling up Shrapnel's id and typing in BATB-25. In the car, Shrapnel suddenly felt an immense burst of pain in the back of his head. He grabbed his head and screamed in agony…_

_"What the hell's going on?" Diggle demanded, walking out onto the terrace just as he heard a loud crash._

_"Shrapnel just fouled out of the game." Waller said in a satisfied tone. A short distance away, he could see black smoke rising from where the car had crashed._

“What the hell just happened?!” Tommy exclaimed as  they all stared at the screen in shock.

 

“Waller’s insurance policy. You’ll find out in a moment.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_The scene shifted to the A.R.G.U.S. safe house later that night. Lawton, Turner and Lyla were already there, resting up and checking their equipment when Diggle stormed in._

_"What the hell was that?" he demanded._

_Lawton grinned as he cleaned his rifle. "We're going to want popcorn for this." Turner smirked and nodded in reply._

_"You said it yourself, John." Lyla said calmly. "They're murderers. Criminals. They need an incentive to follow orders."_

_"So you rigged their heads with explosives?" he exclaimed._

“What the hell?! And Lyla’s okay with that?!” Diggle demanded angrily.

 

“She can either disagree and leave or stay and limit the damage. Which would you prefer?” Dinah asked dryly.

 

_"There's no danger as long as they play by the rules. Scheffer didn't." Lyla replied._

_"It's like I don't even know you anymore, Lyla." He said._

_Lyla was silent for a moment, burying her feelings. "Where are we at with Qadir?" she asked finally, getting back to the mission._

_Diggle took a breath. "Save a man's life once, get a silver star. Save it twice? Rent a tux." He yanked his phone out of his pocket and threw it down in front of Lyla. "I'll await further instructions, sir." He said harshly as he stormed back out of the room._

“Well, there goes the peace in the house.” Roy drawled as Diggle glared at him.

 

_She picked up the phone as he slammed the door behind him. And read the text. –Please come to my Humanitarian Benefit. Details and instructions attached.— she set the phone down and sighed._

_The scene changed to the auto repair shop. Oliver walked up to Alexi, noting the frowns on his men's faces._

_"Vashi lyudi nezhnyye. (Your men are delicate)". He said._

_"So is my patience." Alexi said crossly. He held up an envelope, "This is Starling City bank account number for your Mr. Wilson." Oliver reached out for it, but Alexi pulled it away. "To be clear- take this envelope and we are through." He warned. "I do not care who your friends are. U nas yest' ponimaniye? (Do we understand each other?)" He asked._

“He’s so focused on stopping Slade that he doesn’t see he’s creating more enemies right in front of him.” Laurel noted with concern.

 

_Oliver angrily took the envelope and walked off. He was almost to his bike when he felt another presence, and he spun around to see Sara walking up to him._

_"Relax, it's just me." She said frowning when he turned back to his bike. "What's going on, Ollie?" she asked. "Hey! Talk to me."_

_"Now is not the time." Oliver growled._

_"Then when is the time?" she demanded, moving in front of him to stop him. "The Bratva, Ollie? You're losing your grip, Ok? Slade's getting in your head." She warned him._

_"I need this to stop." Oliver spat. "And for it to stop, I need to find him."_

_"Yeah, and until then, how long do you think you can keep this up for?" she asked. "You're not eating, you're barely sleeping. And when you do, you have nightmares." She pointed out, before realizing. "They're about her, aren't they? Hey, look at me." He reached up and moved his head back to her when he started to turn away. "You did what you had to do, ok? Ivo was going to shoot Shado, or me, or both of us. It was an impossible choice." She told him._

_"I made it, anyway." Oliver said._

_"But if you had chosen differently, then it would be me haunting you at night." Sara pointed out._

“Yeah, but Ivo was gonna shoot Shado no matter what he did.” Thea pointed out.

 

_"It still could be, Sara. That's why we have to stop." He said sadly._

_Sara looked at him cautiously. "What are you saying?"_

_"He's going to use you to hurt me." Oliver stated. "Or he's going to hurt you." He kissed her on the forehead. "Stay away from me." He ordered, walking to his bike and leaving a frustrated Sara behind._

“And now he’s pushing her away.” Laurel noted, growing even more concerned.

 

“Ollie thought he was protecting her. In his mind, if they weren’t together, then Slade wouldn’t go after her. He overlooked the fact that Slade blamed Sara for Shado’s death just as much as he blamed Ollie and he knew that Ollie cared for her.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene changed to the safe house, where Lawton was prepping Diggle for the mission by taking a blood sample._

_"Seeing as how you haven't brought it up, I'm guessing you haven't got very far with that H.I.V.E. lead I gave you." Lawton remarked._

_"Just make this quick." Dig said shortly._

_Lawton chuckled as he slipped the tube into the mount and watched the blood flow. "You're usually so chatty, John. These problems with your girl, they got you down, huh?"_

_"And what about your girl?" Dig shot back. "The one you have a shrine to in that cell of yours?"_

_Lawton angrily yanked the full tube free. "Zoe." He said._

_"Does your daughter know what you do for a living?" Diggle asked._

_"She is why I do what I do." Lawton said._

_"Really?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"How many enemies can a little girl have?' Dig asked sarcastically._

_"I wouldn't know." He replied, handing Dig a tablet. "Everything I make beyond expenses goes in a blind trust." Dig opened an app and placed his finger on the box that came up. It scanned his fingerprint, and across the room a 3-d printer started up._

_"A girl needs her father." Dig said._

_"Nah, not this father." Lawton replied. "Best thing I can do for her life- not be in it." He rose and moved towards the printer, leaving Diggle to contemplate this side of the man who killed his brother._

“He wasn’t always like this you know.” Dinah said, seeing the look on Diggle’s face.

 

“Really?” Diggle asked with considerable less skepticism then he would’ve had an hour ago.

 

“I read his file that Argus had on him once. At one point, he was just like you, like anyone really. He was a military man, a husband and father. After he was discharged, he had a case of PTSD almost as bad as Ollie’s. But Ollie handled it better. He couldn’t hold down a job and it all came to a head one night when he turn his pistol on his wife,” Dinah explained and they all looked at her in horror, “he didn’t pull the  trigger but his wife called the cops on him, filed a restraining order against him. While he was in jail, Darhk sent one of his agents to recruit him and well, you know the rest John.”

 

“Yeah, Hive had Andy kidnapped and recruited.” Diggle said angrily and Thea, Roy, and Laurel looked at him in shock.

 

“What?” Roy asked shocked and Diggle laughed humorlessly.

 

“Yeah, it’s all in the file Dinah gave me. Andy was part of a terrorist organization called Shadowspire and his criminal activities interfered with theirs. But they were also impressed, so they switched out Lawton’s poison bullet without him knowing and captured him before recruiting him onto Hive. And that’s not even the worst of it.” Diggle said bitterly.

 

“I’m sorry John.” Laurel said, feeling great empathy towards him.

 

“I guess I never really knew him.” Diggle said sadly.

 

“You saw what you wanted to see. Trust me, I know the feeling.” Dinah said as she unpaused the recording.

 

_"Is it ready?" Lyla asked a moment later as she and Turner entered the room._

_"We're almost there." Lawton said. The printer finished, and Lawton reached in, withdrawing the copy of Diggle fingerprint. "You know, we went through all that trouble to get Johnny here invited to this little shindig. Seems like an awful waste not to use that invitation." He remarked._

_"You're using it." Lyla said. "Once you have hands on the nerve agent, pocket it, walk right on out." She told him._

_Lawton chuckled. "Copy that."_

_The scene changed to Qadir's house later that night, as Dig and Lyla stood in the receiving line awaiting their turn to greet their host. "Thank you very much. Your generosity is much appreciated." He was saying to the guests in front of them._

_Diggle looked back at Lyla, giving her an appraising look. "That's not exactly army camo." Dig noted wryly. "But have you given any thought to what would happen if Qadir recognizes you anyway?"_

_"Mr. Diggle." Dig smile as Qadir came up and shook his hand. He looked at Lyla with a more lustful smile. "Who is this vision?"_

Diggle growled, mentally picking out the gun he would love to shoot this bastard with.

 

_Lyla gave Dig a satisfied look, then lightly shook Qadir's hand. "His new bodyguard." She said._

_"Mmm." He turned back to Dig. "You will have to refer me to your security company." He joked. "I'm glad you could come tonight. It's the least I could do after you saved my life. Again. I will see you inside, my friend."_

_He started to move on to the next guests. "Gholem." Dig said, calling back his attention. "It would seem I didn't have time to get credentials for my associate." He noted._

_Qadir smiled. "Come. This way." He said. The three walked past Floyd Lawton, dressed in a tux as a security guard waved his magnetic wand over him. The wand beeped, and the guard looked at Lawton._

_"Gosh, I'm so sorry." Lawton chuckled, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a set of car keys. "I forgot those were in there." The guard rolled his eyes and let him through. Lawton moved on to the fingerprint scanner. The false fingerprint he wore over his finger easily identified him as John Diggle._

_"Enjoy the benefit, Mr. Diggle." Lawton smirked and walked into the house._

“It’s very creepy that the guy who killed my brother is now going under my name, even if it is just for one mission.” Diggle muttered.

 

_. Diggle walked upstairs and withdrew a black velvet pouch, placing it behind a statue in an alcove. "Deadshot and his gear are in position." He told Lyla quietly._

_"Tiger's got the overwatch. Harbinger to all, fire in the hole." She said into the comms._

_Six years ago-_

_Diggle, Lyla, Ted and the rest of the troops were still pinned down, but were rapidly whittling down the insurgents._

_"Shooter at my ten!" Dig yelled._

_"I got you covered!" Ted shouted, firing on Dig's ten and killing the insurgent._

_"Bounding!" he yelled, moving up the hill as his men covered him. Suddenly free of any guards, Qadir took a chance and ran for an open of the valley. Above him, an insurgent sniper took aim…_

_Dig shot him first, hitting the sniper in the throat._

Diggle winced, guilt and shame flooding him as everyone looked at him sympathetically.

 

_Qadir dropped to the ground, staring up at Diggle and realizing the man had just saved his life._

_"All clear!" Ted shouted as the firing finally ceased. Diggle moved towards the sniper, tossing the rifle away as he bent down and removed the scarf. He sighed in disgust as he saw the young face. "It's just a kid." He said, suddenly very weary of the fighting._

“There was no way that you could’ve known John.” Dinah said soothingly.

 

“But I still did it.” Diggle said in a voice full of self-loathing.

 

_Present-_

_Lyla and Diggle where schmoozing with Qadir in the main room of the house. Lyla glanced up in time to see Lawton retrieve his gear. "And don't you look lovely tonight?" Lawton told a female guest with a smile as he moved off into the house, and onto his objective._

_Diggle and Lyla turned to walk off, but Qadir stopped them. "Oh, I think you owe your bodyguard a dance." He said with a smile. "I insist." The two smiled, and then moved onto the dance floor._

_"Deadshot en route to package." Lawton said as he moved down to the sublevel._

_"The fate of the world resting in the hands of Floyd Lawton." Diggle said as the two moved stiffly on the dance floor._

“I’m sure whatever divine force out there is laughing at me right now.” Diggle said dryly.

 

_"It helps to focus on the mission." Lyla suggested lamely._

_"Is that what you tell yourself?" he asked._

_"I tell myself to see the world how it is, not how I want to see it." She replied. "We both operate in the grey. The only difference is, is I'm willing to admit it."_

_"That's not the only difference between us." He said crossly._

_"That's true. I don't judge other people for it." She shot back._

“That’s an understatement,” Dinah muttered, “you really need to work on that John.”

 

“Maybe.” Diggle said with a thoughtful look on his face.

 

_Diggle sighed. "Lyla, I'm the same man I've always been."_

_"And I'm who I've always been." She countered. "You're rigid, John. You're blind to any viewpoint that isn't yours." She pointed out._

_"These past few months have been amazing. But we've done more playing than talking."_

_"Because when we talk, we tend to get divorced." Diggle noted._

“Or maybe you never really talked.” Laurel proposed.

 

“Maybe.” Diggle admitted.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. Laurel was once again seated at the bar, spending time with her sister as Sara mixed her a drink._

_"Don't worry." Sara said, placing the drink in front of Laurel. "It's virgin."_

_Laurel took a cautious sip and grimaced. "Ugh. Which is why it tastes terrible." She said._

_"True." Sara laughed, which turned into a frustrated sigh as she saw Oliver walk in. Sara excused herself to go into the back, so Laurel rose and walked over to Oliver._

_"So. It looks like things with you and Sara are going well." Laurel noted dryly._

_Oliver chuckled. "I'm not sure you're the best person to talk to with all this." He started._

“Probably not.” Tommy agreed.

_"And why is that? Is it because of the whole cheating, shipwreck, drowning, not drowning, you're back, she's back thing?" she asked sarcastically._

“And that would be why.” Laurel said dryly.

_“They both chuckled at that. "Sorry. It's brutal AA honesty talking." She said._

_"I think I preferred it when we were all lying to each other." Oliver noted._

_"No, you just thought you did." Laurel replied. "I know you better than almost anyone, Ollie. I know that you think that you don't deserve to be happy, but you're wrong. You may think that keeping her at arm's length, you're protecting her, but you're not. You're only protecting yourself." She advised._

_"It's more complicated than that." Oliver said coldly._

_"It always is." She shot back, and then headed towards the door. Oliver scowled and moved to the basement._

“He really does not listen very well.” Roy noted.

 

“No. But neither did any of us.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"I got the address for that account number you gave me." Felicity said as Oliver came down the stairs. She handed him a piece of paper with the address on it, then grabbed he phone. "I'll call Roy and Sara."_

_"No. I'm not giving Slade any more targets." Oliver said, grabbing his bow._

_"You can't go out there by yourself, its suicide." Felicity argued._

_Oliver turned to face her. "This started with the two of us. That's how it ends." He said._

“He really has a death wish, doesn’t he?” Diggle asked as the time travelers stared at the screen.

 

“It sure felt like it at times.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene changed to the benefit. Lawton stopped at the entrance of the basement and strapped on his gear. "Deadshot's on target." He said as he activated his eyepiece. He grinned as it picked up a heat signature through a hidden door down the hall. "Bingo." He walked to the wall and started feeling I for some kind of release mechanism. Finally, he tried pushing it, and much to his surprise, it opened._

_The scene shifted back to Starling City as Oliver walked cautiously into Slade's office. It was dark; the only thing in was a projector that was pointed right at the doorway. Oliver approached the desk slowly, reaching for an arrow, but then stopping. He moved around the edge of the desk, and instead of Slade found another man seated in the chair- a man with an arrow in his left eye. Using his bow, he spun the chair to face him, revealing the dad man to be Alexi._

“Holy crap.” Tommy breathed as they all tensed.

 

_As he turned to leave, he froze._

_Slade had gone back to China, and had found Yao Fei's personal effects. That was the only explanation how old home movies of Shado were being projected onto the wall, the moving images taunting Oliver and hurting him more than any arrow could._

“Slade is one sick bastard.” Tommy growled, angry that Slade had used his best friend’s pain that way.

 

“Tell us something we don’t know.” Roy said grimly.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Sara was working out furiously on the Wing Chun dummy when Oliver returned._

_"I don't know what to do." He said brokenly. "He's too far ahead. I mean, he spent years planning this, and he knows everything about me. I can't, I… I don't know how to stop him." He admitted._

_"Well, you start by letting people help you." Sara advised._

_"But he's going to come after you." He objected weakly. "You're alive… because Shado isn't."_

_"And when he does, do you think it'll make a difference whether or not we're together?" she asked. She reached up and gently took his face in her hands. "Let him come. I'm not the girl he knew on the island. I'm not that easy to kill." She looked into his eyes. "Together?"_

_"Together." He agreed, and she pulled him in for a hug._

“Well, at least he’s finally letting her in.” Thea said relieved that her brother wasn’t pushing everyone away now.

 

_The scene changed to Markovia. Lawton headed down the long concrete hallway. "I'm in." he said over the comms. "I'll have the nerve agent in my pocket in 30 seconds." He rounded the corner into the lab, and then froze in horror what he saw. It wasn't a small canister of the stuff, it was a huge vat. "Harbinger… we've got what I would describe as a little bit of a situation here."_

_"Explain." Lyla demanded._

_"Well, I got eyes on the nerve agent, and I'm not going to be able to move it, much less pocket it." He said crossly._

“Holy crap. That’s not good.” Tommy said worriedly.

 

“Yeah, this is one huge setback.” Laurel said, not noticing Dinah’s dark look.

 

_"Stand by, Deadshot. I need to talk to Waller." She said, looking at Diggle. The two made their way off of the dance floor. They moved to a somewhat secluded corner as Lyla called in._

_"Go for Mockingbird." Waller said._

_"We have a situation." Lyla reported. "The package is much bigger than our pre-op briefing indicated."_

_"Stand by." Waller said calmly. She looked to one of the techs. "Deadshot's on target; I need to see what he does. Activate the camera in his eye piece." She ordered._

_"Multi spectrum from Lawton's rig coming in…now. It's a match." She reported, looking at the image on the screen._

_"Tiger, move for extraction." Waller ordered calmly. "Deadshot, remain in position. Harbinger and Freelancer, evac and head to the rally point."_

_"Deadshot still isn't topside with the package." Diggle protested._

_"I only needed eyes on." Waller replied. "Fall back to the rally point."_

“She knew. She lied to them; this was her plan all along.” Diggle growled as the pieces fell into place.

 

“You’re surprised? This is Amanda Waller John, nothing is off the table.” Dinah said darkly.

 

_"Wait," Lyla said. "You knew that the nerve agent was too large to be extracted?"_

_"Fall back to the rally point. Nine is inbound and hot." Waller said. "Mockingbird out."_

_Diggle looked to Lyla. "What the hell are nines?" he asked._

_"MQ-9s. Predators." Lyla said. "Waller's called in a drone strike."_

“Are freaking kidding me?!” Tommy exclaimed as they all stared in shock.

 

“All those people…and she’s willing to just kill them.” Laurel said stunned and disgusted y Waller’s callousness.

 

“Waller has no regard for human life.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_She looked around the room. "Everyone here is dead inside of ten minutes. She looked back to Diggle. "The nines carry the Hellfire missile. Just one of them can level this whole building."_

_"And your boss doesn't care who's here when it does." He spat. "Lyla, we have to get these people out of here."_

_"Maybe there's a house alarm we can trigger." She suggested. Diggle stood staring at Qadir, formulating a plan. "John, we have to move now." She urged._

_"I have a better idea." Dig said. He grabbed a glass of champagne and a fork, and then tapped the glass loudly. "Excuse me. Excuse me." He called out. "Can I have your attention, please?" all eyes turned to Diggle. "In honor of our host. Gholem Qadir excels at everything he puts his mind to, be it business, philanthropy or terrorism." The audience gasped; Qadir gaped. "Yeah, I guess you could say Gholem is somewhat of a renaissance man. He dabbles in a little bit of everything. Arms trading- did I mention the sex trafficking? Or the deadly nerve agent that he's holding just 30 feet beneath this very dance floor." That set off the mass panic he had been hoping for, and the crowed surged towards the exits to get away from the perceived threat._

“Nice man, nice.” Roy gave Diggle a thumbs up.

 

_"These are lies! This man is a mercenary!" Qadir yelled, but no one was listening. One of his men rushed Diggle, but he took him down with one hard punch. He watched as Dig talked to his bodyguard, and then suddenly he remembered seeing her before- she was the one who had captured him._

_"Lawton! He's not answering." Dig was saying to Lyla. "I have to go help him. I can't believe I just said that." He muttered, moving off towards the basement. Lyla moved to head for the van, but Qadir came up behind her and grabbed her arm, spinning her around, he placed a knife at her neck._

“Lay a hand on her, I dare you.” Diggle growled as he glared at the screen.

 

_"You! You were in Afghanistan Six years ago." He spat. "You and that Judas have been deceiving me from the start!" Suddenly he gasped as three 6 inch steel claws were embedded at the base of his neck._

_"Good timing." Lyla said as Bronze Tiger pulled the claws free, allowing the terrorist to drop to the floor, dead._

_"Got tired of waiting for my invitation." Turner quipped._

Diggle relaxed slightly bit not quite, knowing there was still danger.

 

_The drone was hot and incoming fast as Diggle ran down into the lab. He found it empty except for Lawton and the huge tub of nerve agent._

_"Tsk, tsk. Disobeying orders, John." Lawton quipped. "Behind you." Diggle spun, but Lawton quickly dispatched the two guards with his wrist gun. "That's two you owe me, junior." He joked._

_"We have to go." Dig said._

_"Waller told me to stay here." Lawton replied._

_"There's an incoming drone strike."_

_Lawton scoffed. "How contemporary. Get your team clear." He said._

_Dig moved forward, raising his gun. Lawton raised his wrist gun in reply. "You are on my team." Dig reminded him. "And it's time for you to go."_

_"Yeah, that's right." Lawton said. "It is time. And this is my way to go. Suicide Squad, remember? I'm expendable, John. Even got the damn bomb in my head to prove it. This way, at least I get to go out doing something honorable." He reasoned._

“Whoa.” Diggle said lowly, shock flooding through him.

 

“There is a good man buried underneath him. He’s not bad, he’s broken.” Dinah explained.

 

_"You don't get to die that easy, Lawton." Dig snarled._

_"Really? Why don't you give me even just one good reason why not, huh?" Lawton asked._

_"Zoe." He said simply._

_Lawton stared at him, silently warring with himself. Finally he caved and lowered his gun; Diggle did the same._

_"What about the nerve gas?" Lawton asked._

_"Believe me- Waller's already got that covered." He replied, leading his man out of the lab. They ran like hell, making their way out of the house and into the van where Turner and Lyla were waiting._

_"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!" Dig howled as she slammed the door behind him. The van took off, speeding like hell to get free from the blast zone._

_Lyla frowned as she checked her display. "The drone shifted course. It's following us." She told them._

_Lawton started laughing; Diggle glowered at him. "Do you find that funny?"_

_"The Wall." Lawton said. "What a woman. How do you think she knew where to send the drone, huh? And I mean, the precise coordinates."_

_"The implants." Diggle realized._

_"Bomb and GPS." Lawton reminded him. "Pretty clever, right? The drone ain't targeting Gholem's house. It's targeting me."_

“Good god, just when I think that bitch can’t get any more cold blooded, she proves me wrong.” Roy said disgusted.

 

“Never say never Roy, especially when it comes to Amanda Waller.” Dinah told him in a dark voice.

 

_As Turner drove, Lyla glanced out his side view mirror and saw the Drone bank and follow them. Making a decision, she reached down and picked up Turner's claws, then climbed into the back of the van. Lawton stared at her with a wide, terrified eye._

_"Whoa, hang on, do I get a say in this?" he asked, panicked._

_"Turn around." Lyla ordered._

_"What are you doing?" Dig asked._

_"Look, I think I'd rather get blown up!" Lawton opined._

_"Hold still. This is going to hurt." She warned the man. Finding the surgical scar form the implant, Lyla carefully cut back into it with the claw. Seconds later, the drone fired its missile. Diggle threw open the door and tossed the nickel-sized device out onto the street, and had just managed to close the door when the missile struck. The shockwave almost sent the van out of control, but Turner managed to hold the road as the Drone flew off. Lawton, Lyla and Diggle all shared looks as Turner drove them off into the night._

“All I can say is you sure can pick ‘em Dig.” Roy quipped.

 

“Yeah, Lyla’s a total badass.” Thea pointed out.

 

“I know.” Diggle smirked proudly.

 

_The scene shifted to A.R.G.U.S. headquarters the next day, where Waller was giving a dressing down to Diggle and Lyla._

_"The Markovian government is threatening retaliation following an unprovoked drone attack over a no-fly zone." She reported, slamming the report onto her desk. "Just the attention we wanted to avoid. Well done." She said sarcastically._

“Hey, you’re the one who ordered the drone strike lady!” Tommy snapped.

 

_Diggle shook his head with a grin. "I'm not the one who sent that drone." He reminded her._

“Nice.” Roy said and Diggle grinned.

 

_"It was cloaked." She shot back. "An explosion atop a chemical weapons cache is easy to explain. Instead, there were witnesses and we had to send in a SEAL team to clean out the estate."_

_"I guess you'll think twice before dragging me in to do your dirty work, Waller." Diggle shot back, not really caring about inconveniencing her._

_"Somehow I don't think it will be an issue. Good day, Mr. Diggle." She said coolly, dismissing the man. He shared a glance with Lyla, and then exited the room._

“Well that’s the end of that.” Diggle said relieved.

 

“Until next year.” Dinah said and Diggle groaned.

 

_"Kind of uncanny." Waller stared at Lyla. "How Diggle knew exactly where Lawton's implant was." Lyla remained silent, and Waller looked back down into her file. "Still, it exposed an obvious design flaw. We'll be putting in the implants in their spinal vertebrae now. Have Lawton and the others prepped for surgery." She ordered. Lyla let out a small sigh of relief as she left the room._

_The scene shifted to the cell block, where Dig was escorting Lawton back to his cell._

_"Waller said in a few years, you might even get a pardon." Dig noted._

_Lawton scoffed. "Don't worry, John. We both know I'm not going to be around that long." He stepped back into his cell, and they stared at each other through the glass as the door was closed._

“It’s kind of sad that he was right.” Dinah sighed.

 

“When?” Diggle asked.

 

“On the mission you’d be recruited for the next year.” Dinah explained.

 

Diggle nodded, not sure how to feel about that.

 

_. Diggle turned to leave, and saw Lyla standing at the end of the corridor. "You still employed?" he asked, walking up to her._

_"People with my security clearance aren't that easy to get rid of." She quipped._

_"Right."_

_"What about us, Johnny?" she asked hopefully._

_"Last night, the man who killed my brother showed more character than the woman charged with protecting the world." He stated. "Good and bad is not so clear to me. One thing I do know for sure, black and white… is that I can't ever lose you again." He said._

_"Finally." She sighed in relief. "Something we agree on." The two kissed._

“Well at least you’re not completely stupid.” Thea said cheekily and Diggle rolled his eyes, though he smiled as he did.

 

_Six years ago-_

_Diggle watched as Qadir was loaded onto a truck and driven away._

_"Well, there goes another terrorist-turned-ally." Ted said tiredly. "By the way, I put you in for a commendation for saving Qadir's ass." He patted him on the shoulder, then turned and headed for the mess tent. "You owe me a beer." Ted called out. Diggle stared out into the darkness, but all he could see was the kid’s face._

_"Congratulations." He turned to see Lyla walking up to him._

_"Yeah, well, kill a kid, get a medal, right?" he said sourly._

_"When someone's shooting a Kalashnikov at you, he's not a kid." Lyla told him._

_"I see things differently." Dig noted._

_"It's a complicated world, Johnny." She chuckled. "Is it ok if I call you Johnny?"_

_Dig smiled at her. "I don't think I caught your first name, Michaels."_

_"Lyla." She said._

_"It's really good to meet you, Lyla." Dig said, shaking her hand._

“Ah, the beginning of an epic love story.” Dinah teased and Diggle rolled his eyes in exasperation as Tommy playfully nudged him and the female winked at him.

 

_Present-_

_Oliver sat at the darkened bar of Verdant, watching the news. 'In international news, a United Nations inspections team was called to a chemical weapons manufacturing facility hidden beneath the Markovian estate of humanitarian Gholem Qadir. Closer to home, mayoral candidate Moira Queen stumped for an initiative to revive inner city after school swim programs.' He looked up in confusion and Saw Moira standing at a lectern with Thea and a couple of campaign aids behind her. 'Oh, I remember how much my children enjoyed swimming when they were young. I couldn't get them out of the pool. We need—' disgusted, Oliver turned off the TV and slammed the remote to the bar._

_"I thought you hated swimming." Sara said, coming up to sit next to him at the bar._

_"I detest swimming." Oliver said. "So does Thea. My mother sometimes-ahem- enjoys a causal relationship with the truth." He said ironically._

“That’s putting it lightly.” Thea said dryly.

 

_They looked at one another, and Oliver took her hand. "Anyway. Thank you for being there for me." He told her._

_"You mean for not letting you push me away?" she clarified with a grin._

_"I'm going to stop doing that." He promised._

_"Yeah?" Sara asked, giving him a kiss. "Good. You'll be wasting your time, anyways." They looked up when they heard the door open and saw Laurel walk in. Sara smiled, then rose and headed for the stockroom to grab her coat while Oliver walked over to Laurel._

_"It looks like you took my advice." She noted happily._

_"Thank you." Oliver told her sincerely. "Helping me with Sara, I know that that can't be easy." He said._

_"Helping two people I care about? There's nothing easier." She assured him. "I came by to take Sara to dinner. Would you care to join?" she asked._

_"I'd love to, but I need to go see an old friend." Oliver replied._

“What old friend could he possibly have to see?” Thea wondered and Dinah flashed a savage smile.

 

“You’ll get your answer in a few seconds.” Dinah promised.

 

_The scene changed to late that night. A.R.G.U.S. headquarters was dark, with only minimal personnel this time at night. Waller, burning the midnight oil, walked cautiously through the hall with her gun drawn, noting that most of those agents were on the ground, unconscious. She lowered the gun when she saw the tranq darts. Entering her office, she smirked at the green hooded figure. "Hello, Oliver." She said, holstering her gun._

_Oliver turned and lowered his hood. He wasn't wearing his mask; he didn't need to here. "Hello, Amanda."_

_"Still mad at me?" she asked, almost in a teasing voice._

_"Lucky for you, you've been pushed down that list." Oliver noted darkly._

_"Really? Who do you want to kill more than me?" she asked, curious._

_"Slade Wilson is alive."_

_Waller actually looked shaken. "You killed him. It's not possible." She said, her voice quivering slightly._

_"Everything is possible where Slade is concerned." Oliver replied. "And I need your help to find him."_

_Waller thought for a moment, trying to think of anything… "I might have something." She said finally._

_"What?"_

_"There's a new player we've been tracking- mercenary." Waller said, moving to her computer and pulling up the file. "He's left a trail of bodies from Macau to Istanbul to Lisbon. A trail that leads right here to Starling." She pulled up the only known picture they had- a man in head to toe body armor, topped by an armored helmet with an eerily familiar blue and gold design. "We've been calling him Deathstroke."_

“Deathstroke…seems pretty fitting.” Roy noted as the screen faded to black.

 

“So, how about we pick this up tomorrow.” Dinah said as she stood up.

 

Before either of them could say anything, alarms started blaring. Dinah was alarmed as the time travelers looked around in confused alarm.

 

“Dinah what’s going on?” Diggle demanded.

 

“Level eight threat level alert.” Dinah cursed.

 

“How bad is that?” Thea asked worriedly.

 

“Level three is bad.” Dinah said grimly and the others paled as the intercom blared to life.

 

“Dinah. Het to the docking bay now!” Conner’s voice came over before it died.

 

“I’m locking you in,” Dinah said as she ran to the door and pushed in a code on the panel outside, “hide, do something, don’t make noise at all.”

 

The door closed before any of them could say anything. Dinah hurried down the hall and made her way into the docking bay. Dinah stopped and stared in shock at the sight before her: Conner, Bruce, and Nyssa, all suited up, had their weapons drawn and raised at a breach.

 

“What happened?” Dinah demanded.

 

“I don’t know, it just opened up out of nowhere!” Conner shouted defensively.

 

Two figures jumped out and landed on their feet s the breach closed. Conner, Nyssa, and Bruce lowered their weapons as they stared in shock.

 

“Cisco? Wally?” Dinah asked stunned.

 

_“Yeaaaahhhhh baby! After six years trapped on the hellhole that is earth eighteen, we are back! Whoooooooo!” Cisco cheered._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: I know, I know, technically Diggle and Lyla were trying to get home to their daughter, but this is post Flashpoint timeline, so Dinah is remembering those versions of events. Just so there’s no confusion.


	51. A plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Cisco and Wally are caught up to speed, Wally proposes a daring plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know this is a short chapter, but it is set up for next chapter. I hope you enjoy this.

It had been ten minutes since Dinah had rushed out of the viewing room and almost nine since the alarms had shut off. While the others were hidden behind the flat screen, completely invisible, Diggle was crouched behind the couch, the pistol he had on him when he’d been transported her in his hand. Hearing the door open, Diggle jumped up and pointed his gun at the person who stood in the doorway.

“Whoa,” Conner held up his hands, “same side.”

“Where’s Dinah?” Diggle asked as he lowered his gun.

“Busy. I’m here to tell you it’s okay. Nothing bad’s happening. You can head to sleep and we’ll explain everything tomorrow.” Conner explained.

“Good, I missed burgers. They don’t have them on earth eighteen.” Cisco moaned as he and Wally devoured the food before them in the conference room.

“So you two have been trapped on an earth where the Nazis won world war two for the last six years?” Dinah asked as she paced back and forth.

“Yeah. It was horrible. We joined the resistance and have been fighting in a civil war for the last six years.” Wally said, taking a huge bit of burger.

“So, why didn’t you come back earlier Roman?” Bruce demanded.

“That’s General Roman, thank you very much,” Cisco said as he wiped his chin with a napkin, “you should’ve seen that place, we couldn’t just leave those people there to suffer like that.”

“I see.” Bruce said, feeling a new found respect for the Metahuman.

“So, where is everyone?” Wally said after he swallowed and noticed how Dinah, Nyssa, and Bruce exchanged worried glances. “Okay, what’s going on?”

“Well, Clark and Kara are on a mission. They should be getting back with a day or two. Talia activated Roy, so he made us enact the failsafe we set up if it ever came down to that.” Dinah began carefully.

“And everyone else?” Cisco said a pit of dread settled in his stomach.

“Two years after the two of you were trapped on earth eighteen, Slade and my sister formed a team comprised of some of our enemies. The Reverse flash, Cheshire, the version of Leonard Snart ripped from the timeline prior to joining The Legends.” Nyssa began.

“What happened?” Wally asked hesitantly, not sure he wanted to know.

“There was a battle. Slade and Oliver killed each other, Snart killed Sara before he himself was killed by Arsenal, and Barry and Thawne are now trapped in the speed force. And we can’t get Barry out.” Bruce said regretfully.

“But I can.” Wally said and they all turned to him.

“What?” Dinah asked confused.

“I can go into the speed force, I can get Barry back.” Wally clarified.

“Wally, it’s too dangerous.” Dinah told him immediately.

“Why, Barry did it for me twelve years ago. I can do it now. According to what you’re saying, you’ve got a low roster as it is. You can use all the help you can get. Besides, hasn’t Barry suffered enough?” Wally asked and Dinah paused, considering it.

“Okay.” Dinah finally said, agreeing to his plan.


	52. The Speed Force

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally heads into The Speed Force to search for Barry and is forced to confront a painful truth. Outside, Dinah informs Barry's wife of what is happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I hope you enjoy this. I’m a little nervous about this, so tell me if you like it or hate, okay guys?

Later that night, Wally and Cisco emerged from the beam of light from the teleportation system the League had set up at Star Labs. As they did, the pair noticed the lights were off and the room was full of dust.

“No one’s here.” Cisco said sadly, realizing it had been abandoned for some time.

“I guess with the two of us and Barry gone, plus Caitlin….gone, dad and the others didn’t see how they could help here.” Wally realized and Cisco nodded.

“Well, let’s work on bringing hope to them back. First, let’s turn on the lights and get rid of some of the dust. We have some work to do.” Cisco ordered.

Watchtower  
Same time

“Do you really think Wally can bring Barry back?” Conner asked Dinah as they sat in the monitor room.

“I don’t know. But Barry has suffered enough; I have to at least let him try.” Dinah said as the communication system went off.

“This is home base, over.” Conner said as he answered.

“Home base, this is Superman, over.” Kal’s voice came over the speakers.

“How did the mission go, over?” Conner asked.

“It went fine, things were handled and you’ll hear about it in tomorrow’s meeting. Supergirl and I are about twenty minutes from home base. Over and out.” Kal said.

“Over and out,” Conner said before turning to Dinah, “well, this complicates things, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. I was hoping we’d know if Wally could get Barry back before Kara got back. How do I even start this conversation?” Dinah sighed.

“I don’t know. It’s not exactly like there’s a handbook on how to tell a Kryptonian that there may be a possibility to save her husband from a fate worse than death.” Conner pointed out and she glared at her step-son.

“You’re not helping.” Dinah grumbled and he shrugged.

Star Labs  
Slightly later

“You ready for this?” Cisco asked Wally through the communicator in his cowl.

“As I’ll ever be.” Wally muttered.

“If you wanna get into the Speed Force, you need to run faster than you’ve ever run before. Run Wally, run.” Cisco told him.

Wally didn’t need to be told twice and took off at a high speed, running around the pipeline. Wally pushed himself faster, faster than he had ever run before in his life. Wally screamed as a blue portal, similar to a breach, opened before him and he dove in, the portal closing behind him.

Wally rolled on his side, groaning as he hit the floor. Pulling himself, Wally looked around and quickly realized he was in his dad’s house. 

“Barry, you here? Barry?” Wally called out as he looked around for the other speedster.

“You shouldn’t have come here.” A familiar voice spoke up behind him.

Wally froze. His heart hammering in his chest, he turned around and gapped, staring in disbelief at the person standing in front him.

“Mom?” He said weakly.

Watchtower  
Same time

“So, how did your mission go?” Dinah asked as he and Conner greeted the Kryptonian pair.

“The usual. We showed up, the day was saved, and people lived. Now, I really need to take a shower, so if you don’t mind.” Kara said as she moved to walk off.

“Kara,” Conner called out but paused when she looked over at him, “Uh…Dinah has something she wants to tell you!”

“Coward.” Dinah muttered as Conner then ran for his life.

“So what did you want to tell me and why is Conner so scared to?” Kara asked and Dinah sighed as Kal watched concerned, knowing it was something big.

“Something happened today, something huge. And…it involves Barry…”

Speed Force  
Same time

“I’m not your mother Wally.” Francine told him.

“Right…Barry told me about this. You’re the Speed Force.” Wally said and she nodded.

“Turn back now Wally, you cannot help him.” Francine told him firmly.

“Yes, I can. I just need to find him and he’s obviously not here. I just need to keep looking.” Wally said as he turned to run off.

“You cannot help Barry because you lack the will to do what needs to be done,” Francine’s words stopped him, “you can only help him if you are honest with yourself.”

“Honest with myself about what?” Wally asked as he turned around.

“You know, you just need to admit it.” Francine told him.

“You know what, forget it.” Wally said annoyed before he turned around and sped off.

West house  
Not long after

Joe West groaned as he was awakened by the ringing of his cell phone. Reaching around blindly for it, he grabbed it off his night stand and answered it without checking to see who it was.

“Hello?” He answered groggily.

“Joe?” 

“Julian?” Joe said surprised, now wide awake.

It had been over three years since he had talked to Julian. After Barry had been lost to the Speed Force, the remaining members of the team had fallen apart. Iris had gotten a job offer in Coast City and had left. HR had gone traveling, last any of them had heard from him he was in Africa, doing research for a book. Julian had received an offer from the FBI and had accepted it. And Joe had stayed on at the CCPD.

“Joe, I think we may have a situation.” Julian told him stressed.

“What kind of situation?” Joe asked as he sat up in bed.

“When we all left Star Labs, I put in an alarm system that would alert me if anyone other than us ever accessed the technology there. And it just lit up.” Julian explained grimly.

“So someone broke into Star Labs?” Joe asked confused.

“Exactly.” Julian told him.

Watchtower  
Same time

“So, Wally can get Barry out of the Speed Force?” Kara asked in a cracked voice as Kal put an arm around her.

“We don’t know that for sure, but he is going to try. I was hoping you wouldn’t be back until we figured out if he could or not. I just thought you should know, but don’t get your hopes up.” Dinah told her gently and Kara nodded.

“Thank you for telling me. I would like to be alone right now.” Kara said in a clipped voice before walking off.

“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Kal asked as he stared after his cousin worriedly.

“I honestly don’t know. If someone told me there was a way to bring back Ollie…I’m not sure how I would take that.” Dinah admitted.

Kara closed the door to her room behind her and took a deep breath, trying to process her emotion. She walked over to the dresser, where she had a jewelry box. She opened it up, revealing some sentimental items from her time on Krypton and one other thing. She reached down and pulled out her wedding ring, the only thing in the box from her time on earth. It was a simple glad band with a gem in the center that most would mistake to be a diamond when it was a fact a piece of depowered kryptonite. 

“You should always have a piece of home with you. This way you do and it’s not one that hurts you.” Barry had told her when he proposed to her.

“I do. You are my home.” She’d said back.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Kara sank to her knees, clutching the ring to her as she sobbed.

The Speed Force  
Later

Wally found himself in what he vaguely recognized as Team Arrow’s lair. He was looking around, calling Barry’s name when he heard something, like a voice. Speeding towards the source, Wally stopped and stared at the scene before him.

The Reverse Flash was in the ground in a fetal position, rocking back and forth as he muttered to himself incoherently. 

“It’s kind of sad isn’t it?”

Startled, Wally turned and gapped at who stood before him. Arsenal smirked at his reaction.

“Why hello old friend.” Arsenal quipped.

“You’re not wrong, don’t act like you are,” Wally snapped before looking over at the Reverse Flash, “what happened t him?”

“He couldn’t figure out how to get out of the Speed Force, he wasn’t fast enough. So he went mad.” Arsenal explained.

“So why are you taking Roy’s appearance now?” Wally asked and Arsenal smirked.

“Motherly love wasn’t working, so here’s tough love,” Arsenal held up his robotic arm, “do you know the story of how Roy Harper got this arm?”

“The whole hero community does. In the final battle between Oliver and Prometheus, cutting off Roy’s arm was the only way Oliver could stop Prometheus and Talia without killing Roy.” Wally said and Arsenal nodded.

“Do you know what this arm is to Roy Harper?” Arsenal asked and Wally drew up a blank. “A reminder.”

“A reminder of what?” Wally asked cluelessly.

“Of all the lives he took as Prometheus. Every time he looks at this arm, he is reminded of that,” Arsenal looked around and Wally followed his gaze, stunned to see the dead bodies of men, women, and children, “every day for the last twelve years, Roy Harper has been ruled by the guilt and the pain of what he did as Prometheus. And that guilt is always with him, every second of everyday. It took being cryogenically frozen for Roy Harper to find peace.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Wally asked stiffly.

“Because you cannot help Barry Allen unless you admit your secret. Roy was the victim of a madwoman, a monster. Surely you have a hint about what I’m talking about by now?” Arsenal said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Wally denied and Arsenal sighed.

“Very well,” Arsenal said disappointed as his costume began to change into a darker uniform, “If you will not admit it to Roy Harper…then maybe you will admit it to Prometheus.”

Before Wally realized what was happening, Prometheus stood before him, throwing two ninja stars at him. Wally sped out of the way; but Prometheus pulled out more stars, three in each hand, and threw them all. Wally used his speed to dodge them but wasn’t fast enough to dodge them all, as one sliced his cheek. Snarling, Wally sped over and tried to strike him but Prometheus easily side stepped him before grabbing the speedster and slamming him onto the floor, pinning him there with a foot on his chest.

“You are of no use to Barry if you cannot admit it.” Prometheus told him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Wally shouted and Prometheus growled.

“Leave now if you cannot admit it!” Prometheus said as he pulled out his sword and swung it at Wally.

Wally closed his eyes, waiting for the blow but it never came. Opening his eyes, Wally saw that Prometheus was gone.

Star Labs  
Later

Joe made his way through the hall, his gun in his hand. Julian was right, someone definitely here. And he could hear someone muttering in the control room. Rounding the corner, Joe aimed his gun as he barged.

“Whoa, calm down!” Cisco shouted as he raised his hands in alarm.

“Cisco?” Joe breathed in shock.

“Yes, now lower the gun!” Cisco shouted.

“Prove it’s you.” Joe ordered.

“What are you, Paranoia Man with the power of being really paranoid?! It’s me!” Cisco shouted.

“It is you.” Joe breathed in shock as he lowered his gun.

“Finally, we’re on the same-oof.” Cisco grunted as Joe hugged.

“I’m sorry, it’s just so good to see you!” Joe said as he let Cisco go. “Where have you been the last six years, is Wally okay?”

“Sit down Joe and let’s catch up.” Cisco said as he sat down in his office chair.

The Speed Force  
Same time

Wally found himself on an empty street after leaving the Arrow Lair. He was looking around for the other speedster, calling his name when he heard something that chilled him to his core.

“NNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“Barry!” Wally shouted as he sped towards the sound of his mentor’s voice.

Barry stopped and stared at where the sound had come from. It’s was Barry’s childhood home, a place he had only been once before: the night Zoom had murdered Henry Allen. Wally was about to speed towards it when a voice stopped him.

“You can’t help him Wally.”

Wally turned to see a figure standing in the shadows, hidden beneath a tree.

“So who are you now, huh? My dad? Iris? Maybe Caitlin?” Wally snapped angrily. 

In response, they walked out of the shadows and Wally bulked at seeing Oliver Queen, dressed in his Green Arrow suit.

“Hello Wally.” Oliver greeted him.

“Oliver…what happened to you?” Wally asked seeing the seeping wound in Oliver’s chest.

“Slade Wilson stabbed me through the chest with his word. Or rather stabbed Oliver Queen.” Oliver explained.

“He’s in there, isn’t he?” Wally asked as Barry screamed again. “What’s happening to him?”

“He’s trapped in the same prison you and Savitar were once trapped in, the same one his future self created in the original timeline,” Oliver paused as Wally was horrified, “there’s a twisted sense of irony in that.”

“You mean…” Wally trailed off and Oliver nodded.

“Barry is reliving the single most painful event of his life on repeat. For you it was your mother’s death, for Barry it is his father’s murder.” Oliver explained as Barry screamed again.

“I have to help him.” Wally moved to go into the house when Oliver stepped in his path.

“You cannot help him unless you admit the truth.” Oliver said simply.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Wally snapped.

“Then let me give you a hint: Do you know why Oliver Queen died?” Oliver demanded.

“Because Slade killed him.” Wally said irritably.

“That’s partially right. Oliver died because, fifteen years ago, he had a choice: kill Slade or let him live. Everyone in his life was telling him he needed to kill Slade but he chose to listen to one person, who told him to let Slade live. He could’ve killed Slade before Talia al Ghul broke him out of his Argus prison, he had more than one chance, but he chose to listen to the advice of someone who thought taking the high road was more important than saving lives. Do you understand now?” Oliver asked and Wally hesitated.

“I…” Wally trailed off and Oliver grabbed him roughly.

“BARRY IS SUFFERING IN ENDLESS TORMENT AND YOU ARE LETTING HIM! ADMIT IT WALLY!” Oliver shouted and Wally finally snapped.

“We could’ve come back to earth one earlier!” Wally finally admitted.

“HOW!?” Oliver demanded.

“Because in the war, I didn’t go all out! Cisco and I could’ve left at any point, but the war kept us there! I could’ve ended the war sooner if I had gone all out, if I hadn’t been so worried about sparing the enemy!” Wally finally admitted tearfully and Oliver let him go.

“You thought keeping your hands clean was more important than saving lives,” Oliver said and Wally flinched at the truth in his statement, “some might call that nobility, but it’s actually cowardice. There are people in this world who deal only in extreme measures Wally; it is naïve to think anything less than extreme measures will stop them. Something that has been proven over and over again throughout history.”

“Can I go help Barry now?” Wally asked tiredly.

“No, you cannot.” Oliver said and Wally lost his temper.

“You said if I admitted my secret you’d let me help him!” Wally snapped.

“You cannot help him because he can only leave the prison if another speedster takes his place. And before you offer yourself, Barry is in mind frame to run a lap around Central City, much less escape here.”

“Then he’s just what, trapped here forever?!” Wally snapped.

“Not necessarily. After all, he’s not the only speedster here.” Oliver said and Wally understood.

“No.” Wally shook his head.

“Ask yourself what’s more important to you Wally: saving Barry or keeping your hands clean?” Oliver told him.

Later, Wally was walking towards the front door, restraining a struggling Eobard Thawne with him.

“No, no!” Thawne ranted madly.

“Shut up.” Wally snapped as he open the door.

Wally walked in to see Barry staring at something that only he could see as he screamed ‘NNNOOOOOOO!’ over and over again. Knowing what he must be going through Wally dragged Thawne over to Barry and put a hand on his ‘brother’s’ shoulder, drawing his attention.

“Wally?” Barry said, looking at the other speedster as though he didn’t understand what was happening.

“Come on Barry; let’s get you out of here.” Wally coaxed as he pulled him from the prison before throwing Thawne into it.

“What’s happening to him?” Barry asked numbly as he saw Thawne shutter as the prison took him.

“Nothing he doesn’t deserve, after everything he’s done,” Wally said grimly as he led Barry to the front door, “come on, and let’s go home.”

“Home.” Barry repeated as he thought of Kara.


	53. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Wally return from The Speed Force and are reunited with their friends and family as Barry and KAra have an emotional and charged reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To lol: I’ve seen no evidence on either earth one or Kara’s earth to suggest Wonder Woman exists on either of them.

Star Labs  
Night

“So, you and Wally have been on Earth eighteen for the last six years, which is an earth where the Nazis won World War Two?” Joe asked absorbing what Cisco had told him.

“Yeah, not a place you’d have wanted to visit.” Cisco mused.

 

“And Wally is in The Speed Force, trying to get Barry out?” Joe asked and Cisco nodded. “Can he?”

“I don’t know. But its Barry, we had to at least try.” Cisco told him.

Barely a second had passed when a blue portal, similar to a breach, opened up in front of them. The two shot to their feet as Wally and Barry jumped out, Wally supporting Barry. As the portal closed, Wally stopped supported Barry and the other speedster swayed on his feet. As he started to fall, Wally helped his stand as Cisco rushed over and helped the other speedster to support him, Barry gazing at Cisco in shock.

“Cisco.” Barry breathed.

“Yeah, it’s okay man. We’re here.” Cisco told him soothingly.

“Barry…Wally…” Joe became chocked up at the sight of his sons, once lost to him, now returned.

“Joe.” Barry looked over at his father.

“Hey dad, long time?” Wally joked lightly and Joe let out a broken laugh.

“It feels like a lifetime.” Joe said with the first true smile on his face in years.

Watchtower, next day  
Morning

Barry, having changed into street clothes, was being examined by the doctors in the Watchtower med bay as the League, plus Joe who had refused to leave his sons’ sides, watched from the hallway door.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Joe asked worriedly.

“Hard to say,” Dinah admitted, “he spent four years watching Zoom murder his father over and over again. That would mess anyone up.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to have him out in the field for a while.” Kal frowned, concerned for his cousin-in-law.

“I agree. He needs some time off, get his head on straight before he comes back.” Dinah nodded.

“Say, where’s Kara? You’d think she’d be here for this.” Conner noted.

“I walked into her room when we got the call that they were coming. She was on the floor, asleep, her wedding ring in her hands. She’d been crying. So I put her in bed.” Kal said sadly as Barry stepped out.

“So did you pass the checkup buddy?” Cisco joked and Barry flashed a slight smile.

“They gave me a clean bill of health,” Barry assured him before looking over at Wally, “Cisco, Wally…thank you, for getting me out of there.”

“Don’t mention it man. You’d have done the same for us. You actually have done the same for me.” Wally pointed out and Barry let out a slight laugh.

“Yeah,” Barry said before looking around at the League, “and I’m sorry…that I’ve been gone for so long. Man, four years never felt so long.”

“Don’t worry about it Allen.” Bruce told him and Barry smiled.

“Bruce, as warm and fuzzy as ever I see.” Barry said dryly and The Dark Knight smirked.

“You know me.” Bruce said as the League snickered.

“I’m sorry what you’ve all had to go through in my absence. But a friend once told me, when you go through a crucible, you come out stronger for it,” Barry said and Conner and Dinah looked down, “I know that you’ve started the plan. If our future doesn’t change, we still have a lot of work to do. But I believe we can do it, because we…Kara.”

Everyone followed Barry’s gaze and looked behind them. Kara was standing at the edge of the hallway, staring at Barry, also having changed into street clothes, with so many emotions it was hard to tell which ones were on her face. After a look from Dinah, everyone had cleared the hall, leaving husband and wife alone for the first time in four years.

“Kara,” Barry began, not sure what to say, “I-mph.”

Before Barry even realized what had happened, Kara had shoved him up against a wall and was kissing him, desperate and fierce. As Barry began to get lost in her, he felt something wet on his face and realized she was crying. Barry lightly pushed her back and she looked up at him tearfully as he took her face in his hands.

“I thought you were gone.” Kara said brokenly as he wiped the tears from her eyes.

“I’m here now. And I’m not going anywhere.” Barry promised as he took her in his arms.

“So, how far along the plan are you?” Cisco asked Kal as the two, plus Wally and Joe, entered the monitor room.

“We’re two thirds of the way through the second year. After today, they should be done.” Kal explained as Joe looked around in awe of the Watchtower.

“So, how long do you think Barry and Kara’ll be?” Wally inquired and Cisco flashed a devilish smirk.

“Oh, I think they’ll be busy for quite a while,” Cisco said slyly and laughed as Kal groaned, “they’re married Clark, you have to face facts. Kara’s not a virgin.”

“Doesn’t mean I wanna hear about it!” Kal complained.

Barry and Kara stumbled into her room, kissing fiercely as hands roamed. Barry had barely managed to lock the automatic door when Barry roughly, by human standards, slammed his back against the wall and quite latterly ripped his shirt from his body. As she tossed the ruined shirt to the floor, Barry used his speed to reverse their positions so Kara was the one against the wall. She raised her arms as he began fiddling with the helm of her short and he pulled her shirt over her head, revealing that she was wearing a light blue lace bra underneath. As he dropped her shirt to the floor, Kara pushed him towards the bed and, when his knees hit the back of the bed, she made him sit down with a gentle. She reached back and unclipped her bra before tossing it fall to the floor. A seductive smile crossed her face as she joined him on the bed, straddling him as she pushed him down onto the bed. Barr then used his speed to switch their position, trailing his lips down her neck as Kara threw her head back and moaned…

Dinah walked into the dining hall and saw the time travelers finishing up breakfast. Smiling, Dinah walked over to them.

“What happened last night?” Thea demanded once Dinah had reached them.

“Well, you guys certainly don’t beat around the bush, do you?” Dinah joked. “It’s a long story and I’ll tell you about it later. Right now, it’s important we finish the recordings.”

“So this is the last set then?” Diggle asked and she nodded.

“Seven to go and these are some of the most important. Come on, let’s go.” Dinah ordered.


	54. Birds of Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The viewers see Helena's final gambit to kill her father. Roy learns of his breakup with Thea.

After a few minutes, the viewers returned to the viewing room. After they had taken their seats, Dinah picked up the remote and pressed play.

 

_The memory set opened outside a cab depot as the police prepared to launch a raid. As patrol officers and SWAT members geared up, Lance walked around with a mug shot of their target._

_"Hugo Mannheim." He said, showing the picture to each officer. "Warrants out for racketeering, extortion, murder- the goombah trifecta. But he never travels alone, so watch your back, watch your partner's back." He warned. "Let's go." The officers swarmed towards their appointed entrances, while above The Arrow and the Canary kept watch._

_"Thanks for helping me keep watch over my dad tonight." Sara told Oliver._

_"As long as Slade's out there, neither of our families are safe." He noted._

Laurel and Thea felt chills go up their spines at those words. Having him say it out loud made them realize just how much danger their families were in.

 

_They took off towards the action as shorts started being fired._

_"This is the SCPD! Put your weapons on the ground!" officers shouted as the mobsters opened fire. Everyone started shooting, with cops and mobsters taking cover behind the rows of parked cabs. Soon the Arrow and the Canary joined in, taking down mobsters while avoiding the police. Seeing the tide turn, the mobsters started to flee. Oliver spotted one familiar looking man ducking out of the building and moved to follow._

“Is that…” Diggle trailed off as a pit of dread began forming in his stomach.

 

“Yes.” Dinah said simply and Diggle groaned.

 

“Wait, who?” Tommy asked confused.

 

“Just wait a minute and you’ll understand.” Dinah said simply.

 

_"Move, move, move!" Lance ordered, sending the men after the fleeing criminals. He turned just in time to see another mobster raise his gun and shoot. "Aaah!" he cried out in pain as the force of the bullets threw him back into a stack of rubber hoses._

“Dad!” Laurel said as she leaned forward.

 

“Relax, he was fine.”  Dinah was quick to assure her.

 

_Sara watched in horror as her father was shot, and ran over to his fallen form. She ripped open his shirt to see the bullet had struck him in the vest. "I'm fine." Lance coughed. "Go. Go!" he urged her._

Laurel sighed in relief, leaning back in her seat as the recording continued.

 

_Sara took off, running after the man who had shot him. Seeing him scramble up a ladder to the second floor of the depot, she jumped onto the arm of a sky crane and ran up it, jumping the railing right behind the shooter._

_Outside, The Arrow drew a bolo arrow and fired. The cords wrapped around the fleeing criminal's legs and sent him crashing down an embankment. He rolled over as Oliver approached, another arrow drawn. "Frank Bertinelli." The Arrow said in recognition._

 

“Oh crap.” Tommy said in alarm as all the pieces fell into place.

 

“If he’s here…” Thea trailed off.

 

“Then his crazy, homicidal daughter won’t be far behind.” Roy said grimly.

 

_"My daughter sent you to kill me." Frank said fearfully. Before Oliver could reply, there was a crash of glass, and a moment later the shooter landed on the ground next to Frank HARD. Oliver looked up at the second story window to see The Canary looking down in satisfaction._

“Well damn.” Roy quipped as Dinah shrugged.

 

“Sara was never really…big on restraint.” Dinah noted.

 

“That’s an understatement.” Laurel muttered.

_As more police pulled up, the two vigilante's faded into the night._

_Later, after Lance had helped to load the rest of the mobsters into squad cars, he went off in search of the vigilantes. He soon found them in a small alley behind the depot._

_"Hey." He called out in greeting._

_Sara rushed over to him. "Dad, are you all right? Are you hurt?" she asked in concern._

_"Yeah, I'm fine, sweetheart." He said offhandedly. "Listen, I know you don't exactly believe in reading perps their Mirandas, but you can't just toss a guy out of a window." He told her._

_"He shot you." Sara stated._

_"And I'm still here, ain't I?" Lance replied. "Just next time, show a little restraint." He asked gently._

_"That was me showing restraint." Sara said._

“Really? Wow.” Tommy said stunned.

 

_"Detective." The Arrow interrupted. "We have another problem." He said._

_"Yeah, I know." Lance said with a resigned sigh. "With Frank Bertinelli in custody, it's just a matter of time before SHE rolls back into town."_

_Sara looked back to Oliver. "Who is she?"_

_The scene changed to the Lair where Diggle pulled up a familiar file. "Helena Bertinelli." He said, introducing her to Sara and Roy. "Daughter of mafia boss Frank Bertinelli."_

_"Or as I like to call her, Oliver's psycho ex-girlfriend hell-bent on revenge against her father." Felicity said in one breath._

“Yeah, but that takes too long to say.” Tommy said as Roy and Thea snickered.

 

_Sara looked at Oliver in amusement. "Ex-girlfriend?"_

_"That's what you took from that sentence?" Oliver said, annoyed._

Snickers broke out across the room.

 

_"Wait, why does she want her father killed so badly?" Roy asked._

_"He had her fiancé murdered." Oliver explained. "She wants payback."_

_"Puts the many fights I've had with my father in perspective." Sara said wryly._

“Yeah, it really does.” Laurel mused.

 

_"I've been keeping tabs on Helena over the past year." Felicity said, moving to her computer and bringing up her own file. "Last known sighting was a month ago, Palermo."_

_"She's been busy." Roy said._

_"If by 'busy,' you mean torturing and killing Mafioso's that might know where her father is." Felicity said sarcastically, looking at the many pictures of dead bodies Helena had left lying._

“Damn.” Roy said disturbed by the

_"Bertinelli's arrest just hit the wires." Dig said. "How long do you think we have before Helena books a ticket back home?"_

“My bet is that she’s already on her way.” Diggle noted grimly.

 

“You always were a wise man John.” Dinah told him.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Oliver was forced to stand in the middle of the cell block, only being held up due to the chains wrapped around his outstretched arms, as one of the pirates hit him repeatedly in the face. At Slade's order, the man backed off. Slade stared at Oliver for several seconds, before looking at the man behind him._

_"Go ahead." He ordered._

_"Slade, please- Aah!" he cried out weakly as the man behind him went to work on his shoulder with the tattoo needle._

“Get the hell away from my brother you psychopath!” Thea exclaimed as she jumped to her feat, rage in her tear filled eyes.

 

Roy gently grabbed her arm and pulled her down to her seat, wrapping his arms around her as she buried her face in his shoulder and began to cry. As Roy comforted Thea, Tommy and Laurel glared at the screen. The phase ‘if look could kill’ came to mind.

 

_Slade moved to another man as Oliver continued to cry out. "Why aren't we moving yet?" he demanded._

_"We managed to repair the hull." The man reported. "But the engine is too damaged."_

_"So fix it." He said simply._

_"I can't." the man said. Enraged, Slade's hand shot out and grabbed him by the throat. "I don't know how!" he croaked._

_"Then find somebody who does." Slade snarled, throwing the man back._

“Ruling through fear and intimidation. And you’re better than Fryers…how?” Laurel snapped.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to an AA meeting. "Hi, my name's Laurel, I'm an alcoholic." Laurel said from her seat._

“Admitting it is the first step to getting help.” Diggle said gently and Laurel nodded mutely.

 

_"Hi, Laurel." The group responded._

_"And this is actually my second meeting today. It's just, uh… It's just so hard, because I don't know what to do with myself all day." She admitted. "I'm a lawyer; well, I was a lawyer. I loved it. But I guess I loved drinking more. I know that I can make it down here with all of you. I just…I'm not sure I can make it out there." She took a shaky breath. "Anyway. Thank you for letting me share." The group clapped in support. Laurel frowned when she heard her phone ring, and her frown turned deeper when she saw it was Adam Donner calling._

“Why is that asshole calling you?” Tommy wondered.

 

“Asked and answered.” Dinah said.

 

_The scene changed to the District Attorney's office later that day as Donner led Laurel into his office. "Thanks for coming." He was saying. "Sorry about the way things ended here."_

_"No, don't be." Laurel said. "You did me a favor, Adam. It was the only way I was going to hit bottom, and," she sighed. "And I did."_

As painful as it was, he did the right thing. For once.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"How about you do me a favor now come back to work." Donner offered unexpectedly._

“What?” Laurel asked, more shocked then pleased.

 

“Oh, just wait.” Dinah bitterly and alarm bells went off in everyone’s head.

 

_"You want me back?" she said in surprise._

_"I'm looking for someone to try this case that just came in, and honestly, yours was the first name that came to mind." Donner said, rounding his desk and picking up a file._

_"I'm still facing sanctions from the bar." Laurel reminded him._

_"Oh, I got a buddy on the disciplinary committee." He said dismissively. "I squared things for you. An SCPD raid last night brought in Frank Bertinelli." He continued, sitting down across from her and handing her the file. "He came back to Starling to collect on some old debts. Now, the DA's office is clear to prosecute him; for you to prosecute him." He clarified hopefully._

My first day back and it’s the Bertinelli trial?” Laurel said surprised as Diggle narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

 

“Something is off about this.” Diggle muttered.

 

_"I appreciate the offer, Adam, but why me?" she asked hesitantly._

_"Well, there are Rico counts that your time at CNRI make you ideally suited for." He said. "Laurel, it's a case. If you want it, it's yours. But only if you're ready." He added as she considered the offer._

_The scene changed to Verdant. Thea was seated at the bar doing paperwork when Roy walked up behind her. He dropped a small box next to her. Thea looked at it with a smile._

_"What's the special occasion?" she asked._

_"I got paid. So, you know, if you don't think it's nice enough, you only have yourself to blame for not giving me that raise." He quipped._

_Thea opened the box and pulled out a silver bracelet. "Oh! Roy, I love it." She kissed him on the lips. "Thank you."_

“That’s pretty sweet.” Laurel said as Thea kissed a flushing Roy on the cheek.

 

_"Mm-hmm." Roy said, smiling. He glanced up to see the team huddled at the far end of the bar. "Hey, give me- give me a second, I forgot to put an order in." he told her. She nodded as she put the bracelet on, and Roy headed over to the group. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked._

_"I got a line on Michael Statton, Helena's fiancé." Felicity said._

_"Felicity, he's been dead for five years." Dig argued._

_"Which makes the fact that he rented a car last night very impressive." Felicity replied._

_"That's Helena." Oliver stated._

_"The car's got GPS, I hacked into it." She said, working on her tablet. "Yeah. She's heading straight for Starling City."_

“Something wicked this way comes.” Tommy muttered.

 

_Oliver looked over to Roy. "You ready to get back in the field?" he asked._

_"I thought you'd never ask." Roy said confidently. Oliver smiled at the boy._

_A short time later a black Mercedes was screaming down the back streets of Starling City. It rounded a corner, heading into an alley- then skidded to a stop right in front of The Arrow._

_He raised his bow, an arrow loaded. "It's over, Helena." He shouted. "Get out of the car!" The car slammed into revers and sped away, doing a 180 turn. It started to move forward, but stopped as The Canary stepped in front of the car._

_As Roy stalked up to the door, the window rolled down partway. He froze as a pistol was pointed at him. "Gun!" he shouted in warning, instinctively grabbing the gun. The shooter fired, putting a hole in his hand. Enraged and in pain, Roy's other hand shot through the glass, grabbed the driver by his shirt, and yanked him out of the car, throwing him six feet through a chain link fence into a wall. "Aah!" he cried as he collapsed to the ground. Roy, shaking with rage, stalked towards him. "Don't hurt me!" he pleaded._

_"Stand down." Oliver ordered as he and Sara ran over. "Stand Down!" Roy saw nothing but the shooter in front of him._

“Shit.” Roy groaned as Thea took his hand, hoping to offer him comfort.

 

_Don't hurt me!" the boy pleaded._

_"Speedy!" Oliver shouted. Roy started, finally coming back into himself. He looked over to see Oliver had his bow pointed at him. "Enough! He's just Helena's decoy." He said, annoyed. Roy backed off, and Oliver shifted his aim back to the boy._

_"Where is she?" he growled._

_"I don't know! Some chick just paid me to take the car for a joy ride." He replied fearfully. "I swear! Please don't kill me." Oliver lowered his bow and sighed._

“Great, another dead-end.” Diggle growled in frustration.

 

_Meanwhile, an old Volvo station wagon drove into town. "Please don't kill me." The driver begged, his hands tense on the steering wheel. "I'm getting married next month."_

_Lying on the back seat under a blanket, her crossbow pistol pointed at the man's back was Helena. "Just drive." She ordered._

“Crazy bitch.” Roy sneered.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair the next day. "According to the SCPD, the guy that gave Helena a ride into town is a 22-year-old Poly Sci major at SCU, and a member of Gamma Tau, which totally explains the whole 'I didn't know I was aiding and abetting a known felon' thing." Felicity reported. She spun in her chair. "Anyone with boobs can get a frat boy to do anything."_

_"I was a frat boy." Oliver said._

_Felicity smiled up at him. "I rest my case."_

“Okay, while there’s certainly a level of truth to that, does she have to insult Ollie to his face?” Laurel asked annoyed as Thea glared, also annoyed.

 

“I’d say something, but in my case that was kind of true.” Tommy pointed out.

 

“Still is.” Thea said and laughed when Tommy glared at her.

 

_"At least she didn't kill him." Diggle noted. "That's something."_

_"It's not like Helena to show restraint." Oliver pointed out._

_"It sounds like you have a type." Sara said, moving up to Felicity's station._

“Me, Helena, Sara, McKenna, Shado…with the exception of Felicity, he seems to go for the strong, independent type.” Dinah mused with Thea and Laurel silently agreeing.

 

_"Keep tabs on the police." He said. "Let me know if they get any leads on her."_

_"I'll do some canvassing." Dig said, grabbing his coat._

_"Hey." Oliver looked up at Sara, who nodded in Roy's direction. He was sitting in the back, unwrapping the bandage from his hand._

_Oliver walked over and sat down across from him. "You ok?" he asked as Roy examined his hand._

_"Yeah. By this time tomorrow, it'll be like nothing happened." He sighed. "That's one upside to Mirakuru."_

“The only one.” Roy muttered sadly.

 

_"The only one." Oliver replied._

“He’s already rubbing off on you and you haven’t even met him yet.” Thea teased and Roy rolled his eyes.

 

_"Look, I know what you're going to say." Roy interrupted. "I had it under control last night."_

“Denial’s not just a river in Egypt.” Tommy pointed out and Roy sighed.

 

“I know.” Roy said wearily.

 

_"Yeah, so under control that I almost put another arrow in you." Oliver pointed out._

_"I was going to back off, but you never gave me a chance." Roy argued._

_"The only thing that snapped you out of it was when I brought up Thea." Oliver shot back._

_Roy scoffed. "That's why you called me Speedy." He realized. "I-I thought you were trying to give me a nickname. But for the record, don't call me Speedy."_

_"Noted." Oliver replied wanly. "Roy, you're dangerous. I thought I was helping you control it." He began._

_"You are." Roy assured him. "I mean, I can't look at a bowl of water without slapping it."_

“I don’t think that’s what he’s talking about.” Thea said amused.

 

_Oliver sighed, annoyed. "The first time that you're out in the field in weeks, and you're ready to kill somebody? Come on." He was silent for a long moment. "I'm sorry; I should have asked you to do this months ago." He said finally._

_"Asked me to do what?" Roy asked cautiously._

_"Stay away from Thea."_

“Is he serious?!” Thea exclaimed as Roy stared at the screen incredulously.

 

“Asa heart attack.”  Dinah said simply.

 

“This could be a mistake, since Thea seems to be the only thing keeping Arsenal from going completely berserk.” Diggle noted concerned.

 

“Maybe,” Dinah admitted, “but after viewing Ollie’s memories of Slade, I realize he had a better understanding of the Mirakuru then most people. He knew it was only a matter of time before Arsenal lost control in front of Thea and he could hurt her, even kill her. And that would have broken him. He wasn’t only looking out for his sister; he was looking out for Arsenal to, even if Arsenal couldn’t see that at the time.”

 

_Roy stood abruptly. "No, I-I can't." he said._

_"She's not safe when she's around you." Oliver said. "I'm not sure anybody is when you lose yourself to this rage. You love her. And that's why you're going to do what I'm asking." He said as Roy glared at him, uncertainty in his eyes._

_"Such a big uh-oh." Felicity said suddenly._

_"Helena?" Oliver asked, jumping up from his seat and rushing over to her._

_"Laurel." Felicity clarified, turning up the volume on the news broadcast. 'ADA Adam Donner announced the return of Laurel Lance to the DA's office after a brief sabbatical. She will lead the prosecution of Mr. Bertinelli.' Oliver and Sara looked at the screen in horror, knowing Laurel just had a large target painted on her back. 'Jury selection starts today.'_

“And no doubt this will go over well with them.” Laurel said dryly even as she felt something was off here.

 

_Back at her desk in the DA's office, Laurel was hard at work prepping for the case when Sara walked in._

_"Hey." Sara said, leaning against her desk._

_"Hey." Laurel replied happily. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I heard you picked up some big new case on the news." Sara said. "How come you didn't call me?"_

_"I was going to, but it all happened so fast." Laurel said. "Plus, I thought you and dad would try and talk me out of going back to work so soon." She looked up at Sara, and then sighed in realization. "Which is why you're here."_

_"I'm just worried about you." Sara said honestly._

_"If you're worried I'm going to slip, I'm still going to two meetings a day, and—"_

_"Laurel, it's not that." Sara said quickly. "Everybody knows what kind of guy Bertinelli is. And not to mention his completely psychotic daughter, who's already on her way back to Starling City to kill him."_

_Laurel grabbed her jacket and looked at Sara in amusement. "How do you know that?"_

_Sara laughed it off. "I don't." she lied. "I just want you to be safe."_

“She should have told me.” Laurel muttered bitterly.

 

“I would’ve thought she was crazy.” Dinah pointed out and Laurel sighed, knowing she was right.

 

_"And I love you for caring." Laurel said. "But Sara, you've never seen me be a lawyer before. And I am really good at it. And I miss it." She hugged her sister. "I have to run. I can't be late for court."_

_Five years ago-_

_The Amazo survivors, led by Sara, made their way back to the fuselage. "Yeah, this is much better than the freighter." Hendrik said sourly._

_"You prefer boat, Hendrik, feel free to swim back." Anatoli shot back, taking a drink form a canteen._

_"Sara said Oliver survived here for over a year." Flynn pointed out. "We can do the same."_

_"Unless Ivo and his men come find us." Hendrik said darkly._

_"We don't know what happened on the boat." Flynn said. "Who's alive and who's dead."_

_Sara was looking at an arrow that Oliver had left behind, tears pooling in her eyes, when the radio sounded._

_**Sara, are you there?**_

“Slade.” Thea breathed as they all tensed.

 

“Why is he contacting them?” Tommy asked as a pit of dread formed in his stomach.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah said simply.

 

_Sara ran over and grabbed the radio. "Slade! Is Oliver—"_

_**He's in pain, yes. But he's still breathing-for now.**_

_"Slade, listen, you won, ok? You have the 'Amazo'. Just let Oliver go, and then you can leave us here!" she said quickly, trying to reason with him._

_**Well, here's my problem, Sara. I can't leave.**_

_"Why not?" she asked._

_**During our assault, the ship's engine was damaged. She won't sail. During the attack, unfortunately I decapitated the engineer.** Slade revealed. **So what can we do about our problem, Sara? You want Oliver back, and I need someone qualified to fix this boat. For Oliver's sake, I sure hope a Mr. Hendrik is there with you.** Sara turned to star at Hendrik, who looked back at her uncertainly._

“He wants to make a trade.” Diggle realized and Dinah nodded.

 

“But he’ll probably kill Hendrik once he’s done with him.” Thea pointed out.

 

“And if they refuse, he will kill Ollie.” Dinah pointed out and everyone was silent.

 

_Present-_

_"Non-lethal arrows?" Diggle noted as Oliver prepped his arsenal for Helena. "It's not like you to play with kid gloves." Oliver was silent._

“Oh god, please tell me he’s not still attracted to her.” Thea groaned.

 

 

“He’s not,” Dinah was quick to assure her, “but he still blames himself for how Helena turned out. And guilt is a powerful thing.”

 

_"How's Roy?" he asked after a moment._

_Oliver put down the arrow and clasped his hands. "Like Helena, he is not too pleased with my skills as a mentor." He noted._

_"Laurel won't drop the case. She's headed to court right now." Sara said as she entered the Lair. Oliver got up and grabbed his coat. "Where are you going?" she demanded._

_"To the courthouse." Oliver replied._

_"Well, hey, you forgot your baby arrows." She spat. Oliver turned to glare at her, but she pressed on. "Look, I get your whole no killing spree, but if it comes down to saving Laurel or killing Helena—"_

_"Sara," he interrupted. "Those aren't the only two choices." He pointed out._

_"Well, you were happy enough to let Dig take the kill shot when it was Slade threatening your family." She pointed out hotly._

_"This is different." He argued. "I failed Helena. I created the Huntress."_

_"Yeah, well, you created Slade, too." Sara shot back. She sighed as she realized what she had said._

“Man that cold.” Tommy said stiffly.

 

“She felt bad about it.” Dinah pointed out.

 

_"You're right." Oliver said after a moment. "You're right. But when it comes to our families…" he let out a breath. "Neither one of us thinks clearly. Which is why you have to stay here." He told her._

_She shook her head. "Ollie. I can't." she said plaintively._

_"I'm not going to let anything happen to Laurel." He promised her. "I love her, too." He turned and walked out, leaving Sara alone with Diggle and Felicity. She turned to the two who had been watching the whole exchange._

_"What do you guys think?" Sara asked them._

_"Oh, I think if the Huntress shows up, you should totally kick her ass." Felicity said at once. Diggle nodded in agreement._

“Good god, she has no respect for Ollie’s authority as leader, does she?” Laurel asked annoyed.

 

“And she basically told someone who wasn’t thinking clearly to do whatever the hell they wanted.” Thea snapped.1

 

“Hey, this is nothing. You haven’t seen year three and thank god for that. You would hate it.” Dinah told them.

 

_The scene changed to the courthouse. As Laurel walked into the lobby, she smiled as she saw Oliver standing there. "Please don't tell me you're worried about me, too." She started off._

_Oliver shook his head. "No, I just wanted to watch the trial. I heard the prosecutor was something special." He said with a smile._

_Laurel smiled back, and then frowned when she saw Bertinelli being led in by two cops. "That's odd." She noted._ _“Why are they bringing him in through the front entrance?"_

“Yeah, that is odd.” Laurel noted.

 

“Something fishy is going on here.” Diggle narrowed his eyes.

 

_Oliver watched in concern, and then a clattering noise caught his attention. His eyes widened in shock when he saw the smoke grenade roll across the floor and stop at the foot of a chair._

_"Everybody get down!" he shouted, dragging Laurel down to the ground with him as the smoke went off. People started screaming as the cops pushed Frank down to the ground. They drew their guns, but were quickly killed by crossbow bolts to the chest._

_"Hi, dad." Frank staggered to his feet as The Huntress strode into the room through the smoke. "Sorry I'm late, but you're a hard man to track down. But it's fitting that you came back to Starling. Where it all began. Where you killed Michael."_

_Frank grinned at his daughter. "You know, I almost feel sorry for you."_

_"Helena," she turned, lifting her second crossbow pistol and aiming it at Oliver's throat. "Stop this."_

_"Oliver, you know I can't." she said._

_"Well, what are you waiting for?" Frank said impatiently. She turned her attention back to her father. "I said, what are you waiting for?!" Frank shouted again._

_Helena stared at him with narrowed eyes. She surged forward, pulling his shirt open to reveal the wire. He laughed as a SWAT team in full combat gear stormed the room._

_"Helena Bertinelli, put down your weapons and place your hands above your head." The SWAT leader screamed._

“Are you kidding me?! This was all a set up to get her arrested?!” Thea exclaimed.

 

“And Donner was in on it and used me as a prop.” Laurel growled, feeling the sense of betrayal wash over her.

 

“He’s a douche, what’d you expect?” Tommy told her.

 

_"So this was a big trap with you as the bait." Helena said calmly. "What did they offer you?"_

_"Ah, they didn't have to offer me anything." Frank said gleefully._

_"Give up, Miss Bertinelli, the building's surrounded." The cops called out again._

_Helena smirked at Frank. "What was it you always taught me, Daddy?" she asked. "Be prepared for anything." The grin fell off his face, and Helena shouted "Now!"_

_Suddenly half a dozen of the visitors in the lobby reached into coats, briefcases, and bags and withdrew MP5's and opened fire on the cops. As the real visitor's cowered under the chairs the two sides exchanged fire, with each side taking hits immediately._

“I can see at least three ways this could have been done without endangering any innocent lives. And that’s just off the top of my head.” Diggle growled.

 

“The cops are doing more harm than good.” Laurel noted with concern.

 

“That’s what happens when you get idiots involved with a situation like this: chaos.” Roy pointed out.

 

_Oliver grabbed Laurel and dragged her into the courtroom, closing the door behind her. Then he turned and bolted across the lobby, jumping over chairs and grabbing Bertinelli, shoving through a door leading outside before Helena could kill him._

“Why is he leaving Laurel there?!” Tommy exclaimed worriedly as Thea looked over at the older woman there.

 

“He didn’t think he could get me out without getting e shot. He didn’t really care if it happened to Frank.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"Fall back, fall back!" the SWAT leader said, pulling his men back to regroup._

_Helena decided to take advantage of the situation. "Take hostages, and fall back." She ordered her men._

_Oliver and Frank burst out into a side alley as Cops swarmed all around them. "Hey, hold your fire, hold your fire!" Oliver yelled at the SWAT cops whose weapons were trained on them. "They have hostages!"_

_"Hold fire" Captain Stein ordered. "Say it again, hold fire."_

_"They've taken hostages." Oliver told the SWAT leader as Lance ran up._

_"Where's Laurel?" he demanded. "Where's Laurel? Is she with you?"_

_"I'm sorry, Mr. Lance, we got separated." He told the cop. "She's still inside." He said, as inside Laurel ducked around a corner to avoid the gunmen._

“Damn, and now I’m trapped there with that psycho.” Laurel mattered.

 

“Fantastic work by the SCPD. Real good work guys.” Roy said sarcastically.

 

_Later that evening, the courthouse was surrounded by police, onlookers and the press as they reported on what they knew. 'We are live outside the Starling City courthouse, where Helena Bertinelli and an unknown number of assailants seized control of the entire building. And I'm not being told, they are holding a number of hostages inside.'_

_"I want snipers with thermals on top of every building for a two block radius." Stein ordered._

_"This was not how it was supposed to go down, Captain!" Stein glared at Adam Donner as he barged into the command tent. "You promised me there wouldn't be any casualties!"_

_Lance, enraged, stalked up to the ADA. "This was your idea, huh? You son of a bitch!" he grabbed the man by the shirt and slugged him, sending him crashing into the coffee table._

“Alright Detective Lance!” Tommy cheered as Thea, Roy, and Diggle gave Quentin a standing ovation and Laurel and Dinah smirked proudly.

 

_"Hey, my daughter's in there!" he shouted as two SWAT officers grabbed him, holding him back. "What were you guys thinking, putting all those innocent lives at risk?"_

_"Listen! I was following orders." Stein argued harshly._

_"Orders?!" Lance parroted, disgusted._

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

_A phone rang, and Stein walked over and answered it. "Ms. Bertinelli. No one has to die today."_

_**My father does. And unless you hand him over to me, I'm going to start killing hostages.**_

“Great, just when I thought she couldn’t get any crazier.” Diggle deadpanned.

 

_Stein glared at Donner. "See this, Mr. Donner, is what happens when you let freaks with masks run wild." He snarled._

“No, it’s what happens when you let psychopaths run wild.” Tommy corrected.

 

_He looked over to his men holding back Lance and Oliver, who had just stepped inside. "Get them the hell out of here." He ordered._

_"Don't touch me!" Lance snarled as he and Oliver were led back out onto the street. Lance stalked out, enraged. We'll see about freaks in masks… he thought to himself as he pulled out the phone and dialed the Arrow._

_A moment later, Oliver's phone rang. Lance looked up in shock as Oliver pulled out his phone, but relaxed when he showed him the screen. The caller ID read 'Mom'._

_"It's my mom." He said, answering the phone. He turned and walked several paces off before speaking. "Detective."_

“Ah, that is hilarious!” Tommy erupted in laughter followed by everyone else.

 

“I guess he thought dad nagged him as much as Moira.” Dinah said amused.

 

_"Helena Bertinelli just took ten hostages." Lance told him needlessly. "Laurel's one of them."_

_"Yeah, I'm aware of the situation." Oliver said, hanging up. He immediately dialed the Lair._

_In the Arrow Cave, Felicity answered. "Oliver, where are you? Are you ok?" she asked in a rush as she and Diggle watched the news coverage._

_"I'm with Lance as Oliver, and he just called the Arrow." Oliver said, frustrated._

_"Oh." Felicity's eyes widened in shock. "Oh!" she turned to Diggle. "It's getting really hard to keep track of who knows whose secret identity." She noted._

_"Felicity, Laurel is still inside the courthouse." Oliver continued._

_"What do you need, Oliver?" Diggle asked._

_"My work clothes."_

_"I'm on it." Dig said. He grabbed Oliver's bow, then oved over to take the suit out of the case._

_"Put Sara on the phone." Oliver continued._

_"Uh…" Felicity looked around nervously. "She's not here."_

_"Where is she?" Oliver demanded._

“Oh no.” Tommy said.

 

_Inside the courthouse, Laurel was making her way down the hall as quietly as she could. Suddenly the lights went out as the cops cut the power, and a moment later the emergency lights came on. She ducked into a small break room, looking for a place to hide, but was suddenly grabbed from behind by one of the gunmen. Years of self-defense training took over and she belted him hard in the nose with her elbow, but the man held on, picking her up and throwing her into a vending machine. He pinned her there with one hand, the other withdrawing a long knife-_

_But then he was thrown clear as The Canary arrived. She easily disarmed the man, beat him down to one knee, then sent a hard knee of her own into his face. The blow sent him flying, crashing through a table where he lay unconscious._

“Thank god for Sara.” Tommy said relieved and Laurel nodded faintly.

 

_She turned to Laurel, who looked at her with trepidation._

_"Are you one of the good guys?" Laurel asked._

_Sara activated the voice changer on her belt. "No, but I'm friends with them." She replied in warbling, distorted voice._

_The scene changed to Verdant. The club was packed, and Roy was trying to navigate through the crowd with a tray loaded with empty glasses when a drunken patron rammed into him._

_"Dude, watch it." Roy said._

_"Screw you!" the drunk spat back. Roy grabbed the man's shoulder with one hand, and with ease forced him down to his knees, whimpering in pain. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Thea talking to the new floor manager, Becky, and with a start let the man go. He anxiously made his way over to the bar nest to Thea and set the tray down._

_"Thea, we need to break up." He said without preamble._

“It was at that moment that Arsenal realized that Oliver was right and he was an idiot.” Dinah said and Roy sighed.

 

_"What?! " Thea blinked in surprise. "No."_

_This time, Roy blinked in surprise. "What do you mean, no?" he asked. "Thea, I'm breaking up with you."_

_"No, you're not." She said stubbornly._

_"You can't make me date you." Roy argued. This was NOT going how he thought it would go._

_Thea scoffed. "Roy, yesterday you gave me a bracelet worth every dime that you had, and now what, you want to end things?" she asked unbelievingly. "Look, you're clearly going through something right now, and I'm not going to let you go through it alone. I'm always going to be here for you." She promised._

“Why do you have to be so stubborn?” Tommy groaned.

 

“I guess I get it from my brothers.”  Thea said dryly and Tommy had no reply.

_"Sorry, Thea." They looked up to see Becky. "The guy from the private party said we stocked the wrong vodka, and he's freaking me out." She said nervously._

_Thea sighed and turned back to Roy. "Look, we'll talk about this later, ok?" she promised him, leaving with the manager. Roy looked at her, and then looked over the blonde. He knew what he had to do._

“You really are an idiot.” Laurel glared at an uncomfortable Roy.

 

“I know.” Roy sighed.

 

_The scene changed back to the courthouse. Laurel led the Canary through the halls up to the DA's office, moving ahead of a pair of gunmen. She stopped at a door and fumbled with her keys, trying to get it into the lock. Sara glanced down the hall and saw a pair of shadows approaching as Laurel finally unlocked the door. She led the vigilante in, closing the door and hiding behind a desk as the two gunmen walked past, oblivious._

_Sara glanced at her panicked sister in concern. "Are you hurt?" she asked._

_Laurel chuckled. "I'm so stupid." She looked up and spied a pair of bourbon bottles, and immediately grabbed one._

“Don’t do it.” Laurel groaned and Dinah winced, hating herself a little for her moment of weakness.

 

_"Hey. You don't want to do that." Sara said as Laurel ripped off the cap._

_"Oh, no, trust me. I do." Laurel replied._

_"What about your sobriety?" Sara asked, then winced internally._

_Laurel looked at the masked woman. "How do you know about that?" she asked._

_"The 'A' chip on your keychain." Sara said quickly. "30 Days."_

“Good cover.” Diggle complimented.

 

_"Do you even know why I'm here today?" she asked. "Turns out I'm decoration. Expendable decoration." She said, dejected._

“Bastard Donner.” Tommy sneered.

_"What do you mean?" Sara asked._

_"This whole trial was a sham." Laurel said, finally voicing what she knew to be true. "I should have seen it. Sara was right. Sara, she's… she's my sister." She explained. "She said that I wasn't ready to come back, and I just thought she was being overprotective."_

_"Well, sisters can be like that." Sara said after a moment. "You should meet mine."_

“Very funny.” Laurel said unamused as Tommy and Thea snickered.

 

_"She's gone through a lot." Laurel said. "She must have been so strong. I just… I wanted to show her, show myself… That I was still strong, too." She admitted._

_"So show me." Sara said quietly._

_Laurel looked at the bottle, then at her keychain. Finally, she picked up the stopper and put it back in the bottle. Sara smiled and stood, then reached her hand down to Laurel. "Let's go." She said. Laurel reached up and took the Canary's hand, and let herself be pulled up._

“Nice going Sara.” Diggle said as Laurel sighed in relief, happy she hadn’t caved to weakness.

 

_The two headed out of the office and were down the hall when Oliver called in._

_**Where are you?**_

_"Inside. I've got Laurel Lance, she's ok." The Canary replied._

_Laurel looked at her. "Is that the Arrow?" she asked._

_"I'm headed to an egress point in the south wing." Sara continued, ignoring her sister._

_"Wait." Laurel said, yanking Sara to a halt. "What about the other hostages? You're just going to leave them?" she asked._

_"Look, I need to get you to safety." Sara said, grabbing her hand and dragging her along._

_Laurel pulled her hand free and stopped again. "I don't understand! What is so special about me?" she cried._

_**What's going on?**_

_"She won't leave." Sara said in annoyance._

_"I know Helena." Laurel said._

“We had one brief encounter on the most awkward double date in the history of the world.” Laurel said incredulously.

 

“Better than anyone else.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"She's going to kill all of those people; innocent people. You wanted me to show you I'm strong. This is me being strong. I'm staying." She said firmly. "Are you going to help me or not?"_

_**Get her out of there now!** Oliver demanded, annoyed._

_Sara moved a short distance down the hall. "It's not like I can just knock her out." She reasoned._

“Technically, she could’ve.” Tommy pointed out.

 

“But then she would’ve had to worry about lugging my unconscious body around while defending herself from armed thugs.” Dinah reasoned.

 

_**I don't want you engaging Helena.**_

_"What, you're afraid of what she'll do," Sara wondered, "Or what I'll do?"_

_"Sara," Oliver growled from outside. "You're not a killer."_

_"I am what I need to be." She said, then reached up and turned off her comms._

“That’s a grim way of looking at things.” Laurel frowned.

 

“She’d spent so long in the darkness it was difficult to see anything else.” Dinah explained sadly.

 

“A lot like Oliver when he first came home.” Diggle pointed out and Dinah nodded.

 

“Exactly like that.” Dinah agreed.

 

_Five years ago-_

_**Sara, did you hear me?** Slade asked over the radio._

_"I heard you. Hendrik's not here." She lied. Hendrik sighed in relief._

_Slade grinned. "There's someone I'd like you to say hello to." He held out the mic towards Oliver._

_"Don't give him anything, Sara." Oliver said weakly._

_"Ollie!" Sara exclaimed._

_**One last chance.** Slade said. **Oliver for Hendrik.**_

_"I told you! Look, Hendrik, he didn't make it to the island, he drowned." Sara lied._

_**To think it was only a year ago, you were a little college girl, fretting about boys.** Slade growled._

_"What's your point?" Sara asked._

_"You're not a good liar." Slade replied. He kept the mic open, and nodded. Another man picked up his instrument- a moistened sponge clamped into a set of jumper cables that were attached to a battery- and jammed it into Oliver's side. He screamed in pain._

“Ollie!” Thea exclaimed as Tommy gripped his pants legs tightly, glowering at the screen and Laurel looked away, not able to watch.

 

_"Slade!" Sara cried out, terrified. "Stop, please! Look, he's your friend!" he pleaded._

_"That is the sound of electricity surging through my friend. Five milliamps, to be exact. Seven causes cardiac arrest." He nodded, and the man upped the wattage and jabbed Oliver again. He screamed briefly before he passed out. "Oliver just passed out with six milliamps." Slade continued. "He'll be delivered with the fatal blow of seven in one hour if Hendrik is not standing here by my side!"_

“Man, the Mirakuru really did drive him completely insane, didn’t it?” Tommy noted disturbed.

 

“Yes, it did.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Sara turned to plead with Hendrik- only to find him holding a gun at her head. "There's no way in hell I'm going back there." He growled._

“Great, now they have two psychopaths to deal with. One on the boat and one with them.” Roy drawled.

 

_Present-_

_Helena paced in the room, looking over the hostages. A ring on one young woman's finger caught her attention, and she knelt down. "I was almost married once." She told the woman, who cringed back in fear. Helena stood, kicked over one of the male hostages, and moved to the phone. "It's been an hour, and I'm a woman of my word." She said after Stein picked up. "Just ask my father." She raised the pistol to put a bolt through the cringing man-_

_Then suddenly a small, silver device rolled into the room, and a moment later erupted into a wall of sound. Everyone cringed in pain and every window in the area shattered as the Canary Cry went off. The moment it shut off, The Canary herself was there, taking the fight to Helena with half of her staff. The other half was in Laurel's hand, who moved to the hostages to begin untying them._

_"Everything's going to be ok." She assured them._

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Diggle advised her gently.

 

_"Behind you!" a woman cried as one of the gunmen climbed back to his feet. Laurel took her half of the staff and swung for the fences, hitting the man in the head and knocking him out cold._

_Sara was surprised how good Helena actually was. She took several of her most powerful hits, and then managed to disarm her. Sara was on the defensive as Helena attacked her with her own staff. They separated briefly, each glaring at the other. "Oliver sure does like to dress up his girls." Helena sneered, moving to attack again. Across the room, the second gunman came up behind Laurel and locked her in a choke hold, his other arm pinning hers out and forcing her to drop the staff. Sara blocked the staff and belted Helena with a right cross that staggered her. Helena screamed in rage and rushed Sara, grabbing at her throat with one hand and forcing her back and using all of her strength the pushed Sara backwards out of the broken window. As Sara fell, she withdrew her silk grapple and threw it. It caught on a ledge just in time for her to slow her fall enough to land on her feet briefly before falling down. Helena leaned out of the window and aimed her crossbow pistol…_

_But it was knocked out of her hand by an arrow fired from Oliver._

“Thank god for Ollie.” Laurel sighed in relief as she untensed.

 

“I’m surprised Sara lost to Helena.” Diggle noted.

 

“Sara underestimated Helena, that is the only reason she lost. If she hadn’t, she would’ve beaten Helena.” Dinah promised.

 

_She glared at her ex-boyfriend, then ducked back inside the room_

_"You all right?" Oliver asked Sara as she pulled herself up._

_"Laurel! She's still in there." She said._

_Back in the room, Helena took off her mask and knelt down in front of Laurel, who was now bound with the rest of the hostages._

_"Nice to see you again, Laurel." She said with a grin. The phone rang, so Helena stood and walked over to it. Tossing he mask onto the desk, she picked up the phone._

_"Helena, listen to me." Oliver said on the other end of the line. "This has to end."_

_"I agree. And it ends with my father in a box." She replied calmly._

_"The police are never going to hand over your father!" he told her._

_"No, they won't." she said. "That's why you're going to do it. Simple trade- my father for Laurel."_

“She’s got them now,” Diggle swore, “She knows Oliver will never let anything happen to Laurel. You should’ve left when you had the chance, now she has what she needs to make Oliver comply with her demands.”

 

“I couldn’t let all those people die, I had to do something. Could you have walked away?” Dinah challenged.

 

“Probably not.” Diggle admitted.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. It was after closing, and Thea was restocking the bar for the next night. "Hey, guys? We need more vodka." She called out. She looked around for Roy or Becky, but saw neither. Huffing in annoyance, she grabbed a box and rose. "Ok I'll get it myself." She grumbled. She headed into the stockroom, and froze in horror at what she saw- Roy and Becky making out like horny freshmen. They broke apart, Becky looking guilty, but Roy just looked… resigned. Tears forming in her eyes, Thea ripped off the bracelet and threw it to the ground before turning and running out of the room._

“You know, when Ollie said break up with Thea, I don’t think he meant cheat on her.” Dina pointed out as Tommy glared at Roy and Thea scooted away from him and crossed her arms.

 

“I know.” Roy sighed.

 

“You’re an idiot.” Thea said stiffly.

 

“I know.” Roy sighed.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD as Frank Bertinelli was being led through the squad room by a pair of cops. "Where are you taking me?" he demanded._

_"Safe house." One of the cops said. They all stopped as Lance walked up to them._

_"Listen, fronts mobbed with reporters. Let's take Bertinelli out the back." Lance advised._

_"Bring the van around." The first cop said to his partner. He moved to go get the van, and Lance took Bertinelli's free arm and the two cops led him to the back entrance. A few minutes later they exited into the motor pool, and the first cop was just climbing out of the van when two tranq darts flew and hit the two patrol officers, knocking them out._

_"Whoa! What the hell?" Frank cried out in alarm._

_"Don't worry about it." Lance said coldly._

_"What's going on?" Frank demanded._

_"Just get in the van!" Lance growled, pushing him into the van and locking him in. "Hey! Hey, hey!" Frank yelled as Lance turned to the two Vigilantes._

_"SWAT's getting ready to breach the courthouse." Lance told the two vigilantes as they came into view._

_"Then we make the trade now." Sara decided._

_"Listen, I'm not going to lose any sleep over Frank. But are you really going to serve him up to his daughter?" Lance asked._

_"No." Oliver said firmly, looking at Sara. "No one dies tonight."_

“He always was stubborn.” Dinah mused.

 

“Tell us something we don’t know.” Roy said dryly.

 

_Back in the courthouse, Laurel was trying to comfort a hostage. "Are you ok?" she asked softly. "Everything's going to be fine."_

_"I said- no talking." Helena said harshly as she walked around the room._

_"We talked that night." Laurel reminded her as she drew closer. "You, Oliver, Tommy, and I. At dinner. I remember you telling me your fiancé was killed. I'm so sorry." She said._

_Helena looked down at her with a mocking smile. "Does this make us girlfriends?" she asked sarcastically._

_"No." Laurel said quickly. "But I know what it's like to lose someone."_

_"Ohh. Poor Laurel. Did Tommy dump you?" she asked mockingly, kneeling down in front of her._

_"No. He died." Laurel stated. Helena actually looked abashed. "And I couldn't deal with it. So I became a drunk. Every problem I had, I solved with a pill or a drink." She continued. "My friends and my family, they tried to help me, but I wouldn't let them. You don't have to do this, Helena." She pleaded. "It's not too late."_

_"Yes, I do." Helena replied. "Because once you let the darkness inside, it never comes out."_

“While that’s t rue, you don’t have to let it completely consume you. Ollie and Sara were able to stop letting it, it didn’t have to come to this, this was a choice that Helena made.” Dinah said firmly.

 

_The phone rang and she answered it. "Helena," Oliver said, calling her from the truck. "I have your father."_

_"Hmm." Helena winked at Laurel, and then rose to get ready to leave._

_Outside in the command tent, Stein was getting ready to storm the courthouse. "I want four men teams, diamond formations. Move fast, shoot sharp. One more thing—" he said, looking at his assembled men. "Vigilantes are not the law. If they're wearing a mask, they get a bullet. Let's move out."_

“Bastard.” Tommy sneered as everyone glared at the screen.

 

_Moments later the SWAT teamed stormed the courthouse. As the SWAT officer secured the hostages, Stein approached The Huntress, who stood with her back to him._

_"Hands up, Bertinelli!" he ordered. "Do it now!" He lowered his gun as the woman turned around- it was the engaged woman Helena had talked to before, dressed in her coat._

_"Please don't kill me!" the woman pleaded tearfully. "Please! She-she told me- she told me to wear it or she'd kill me!"_

_"Where the hell is she?!" Stein demanded angrily._

_Outside, Laurel was being led at gunpoint by Helena, who had traded her costume for a reclaimed policeman's uniform. The two moved easily through the crowd, heading towards Laurel's car. "Don't look so scared, Laurel." Helena advised her. "You might just live through this."_

“You touch her….” Tommy seethed as Thea glared at the screen.

 

_The scene changed to see the police van driving down an empty back road outside the Glades. Inside the back, Frank Bertinelli was fuming._

_"So you're just going to hand me over to my daughter?" he exclaimed, glaring at the vigilantes. "I thought you were the good guys!"_

_"Shut up." Lance ordered. He glanced in his rearview mirror at Sara. "Remember all that stuff I said about restraint? Forget about it."_

_"Hey." Oliver said quietly, getting her attention. "You can't stop someone like Helena by becoming her." He told her._

_Sara stared back evenly at him. "I'll do what I have to protect someone I love." She replied._

“I’m beginning to see why this relationship didn’t work out.” Diggle mentioned and Dinah nodded as everyone else looked confused.

 

“Ollie was trying to stop letting the darkness consume him while Sara was still letting it. So long as she did, they couldn’t make their relationship work long term. In a few years maybe, but they were doomed to fall apart back then.” Dinah explained.

 

_Five years ago-_

_"Hendrik, please, put the gun down!" one of the survivors, Jerry, said._

_"Why? So you can send me back to that hell hole?" Hendrik spat. "I don't think so!"_

_"It's not for any of us to decide who lives and dies." Jerry stated._

_"But in Hendrik's case, I'd be willing to make an exception." Anatoli said grimly._

“He’s not helping.” Tommy said worriedly.

 

_Hendrik turned the gun on him. "I'm leaving." He said. "Don't stop me."_

_Anatoli looked at him in disgust. "Good at talking, but you will not kill me." He said confidently._

_"Let's find out." Hendrik growled, putting the barrel of the gun to Anatoli's forehead._

_Then Sara was there, smashing a pipe across the back of his head, knocking him out. Anatoli smiled and nodded in gratitude._

“Well, that’s one psychopath down. Now you just have to worry about the one threating Oliver.” Roy said grimly.

 

_Present-_

_Captain Stein was supervising wrapping up the operation when his tech man called in. **Sir, we've got a ping off Ms. Lance's cell phone. She must still have it on her.**_

_"Where?" he demanded._

_**A machine shop at Gail Street and Simone.** he replied. **Should we rally up there?**_

_"Negative." Stein said after a moment. "Hold your location."_

_**Yes, sir.**_

_Stein walked up to his 2IC. "Sergeant, keep this position." He ordered._

_"Yes, sir." The Sergeant replied. Stein grabbed his assault rifle and ran out of the building, eager to take down some vigilantes._

“Who wants to bet the trigger happy SWAT leader will screw things up?” Tommy sked.

 

“No one would take that bed.” Roy said dryly.

 

_The scene changed to the machine shop as The Canary and the Arrow led Frank Bertinelli into the yard. A moment later Helena appeared, still holding Laurel at gunpoint._

_"Well, this is irony for you, dad." Helena said. "Didn't you have Jimmy D'Agostino's body buried under the building next door?" she asked mockingly._

_Frank chuckled. "I'm sorry, my girl." He said._

_"Now you're about to die, I'm sure you are." Helena spat._

_"No." he said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry for that little girl I used to take to ballet class. Go on ski trips with. The one I used to help with her math homework. Oh, she hated math." He chuckled. "Sorry that I caused her so much hurt. 'Cause she brought me so much joy."_

“Well then I guess you shouldn’t have killed her fiancé.” Laurel muttered grimly.

 

_Helena angrily shoved Laurel to the ground and lifted the crossbow._

_"Helena! Don't kill him." Oliver begged. "You can never come back from that."_

_"It's too late." She said shakily. "I'm already gone." She stared into her father's eyes, which were surprisingly filled with regret, sorrow, and love. "Bye, Dad." She raised the crossbow-_

_Then suddenly a spray of automatic fire had everyone ducking for cover as Captain Stein opened fire._

_"Damn vigilantes!" he yelled as she sprayed bullets, heedless of who they hit. "You went above the law!"_

“Um, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, disregarding regulations…aren’t you a vigilante?” Roy deadpanned.

 

_Oliver fired at him, trying to disarm, but Stein ducked. The rogue cop jumped down off the roof and Oliver pursued him._

_Helena moved through the maze of machine parts and equipment, stopping as the Canary came into view ahead of her. "Last time this happened, I threw you out a window." She said with a smirk._

_"I was holding back." Sara replied. "I won't do that again." The two ran at each other and Sara leapt into the air, throwing a high punch that Helena ducked. Sara landed in a crouch and swept the legs, knocking her down, and then grabbed her by the neck in a hard choke. Helena forced herself up and back, slamming Sara into a crate. She planted her elbow into Sara's gut, then grabbed her by the back of her head and tossed her over her shoulder. Sara landed in a roll and came back up, blocking a follow up punch and landing three hard hits to her jaw, knocking the Huntress to the ground._

_Meanwhile, The Arrow entered the machine shop. As he moved around cautiously, he didn't spot Stein taking aim from behind a crate across the room._

_"Hey." Stein turned- and was knocked out by a hard punch from Lance. The older cop looked over to the Arrow, who nodded in gratitude before running back out into the yard._

“Well at least he’s taken out of the game.” Tommy said relieved.

 

_Outside Helena got back up and landed a punch that Sara easily shrugged off. The Canary jumped up, and then took the Huntress down with a leg scissors. She scooted around so that her back was braced against Helena's then reached behind her and grabbed the other woman around the throat. She yanked hard, using her leverage to choke Helena. She yanked forward, trying to break the woman's neck._

_"No!" Sara looked up to see Laurel standing there. "You're not a killer." Laurel said._

_"You don't know who I am, Laurel, not really." Sara grunted, not letting go._

_"Then show me." Laurel pleaded. Sara stared at her sister for a moment, then finally let go. Helena collapsed to the ground, gasping._

_As Sara climbed slowly to her feet, Helena spied a pair of legs partially hidden behind a crate. "No…" she said, scrambling over to where her father lay, dead from the bullets that Stein had so carelessly sprayed. "It was supposed to be me." She said numbly as Lance ran up and quickly cuffed her. In the distance, sirens could be heard as the backup eh had called approached. "It was supposed to me who did it." She repeated._

“It’s kind of sad really.” Laurel noted.

 

“Sad and fucked up.” Tommy muttered.

 

_"All right, Bertinelli, that's enough." He said, pulling her up._

_Laurel looked to the Vigilantes as the cops pulled up. "Go." She told them. The two took off just as the cops pulled up._

_Later that night, Helena sat in the interrogation room, now clad in a prisoner's jumpsuit. She looked up in surprise as Oliver walked in._

_"How did you get in here?" she asked as he took a seat across from her._

_"My family makes a generous donation to the policemen's retirement fund." He explained. "And every once in a while, I get to call in a favor."_

_"Hmm." Helena said. "Maybe you could ask them to send me to prison somewhere tropical." She joked. The smile fell off her face. "You know, I thought I'd feel different now that he's dead, but I don't. And you always told me that… killing him wouldn't change anything. You were right." She admitted._

_"But I was wrong, too." Oliver admitted as well._

_"About what?" she asked._

_"I thought I could help you." He said. "Stop you from being a killer, but I was just starting. And I was a killer, too."_

“No, you were a soldier, defending your home. He really needs to stop thinking of himself as this villainous monster.” Diggle noted.

 

“Get on that when you get home.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_"And what are you now?"_

_"I'm trying to be better." He said._

_Helena chuckled sadly. "It's so stupid, but I keep thinking, now that he's dead, my father and Michael are together, and I'm still here. Alone."_

_Oliver reached forward and grasped her hands. "You're not alone." He assured her. A cop came in and uncuffed her rom the table, securing the cuffs behind her back before leading her out of the room as Oliver watched on sadly._

“So what happened to her after that?” Laurel asked, curious to know if Helena had ever found peace.

 

“She served in prison for a few years then helped out during a prison riot. The warden called in a few favors, got her a pardon. She joined us briefly on a probationary basic but we could never bring ourselves to completely trust her. She picked up on that and left, although we parted on civil terms. She relocated to Gotham where she struck up a deal with Batman: He stays out of her way if she doesn’t go too far. Although she flirts with the line between too far and just far enough. There have been times where Batman has been ready to go after her and Nyssa has had to pull him back. One of these days, I don’t think she’ll be able to. I don’t think she’ll want to. Even Nyssa has a limit, a line she won’t cross, and Helena is dangerously close to crossing it.” Dinah confessed.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Oliver slowly came back to awareness, still chained upright and feeling agony in his left shoulder. "What are you doing to me?" he weakly asked Slade, who sat across from him._

_"In Roman times, a criminal was branded to identify his crimes to the world and to forever remind him of what he'd done." Slade explained. He touched the new tattoo on his back, and Oliver cried out in agony. "Shado wore this tattoo on her back. Now you shall wear it for the rest of your life, however short that may be."_

“Slade is one sick bastard.” Roy snarled as they all glared at the screen.

 

“Oh trust me, you haven’t figured out just how sick he is, not yet.” Dinah promised darkly.

 

_**Slade.**_

_Slade walked over to the radio and picked up the mic. "Hello, Sara. I hope you've made the right choice." He said._

_In the fuselage, Sara watched as Hendrik was tied up. "Yes." She replied._

“She was really gonna do it.” Laurel said, stunned and horrified.

 

“In war, right and wrong, black and white, isn’t always so clear. Besides, Slade was gonna leave. On the other hand, Hendrik was right there and a threat to everyone on the island.” Dinah explained.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed back to the courthouse. In the DA's office, everyone was busy cleaning up broken glass once again when Laurel walked into Kate Spencer's office. The DA was on the floor, picking up files when she looked up and saw Laurel standing there._

_"Look, on behalf of the entire DA's office, I have to apologize." Kate said reluctantly. "Adam Donner's employment here has been terminated. Obviously we had no idea what he was plotting." She added, covering her ass._

“Right. No idea.” Roy drawled as Laurel scoffed.

 

“Does she honestly expect me to buy that?” Laurel asked sarcastically.

 

_"I would hope not." Laurel said calmly._

_Kate gave her a dismissive look. "Unfortunately, Adam was not authorized to offer you your job back. I'm sorry, but nothing has changed."_

_"Yes, it has."_

_Kate looked up. "Excuse me?"_

_"You are going to rehire me, Kate. Unless you feel like explaining to the press that your own assistant district attorney was the brilliant mastermind behind tonight's hostage crisis." Laurel said boldly._

“Bold, bold Laurel.” Roy said looking impressed as Laurel looked shocked at her actions.

 

“Sometimes, you have to bend the rules to get somewhere. Haven’t you learned anything from watching this?” Dinah asked Laurel, who had a thoughtful look on her face.

 

_Kate took a breath. "Welcome back." She said._

_Laurel set the Bertinelli files down on the desk, and turned to leave. "I have to say, I am impressed." Kate continued. "I would have thought blackmail was a little dark for you."_

_Laurel smiled slightly. "Someone recently told me, once you let the darkness inside, it never comes out."_

_The scene changed to Verdant. Oliver walked up to his old office to find Thea typing on her computer in the dark. "Hey. What are you still doing up here?" he asked, sitting down next to her._

_Thea sniffled. "Thinking. Crying." She wiped the tears away. "Roy and I are…' she sliced her hand through the air._

_Internally, Oliver sighed. Externally, he looked concerned. "What happened?" he asked._

_"I caught him with some slut." She gestured out her window towards the stockroom. "Right over there, actually."_

_"I'm sorry." Oliver told her honestly._

“Internally, he was thinking of how to make y our next training session as grueling as possible.” Dinah told Roy, who paled.

 

_"He was doing it to push me away, which clearly worked." Thea said. "I just I don't know why. Why is it so hard for everyone just to tell the truth? I mean, Roy can't even tell me the truth of why he wants to end things with me. Mom, she…" she hiccupped, "She keeps all of these secrets. I mean, doesn't it… doesn't it feel like she's still keeping something from us?" she asked._

_Oliver swallowed hard. "I don't know, Thea." He said after a moment._

“That lies is gonna come back to bite him in the ass, I think.” Tommy noted and Dinah smiled grimly.

 

“You have no idea.” She promised and Thea squirmed.

 

_"You're the only one that doesn't lie to me, Ollie." Thea said tearfully, and a piece of Oliver died inside. "You're the only one I know who doesn't keep secrets from me." She sighed. "Just, I got to go."_

_"Let me drive you." Oliver offered, rising with her._

_"No, I just want to be alone right now." Thea said, walking out of the office. Oliver watched her go with a heavy heart._

“Must suck to be him right now.” Tommy noted, only being able to imagine the guilt Oliver was feeling.

 

_"Is she ok?" he looked up to see Sara walking in._

_"She will be. Eventually." He said. He smiled at Sara. "You did good tonight." He told her._

_"That's what heroes do, right?" she said. He leaned down and kissed her._

_In the Lair, Roy watched on the security monitors as Thea left the club in tears. Dig put a comforting hand on his shoulder, telling him it would be okay, before he and Felicity headed out for the night. Roy looked down at the bracelet he had bought Thea, and angrily picked it up and crumpled it into a small metal ball._

Roy winced as he and Thea avoided looking at each other. No one said anything as they avoided looking at the young couple awkwardly.

 

_Out in the Glades, Thea walked alone, lost in her thoughts. She didn't notice the limo pull up next to her until a familiar voice called out._

_"It's a dangerous city." Slade Wilson said. "You shouldn't be out in the streets alone."_

_"Mr. Wilson?" Thea said in surprise._

_Slade smiled as he opened the door, allowing Thea to get into the limo. "Please. Call me Slade." He said._

“Oh my god.” Tommy said horrified as the screen faded to black.

 

“Please tell me she made it out okay?” Laurel begged as Roy took the frightened in his arms.

 

“Physically, he never laid a hand on Thea. Mentally is another story.” Dinah said as she started the next recording.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: personally, I think Oliver should have put an arrow through Helena’s heart long before this point. That said, I think this scene really highlights Felicity and Diggle’s, particularly Felicity’s complete disregard for Oliver’s leadership. Because Oliver was right, Sara was letting her emotions prevent her from thinking rationally. So, basically Felicity and Diggle told someone who was not thinking rationally, to go do whatever the hell they wanted. Which could have gone so badly.


	55. Deathstroke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The viewers see as Slade's plan truly begins to unfold and Oliver and Roy unravel. Laurel learns how she learned Oliver's secret.

The memory set opened inside of the town car with Slade and Thea. "Your mascara is running." Slade noted. He handed her a handkerchief.

"Thank you." Thea said, wiping at her eyes.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"I don't know." She admitted. "It's my boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend now. He just completely out of nowhere decides to end things."

"Heartbreak is something I know all too well." Slade said. "It's not an easy thing to recover from. Sometimes you never do."

“Well I guess you would know.” Tommy tried to sound light hearted abut in the tension filled room, it sounded more biting.

The car pulled to a stop. Thea looked out the window, confused.

"Um, we're not at- this isn't my home." She said, suddenly nervous.

"You're not going home, Thea." Slade said coldly.

The tension in the room began mounting even higher. Roy tightened his arms around Thea but the fear filled girl barely noticed. Tommy balled his hands into fists as Laurel nervously began biting her nails, all of them waiting for what would happen next.

He turned away from her, looking straight forward. "Get out." Thea was frozen, not understanding-

Slade turned to look at her. "Get out!" he roared. Terrified, Thea jumped out of the car and ran down the alley they had pulled to a stop next to. She looked behind her to see if Slade was chasing after her, and didn't see the man in front of her until she ran right into his arms.

"Hello, Thea." Brother Blood said as she looked at his mask, horrified. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

“That bastard.” Tommy snarled as they all glared at the screen.

Dig sat at Felicity's desk, checking the crime stats.

"No time. You letting the bad guys stay alive this year has filled the jails up to capacity." Dig told Oliver.

"Yeah." He agreed, looking to Roy, who was poised with an arrow ready to shoot. "Ready?"

"Well, I've been working with Sara, but I'm not exactly a natural." He warned.

"Neither was I." Oliver said. Roy let out a breath, aimed, and fired. The arrow sailed right past the targets and hit the power cables on the far wall, sending up a fountain of sparks. "Ok." Oliver said, nonplussed. "We have some work to do."

Roy sighed tiredly. "Sorry, I'm just having a hard time keeping my head in the game today."

"Thea?" Oliver guessed.

"I just can't stop thinking what's the worst that can happen if I just told her the truth?" he asked.

"Well, I told a guy the truth and he got struck by lightning." Felicity said as she came into the Lair. "To be fair, probably won't happen again, statistically."

Despite the tense atmosphere, the viewers couldn’t help but snicker at this.

Oliver looked at Roy seriously. "Telling Thea the truth won't make her safer." He warned. "Just the opposite. What we're doing, Roy, it's dangerous. And anyone that is even in our orbit can get hurt."

“It’s sad that he actually believes that.” Laurel noted sadly.

“I’ve seen it in with some of the guys I served with. Some think by being along, they can prevent their loved ones from getting hurt.” Diggle mused.

“So this mindset is PTSD related?” Tommy mused and Diggle nodded.

“Just another reason he needs to see someone when he gets back.” Dinah pointed out.

“I know a counselor; she helped me after I first got back. Seeing her might help.” Diggle suggested and Thea nodded n thanks.

He clasped Roy on the shoulder. "Try again. This time… aim." He advised. He moved away and walked towards Felicity, noting a thick stack of pink paper notes in her hand. "What are those?" he asked.

"About a month's worth of phone messages from Queen Consolidated." Felicity said, waving them at him.

"Toss them." Oliver said offhandedly.

"That's what I did with last month's phone messages." Felicity argued.

"With Slade out there, I don't have time for the company." Oliver stated.

“That’s not a very good idea,” Laurel frowned, “if he doesn’t show the board that he cares about the company, it could have bad repercussions.”

“He would have to learn that lesson the hard way.” Dinah sighed.

"Well, you have to make time, Oliver. At least three hours." She shot back. He groaned as he remembered why. "The annual board meeting." She confirmed. "There's absolutely zero way that the CEO can avoid being there. And I know it's been a while, so in case you've forgotten, that's you. Do you remember where you put your business suit?" she glanced over at his Arrow suit. "Or do you keep it in a cool glass case, too?" she quipped.

“She’s got a point.” Roy shrugged.

Five years ago-

Hendrik screamed in rage as Anatoly finished trying him up. "I'm going to kill all of you!" he roared, and Anatoly took the last bit of rope and forced it into the other man's mouth as a gag.

"This is not personal." Anatoly said, then paused, considering. "Well, maybe a little." He admitted gleefully.

"It's not." Sara said, rising from her seat on a crate. "This is about survival."

Peter scoffed. "Survival. What a noble word for murder."

“Sometimes, you have to do things you normally wouldn’t to survive.” Dinah said grimly.

“Yeah, but murder?” Tommy asked hesitantly and Dinah sighed.

“Would you rather they let Slade kill Ollie?” Dinah reasoned and Tommy was silent.

"Slade gave us no option. Hendrik for Oliver." Anatoly reminded him as he dumped Hendrik to the floor.

"And what gives any of us the right to decide one's life is more valuable than another?" Peter asked.

“The fact that Hendrik’s a psychopath and Oliver isn’t?” Roy drawled.

Anatoly gestured at Hendrik. "He is tied up. We are not."

“Also a good point.” Roy said amused and Tommy couldn’t help but snicker.

"Once he gets the boat working, Slade will have no more need for him." He said, pitching his wares to Sara now. "So let's not kid ourselves. Doing this is effectively sentencing Hendrik to death."

"He would do the same thing to any of us! In heartbeat!" Anatoly said. "This is only option."

"What if it's also an opportunity?" Sara said suddenly.

"To do what?" Anatoly asked.

"To kill Slade." She said.

“What?” Thea asked shocked as Roy’s arms slackened around her.

“Is she crazy?!” Tommy demanded.

“She actually had a good plan,” Dinah mused, “on an ordinary man, it probably would’ve worked. Not so sure it would’ve worked on Slade though.”

“What was her plan?” Laurel asked wearily.

“I’m sure you’ll see.” Dinah said simply.

Present-

The scene changed to Queen Consolidated the next day. Oliver walked through his office to the boardroom, finding it conspicuously empty of anyone- except for Isabel Rochev.

"I know that I haven't been here in a while, but you don't look like the entire Board of Directors." Oliver quipped to the CO-CEO.

"The meeting doesn't start for another half hour." Isabel said.

Oliver glanced at is watch. "Really?" he asked.

"I routinely bump all appointments 30 minutes in anticipation of you being late." She said, smirking.

“Please tell me she gets that smirk wiped off her face?” Thea pleaded.

“She does.” Dinah promised and Thea smirked.

"It's good policy." Olive complimented.

"But, thank you for coming out of hibernation for this." Isabel said, rising to speak to Oliver as equals. "Whether you recognize it or not, it's your name on the building, and no matter how many meetings you miss, you're still the public face of this company." She reminded him.

"Isabel, I realize I have been distracted." Oliver noted. "Thank you for picking up the slack." He said sincerely.

"Ours is an unconventional partnership, but it's a partnership." Isabel reminded him. "And it's working."

"Indeed it is."

"Oliver," he turned to see Felicity at the door. "Your mother's here."

“Well this should be interesting.” Roy quipped. 

Isabel noted the annoyed look on his face band smirked. "Family squabble?"

Oliver rolled his eyes, and then stepped out into his office to confront his mother.

"And how is Ms. Rochev these days? Still angry that Dorothy dropped a house on her sister?" Moira asked sarcastically.

“Oh that is rich!” Tommy exclaimed laughing.

Everyone else joined him in his laughter. Once they had calmed down, Dinah unpaused the recording.

Ahem." Oliver cleared his throat. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Have you heard from Thea?" she asked.

"No." Oliver said after a moment.

"You haven't returned any of my phone calls, so I'm left to resort to checking in person as to whether you're attending the debate tonight." She continued crossly.

“He says he hasn’t heard from me and that’s her next question?!” Thea asked alarmed.

“She didn’t know about you and Roy breaking up. She thought you were with him and Ollie figured you just needed some space.” Dinah explained.

“The drawback to being independent: Sometimes it takes a minute for people to notice your missing.” Laurel said dryly.

"I told you that I would publicly support your campaign." He reminded her. "Anything else?" he asked, clearly dismissing her.

"It would be embarrassing for us both if you couldn't at least appear to be my son tonight." Moira pointed out, turning to leave.

"I have gotten pretty good at pretending to be someone I'm not." He said, drawing her attention back. "I learned it from you." Moira stared steadily at Oliver for a moment, before turning and walking out.

“Ouch. Man that’s cold.” Tommy winced.

“But accurate.” Roy pointed out.

The scene changed to the debate site later that night. Oliver was walking briskly through the backstage area, looking for his sister. He was starting to become concerned. "Oh, excuse me, have you seen Thea Queen?" he asked, stopping one of the make-up girls. The girl shook her head. "Ok." He said with a smile, allowing her to move off as he continued his search. He pulled out his phone and dialed her number. "Speedy, it's Ollie, and I'm at the debate, where I thought you would be." He began when it went to voicemail. "Listen, I know that you're upset about Roy, but mom needs both of us here. So please, just call me back." He sighed in aggravation as he hung up.

“Well, at least he’s starting to get worried now.” Thea said as the time travelers started to tense up again.

"You do not look happy." Oliver turned to see Sebastian Blood walking up to him. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes. My sister's just a little late." Oliver replied with a forced smile.

"I'm afraid that's my fault." Blood said, heading towards the stage.

“Is he actually going to admit it?” Tommy asked incredulously.

Oliver looked at him curiously, and Blood chuckled. "SCPD insisted that I arrive with a motorcade." He explained "We tied up traffic all over the city. I'm sure Thea's probably just fallen victim to gridlock."

“And now I feel stupid for even considering it.” Tommy muttered.

"Well, I should probably try her again." Oliver said, shaking Blood's hand. "Good luck tonight, Sebastian." He said.

"Thank you, sir." He watched as Oliver walked off towards the front of house, and then smiled as he saw another familiar face approaching him. "I thought backstage was supposed to be restricted access." He said pleasantly.

"The benefits of having a district attorney's badge, I guess." Laurel replied with a smile.

"You stop by to wish Moira good luck?" Blood asked.

Laurel nodded. "I did. But I'm really glad I ran into you." She said. "I owe you an apology. I accused you of really terrible things."

“True thing, things that were completely true.” Tommy pointed out.

“Completely agree, I can’t believe I apologize to this bastard.” Laurel muttered.

"You were going through a very difficult time." Blood said in understanding. "I'm just happy you're on the mend." He kissed her on the cheek.

"Good luck tonight." Laurel said.

Blood grinned. "I'm not the one who's going to need it." He assured her.

“You would know.” Roy sneered.

"Sebastian Blood is not the man you think he is." Moira was saying later after the debate had started.

“That’s an understatement if there ever was one.” Diggle muttered.

"He's not going to revive the city with social services. He's going to bankrupt it with unfunded mandates."

"Mrs. Queen's problem with my proposals is that they will be paid for by the one percent." Blood countered. "It's time that the wealthiest people stop avoiding their responsibility."

"But it will limit their abilities to hire people." Moira pointed out.

“Both have good points.” Diggle mused.

“Yeah, but what Moira said was true: Blood’s policies would have been the end of Starling City.” Dinah promised.

"All right, that's time, and I will remind the candidates to please refrain from interrupting." The moderator said, trying to cool down the debaters. "Now we have the next in our series of video questions submitted by Starling City voters. This one comes from… Thea Queen" he said, confused. "Ok, there must be some mistake." He said, shuffling through his cards. The video wall behind the two candidates flickered briefly, and then cleared to show Thea's terrified, tear-streaked face. Oliver shot up from his seat as the audience gasped in shock.

"Help! Help! Somebody help me, please!" Thea cried as Moira looked on, horrified. "He-sla—" she started a hand clamped down over her mouth. Moira cried out in shock as a man knelt down behind her, his face covered by an armored, blue and gold mask. Over the picture on the screen, a question was flashed:

HOW MUCH IS THEA QUEEN'S LIFE WOTH TO YOU?

“That bastard!” Tommy snarled as Roy pulled Thea to him, the young woman staring at the screen with pale skin.

“Slade better hope that he has god life insurance.” Laurel muttered.

The scene changed to Queen Consolidated a short time later as Diggle and Roy rode the elevator to the executive floor.

"We're going to find her, Roy." Dig told the boy quietly. "We're going to get her back. She's a tough girl."

"Is she going to be alive when we find her?" he asked harshly.

Everyone flinched, silently wondering the same question. Dinah sighed, realizing in their fear, they had forgotten what she had told them about Damien Darhk. But she knew reminding them of this fact would do no good.

Dig glanced over at him. "You can't think like that." He advised.

Roy flared back at Diggle. "I can't stop thinking like that." He said. The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, and Roy squinted under the glare of the lights being shone on him and Diggle from dozens of reporters who had staked out the hallway. They all started shouting questions, most aimed at Diggle as he was the Queen head of security, but Dig remained silent, leading Roy into the sanctuary of Oliver's outer office.

"I think I might have found something." Felicity said from her desk. "I'm working on it."

On one of her screens, Blood was giving a press conference. 'I am suspending my campaign and devoting its resources to the safe return of Thea Queen.'

“Which would be oh so touching you hadn’t HELPED SLADE KIDNAP HER IN THE FIRST PLACE!” Tommy exploded.

Diggle nodded and headed into Oliver's office, where Lieutenant Pike and Officer Lance were filling a shaken Moira in on what they knew.

"Well, the video referenced a demand, but no ransom." Pike was saying. "Which means this might not be about money."

"We're going to get her back, Moira." Lance said, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I promise you. Thea's coming home."

"Now, can you think of anyone who might want to get to you through Thea?" Pike asked.

Moira thought instantly of Malcolm, but dismissed him immediately. No, if Malcolm had taken Thea, he wouldn't have been so public about it. "No one except for the families of the 503 people that died last year." She said shakily.

“Even presented with the possibility of him kidnapping me, she still won’t admit that Malcolm is alive?” Thea stared incredulously.

“Say what you will about Moira, she’s consistent.” Dinah said dryly.

"This isn't about the quake." Oliver growled, pacing the office in frustration.

"Well, how can you be so sure?" Lance asked.

"You just need to find the man in the mask!" Oliver yelled angrily.

"Look, we're working on it. We're running down every lead." Pike assured the upset man.

"What are those leads?" Oliver demanded.

"Oh, God! Oh, God, how could I have let this happen?" Moira cried out, sobbing.

“This wasn’t you. It was a psychopath with an axe to grind.” Thea said softly.

Oliver heard a tapping on the glass; he looked up to see Isabel motioning for him to come into the conference room. "Excuse me for a minute." He told the cops.

"If I hear about one more invasive press inquiry being sent to Mr. Queen or to any member of the Queen family, I will hold you personally responsible." Isabel was saying.

"You're very scary." Oliver remarked as she hung up the phone. "Thank you."

"My job is to take things off your plate, now more than ever." She said. "To that end, you remember how at today's meeting, the board nominated new officers?" she reminded him. "Voting has to take place within 24 hours. It cannot be suspended. It's an SEC thing." She said in a rush.

Oliver growled in frustration. "I can't think about this right now."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but you have to." Isabel said. "You're the CEO and you have responsibilities-"

"Which you handle for me all the time." Oliver reminded her.

"A board vote is several orders of magnitude different from covering a missed meeting." Isabel explained. "You could appoint someone CEO pro tempore."

“Oh my god. That’s been her plan all along, hasn’t it?” Laurel asked shocked and Dinah nodded.

“What?” Tommy asked confused.

“Gain Ollie’s trust, make him think of her as a friend, and then, when the perfect opportunity comes along, convince him to sign over the company to her and give the perfect opportunity to oust him from the company.” Laurel explained as realization and horror dawned on the faces of the other time travelers.

“That’s not even the worst of it.” Dinah muttered.

“What could possibly be worse?” Thea asked.

“Just wait.” Dinah said vaguely.

She started to suggest, then frowned when Oliver bent down to the table, grabbed a yellow legal pad and pen, and began to write. "That's not a good idea." She said at once.

"I'm appointing you." Oliver said. On the pad he wrote a simple note- 'I transfer my authority as CEO of Queen Consolidated to Isabel Rochev. –Oliver Queen'

"What?" she asked in shock.

"Congratulations. You are the temporary CEO." He said, tearing the note off the paper and handing it to Isabel.

"I can't." she said at once.

"Please." He pleaded. Reluctantly she took the note. "Thank you."

"Have Thea thank me, when she's back safe at home." Isabel said. 

Nearly everyone rolled their eyes at that.

"Mr. Queen?" Oliver turned to see Felicity standing in the doorway. "I need to talk to you, it's about Mr. Wilson." Oliver nodded and followed her out of the office.

The scene changed to the Lair. "Since the last place Thea was seen was Verdant, I used credit card receipts, compiled a list of customers last night, pinged all their cell phones and hacked into their photos." Felicity explained. She led Oliver, Diggle and Roy past Sara, who was working at the lab table, to her computers. "The NSA is right; it's a lot easier when you don't need a warrant. I eyeballed every photo."

"There must have been thousands." Dig noted.

"It's Thea." she replied simply. "I found this." She pulled up a picture of the town car. "Partial plate three blocks from the club. Car's registered to a Slade Wilson, and it has GPS."

"Where is it right now?" Oliver asked.

"Parked outside a defunct bar on Roosevelt." Felicity said.

“Thank god, that was quick.” Tommy sighed in relief as Roy relaxed his grip on Thea slightly.

“Maybe a little too quick,” Diggle noted and everyone looked over at him, “doesn’t it seem a little convenient that she found it so quickly?”

“Of course it was. Slade was toying with Ollie.” Dinah said grimly.

"Ok, this doesn't seem easy to you? Slade using a car registered in his name?"

"The whole thing smells rotten." Oliver replied shortly. "Either Thea's there or he is. Either way, we have to go." He went over and grabbed his bow.

"Yeah, I figured you'd say that, which is why I worked up these." Sara said, carefully handing him several injection arrow tips. "Tibetan pit viper venom. The League of Assassins' poison of choice. And the most powerful sedative that I've ever worked with."

“That could kill someone!” Laurel interjected.

“Or put someone with Mirakuru in their system to sleep for a while.” Dinah said grimly.

"That'll give us an advantage." Oliver said, and then looked to Roy. "But you are going to give us another."

"Are you sure you want me to go?" Roy asked uncertainly.

"Are you angry?" Oliver asked. Roy nodded. "Use that rage."

“Has he lost his mind?!” Tommy exclaimed as Roy stared at the screen with a pit of dread forming in his stomach.

“He was letting his fear for Thea override his ability to think rationally. As a result, he made a lot of decisions that he probably shouldn’t have.” Dinah sighed.

"Well, you're just always telling me to hold back." Roy observed.

"Not tonight." Oliver said coldly.

Five years ago-

"Landmines?" Anatoly looked over the ancient device that Sara had partially uncovered a few clicks from the fuselage. "What kind of island is this?"

“Hell on earth.” Diggle said grimly.

"Can you remove the explosive?" Sara asked.

"Certainly." He replied. "Without it going off, eh. Less certain." He stared fiddling gently with the device. "Ah, KGB. You taught me many, many things. Russian bomb, Japanese bomb; they both go… boom." He breathed a sigh and he pulled the detonator free of the device. "Congratulations, we are not dead. Now what?" he asked.

"Well, Slade takes Hendrik as we agreed." She said. "And then once they're far enough away…"

"What- you want to rig Hendrik into bomb?" Anatoly asked, both surprised and impressed.

"Well, Peter was right." Sara said. "Handing Hendrik over to Slade is the same thing as killing him. And you're right, too." She sighed. "We don't have a choice. I mean, at least this way, he can take out Slade, and then we can take the ship." Sara reasoned.

“Sara…” Laurel trailed off, wondering what had happened to her sister.

“When you go through a crucible, it changes you.” Dinah explained.

“I just…didn’t expect this.” Laurel sighed.

She noted the look Anatoly was giving her. "What?"

"Just… wondering." Anatoly said. "When did you become so scary?"

“No one knows what they’re truly capable of until presented with the right circumstances.” Diggle noted.

Present-

The scene changed to the abandoned bar. Oliver, Sara and Roy headed down to the ruined main area, where Slade was sitting comfortably in a ratty old easy chair. The three vigilantes surrounded Slade, who smirked a he smoked a cigar.

"Where is she?" Oliver demanded.

Slade put down the cigar and calmly stood up, not saying a word. "The man asked you a question." Roy growled, punching the older man as hard as he could on the chin. Slade's head whipped to the side, but otherwise he didn't move. He looked back to Oliver and spat.

“How did that not faze him?” Roy asked as he stared at the screen.

“He’d had the Mirakuru in him a lot longer. It was in his cells, making him stronger and stronger. A kid with a few months of Mirakuru had no chance.” Dinah told him.

"Where is she?" Oliver demanded again.

"What are you going to do, kid?" Slade asked, taking a few steps forward. "Kill me? But then who would tell you… where your beloved Thea is?"

The two stared at each other in silence for almost a full minute. "Call Detective Lance." Oliver said finally. "Tell him to come down here."

"Wh-what? Why?" Roy asked, startled and confused.

"To arrest Slade Wilson." Oliver said. In one fluid motion he drew and fired one of the special injection arrows into Slade's chest. The man fell back against the chair, passing out under the venom's effects.

“Did he just let Slade go?” Tommy asked incredulously as the time travelers stared at the screen in shock.

“He didn’t think Slade was gonna give him his answers. At that point, he thought the SCPD had a better chance of getting answers out of Slade then he did.” Dinah explained.

The scene changed to the SCPD a short time later. Slade Wilson was seated in the interrogation room, his hands handcuffed to the table as Pike interrogated him. Watching from outside were Quentin and Sara.

"Any idea what this son of a bitch wants with Thea Queen?" Lance asked his daughter.

"No." Sara lied. "We just need to make sure that Slade gives up where he's holding her."

"Does Oliver know?" he asked suddenly, looking at her. "That you're working with the Arrow on this?"

"Oliver doesn't know anything about the Arrow." Sara said quickly.

“Liar!” Tommy exclaimed and the tension in the room lifted momentarily as everyone snickered.

"Hey, are you ok?" Sara asked, looking at him in concern.

"Yeah. It's just that look in Moira's eyes." He replied sadly. "Terrified she's lost her daughter. I couldn't go through that again, Sara."

Dinah winced as memories of her father’s face as she told him about Sara flashed through her mind.

There was a knock on the door. Lance turned to see another uniform poking her head in. "Officer Lance? The Queen family's here." She said.

A few minutes later Lance and Pike went out into the squad room to talk to the Queen's.

"Mr. Lance, did he tell you where Thea is?" Oliver asked immediately.

"Mrs. Queen, thank you for coming." Pike said.

"This doesn't make any sense. Slade Wilson is a friend." Moira began.

"And he's been in Costa Rica for the past 72 hours." Pike informed her, startling Oliver. "He can provide flight manifests, phone records, even some videos, so he couldn't have taken your daughter."

“He wanted Ollie to do this.” Laurel realized and Dinah nodded.

“He knew how Ollie thought, he knew he would call dad. He wanted to expose Ollie’s connection with dad, limit his resources.” Dinah said grimly.

“Well, his plan worked.” Diggle muttered.

"If he didn't, then why did you arrest him?" she asked.

"We didn't. He was apprehended by the Vigilante." Pike said turning to glare at Lance. "Who then contacted Officer Lance."

"Lieutenant, I can explain—" Lance started, but Pike cut him off.

"No, I think I got a pretty clear picture. God, you're a special kind of stupid." He spat as Oliver realized that Slade had just played him- and cost him his contact in the police. He took the opportunity to slip away towards the interrogation room. "The whole reason you're wearing that uniform instead of a detective's shield is 'cause you were working with the Vigilante." Pike continued.

"A young girl is missing, and you just—" Lance started to protest, but Pike cut him off again.

"And now you arrest someone on his say-so? You'll be lucky if the next uniform that puts you in isn't prison gray."

“Slade’s plan is working well so far.” Diggle noted worriedly.

“You have no idea.” Dinah said causing shivers to go up their spines.

Oliver walked into the room and closed the door quietly. "They're calling you Deathstroke." He began.

"It's a bit flamboyant." Slade chuckled. "I like it."

"How did you get off the island?" Oliver asked.

"That is your first question?" Slade said in surprise.

"Well, you've made it pretty clear that you're not going to tell me where my sister is, so, yeah. That's my first question." Oliver replied calmly.

"I swam." Slade said after a moment. "But it wasn't without its obstacles. The rip current dragged me under. The rocks on the reef cut up my flesh to the bone. But the Mirakuru- it regenerated everything." He pointed to his eye patch. "Except this."

“Man, that Mirakuru is some nice stuff.” Tommy whistled, I’m pressed.

“Maybe, but the cons far outweigh the pros.” Dinah reminded him.

Oliver sighed, then moved towards the table. He bent down to stare at Slade. "You know, it's just the two of us in here, so why don't we try being honest?" he offered. "Why are you doing this?"

"You know why." Slade replied.

Oliver straightened in surprise. "It was five years ago." He said.

"It was yesterday." Slade shot back "Oh, I tried to let go of the island… but it's still got a hold on me. And if that hood that you wear every night is any indication, it's still got a hold of you, kid."

"She never did anything to you." Oliver growled. "I did. Shado is dead because of a choice that I made. So punish me. Blame me." He pleaded. "But Thea." He took a breath. "You want me to beg? Is that what this all about? Because I'm begging. You win. Just, please… please tell me where she is." He begged.

Slade considered him for a moment. "Hmm, that must have been hard for you to say." He admitted. "Thea… well, Thea's—"

At that moment, the door opened and Lieutenant Pike walked in.

“Damn it!” Tommy snarled.

“You know Slade wasn’t gonna talk, right?” Dinah asked and Tommy blinked in surprised.

“He a master of psychological warfare.” Diggle reminded him.

“Plus, the Mirakuru gave him heightened senses. He heard Pike coming and decided to mess with Ollie.” Dinah explained and Tommy growled.

“Sick bastard.” Roy sneered and Dinah smiled grimly.

“You haven’t seen how sick he is, not yet. But you will.” Dinah promised darkly and chills went up their spines.

He stopped in surprise as he saw Oliver in the room. "Mr. Queen. Who the hell let you in here?" Oliver remained silent, so Pike moved to Slade and undid the cuffs. "Mr. Wilson, you are free to go, with the department's deepest apologies." He said.

Slade stood and rubbed his wrists. "No need, Lieutenant. An innocent girl's life hangs in the balance. You need to follow every lead possible."

"Well, still, you should know that officer Lance is facing some very serious charges." Pike assured him.

"Well, don't pursue them on my behalf." He smirked at Oliver. "I'm not one to hold a grudge." With that, he walked out of the room, leaving a desperate Oliver alone.

“Bastard.” Roy sneered.

Outside the precinct the press huddled around, shouting questions as Slade walked out the door a free man.

"Mr. Wilson, Mr. Wilson, have the police cleared you of all charges? "What did you tell them about Thea Queen's disappearance?" one shouted above the others.

"I was in Costa Rica, but returned to Starling City as soon as I heard the terrible news." Slade said as Oliver led Moira out of the precinct. He glanced across the street and nodded at Diggle, who was in another car. "I'm offering every resource at my disposal, plus a $5 million reward for any information that leads to Thea Queen's captors." He said, and then climbed into his waiting town car. The car pulled out, and a moment later Dig pulled out behind him.

"This is Dig, I've got the follow." Dig said.

“Follow him back to where he’s keeping Thea, good plan.” Tommy said as Thea sighed in relief, happy she’d be rescued soon.

“In theory.” Dinah said vaguely and Thea’s relief promptly vanished. 

In the Lair, Felicity had a lock on the town car on her computer. "Tracker on his car is active. Roy, he's coming up on your position."

From a corner up the street, Roy stared hard at the car as it approached. "Got him."

"He's turning up Warner." Felicity said.

"I see him." Dig confirmed. "Heading north." Two cars ahead Slade went through an intersection. Before he could follow, though, a black SUV drove through the red light, skidding to a stop in front of Dig's car. He pounded the steering wheel in aggravation. "Damn it, I lost him!"

"It's all right. I still have eyes on him." Felicity said. "Sara, cut right onto Downey."

Sara pulled out onto the streets on one of Ollie's spare motorcycles. "Got 'em." She said. The car pulled to a stop at a light, and Sara pulled right alongside of the car- the EMPTY car. "Negative." Sara said in astonishment. "Negative, it's not him!"

“What the hell?!” Thea exclaimed as they all stared, horrified.

“Slade knew how to be a ghost.” Dinah said simply.

"What?!" Felicity blanched as her screen went crazy with dozens of dots, all marked 'Slade' appeared on the screen at once. "Oh, my God. He's cloned the tracker's signal. Roy, you've got to move!"

In the street, Roy took off at a dead run. 'Roy, you got to pick him up on Fuller.' Felicity said. Roy bolted down the middle of the street, running fast enough to keep pace with the cars. As he got to the intersection at Fuller he skidded to a stop, bumping into a car but not feeling a thing. Frantically he looked around, desperate for a sign of Slade's car. 'Roy, do you still have eyes on him?' Felicity asked. 'Roy? Roy!'

Roy looked around helplessly. Slade was gone.

“Damn it!” Roy swore as Thea whimpered and Tommy growled.

The scene changed to a storage depot just outside Starling. Thea sat in a room, flanked by a pair of men armed with submachine guns. She looked up as a door swung open and Slade Wilson walked in.

"Leave us." He told the guards. He pulled up a chair as the guards left and sat down facing the terrified girl. "Sorry I was gone for so long."

"Screw you." She said shakily.

"I saw Oliver and your mother. They're all quite worried about you." Slade told her.

"If you hurt them, I swear I—"

"Please." Slade said, amused. "Go on. Finish that sentence. I'm curious to know what kind of threat a 19-year-old girl can make."

“At that point, not much.” Dinah shrugged as Thea flushed.

"What do you want with me?" she asked.

"Well, that, Thea is a very long story." Slade said, sitting back in the chair.

"Looks like I've got time." Thea noted sourly.

"Not at all." He relished the terror on her face for a moment. "You're free to go." He said finally.

“…Huh?” Tommy asked as they all stared.

“As I said, Slade never laid a hand on Thea. He didn’t need to, with what he was about to do.” Dinah said grimly and they all tensed, waiting for whatever Slade was about to do.

Thea blinked. "What?"

"I had to make a point, and I made it." Slade said simply. "The door is unlocked, so you can leave any time you'd like."

Thea stood and walked past Slade towards the door, but stopped just before she reached it. "But those guys who work for you will shoot me the second I walk out." She guessed, looking back at her kidnapper.

"No, they won't." Slade said. "Their instructions were to keep you here until I returned. And I have. So… you're free to go." Thea opened the door. "But," Slade said, rising to face the girl. "If you do, you may never know about your brother's secret." He stated.

Thea paused. "What?" she asked.

"Your brother has a secret, Thea. Would you like to know what it is?" he offered enticingly.

“Oh my god, he told me Ollie’s secret.” Thea said and Dinah laughed humorlessly.

“Yes, just not the one you’re thinking of,” Dinah said and Thea looked over at her curiously, “Ollie had more than one secret he was keeping from you.”

“He told Thea about Merlyn.” Diggle realized and Dinah nodded.

“Except Slade twisted the truth, made it out like Ollie had been keeping this secret from her for years instead of barely a month.” Dinah explained and Thea groaned, imagining how she would’ve taken that.

The scene changed to the Lair, where a shaken Team Arrow were regrouping.

"So," Felicity started shakily. "What now?"

"Wait for Oliver." Dig said automatically. "Figure out what our next move will be."

"Wait for him to tell us, you mean." Roy said bitterly. "We can't do anything without King Queen's permission."

"You're out of line, Roy." Dig shot back.

"All right, let's all just calm down here." Sara said, trying to be the voice of reason. "Slade outplayed us. It happens."

"No, it only happened because the police let Slade go- after we turned him in, because Oliver told us to." Roy pointed out.

"What were we supposed to do?" Dig asked, aggravated.

"You're Special Forces." Roy started. "She's an international assassin. You would think between the three of us, we could have gotten answers out of Slade ourselves instead of turning him into the police."

“Slade was trained by ASIS to withstand torture before the Mirakuru. No matter what we did, Slade was never gonna crack.” Dinah told Roy, who had been thinking his onscreen-self had a point and nodded at her words. 

He shook his head angrily. "Here's what's really sick- Is that we didn't even question him because he said it was the right thing to do. Just like he said that I needed to break up with Thea. One week after telling me that it wasn't safe for me to leave her alone."

"Wait!" Felicity interrupted. "You think it's Oliver's fault that Slade took Thea?"

"I think it was his fault that I wasn't there to stop Slade." Roy replied harshly.

“He’s got a point. I do.” Roy gestured to the screen.

“You could not have stopped Slade from taking her. In fact, Slade probably would have taken you as well as Thea.” Dinah told him.

“…Good point.” Roy conceded.

"And I think you're just blaming Oliver because you lost Slade." Sara said testily.

"Well, of course you'd take his side, you're screwing him." Roy spat. Sara stood up straighter, glaring at Roy as the other two backed off.

“Too far man!” Tommy exclaimed as Laurel glared at Roy as Thea slapped him, glaring.

“It’s not completely his fault,” Dinah said and they all looked at her, “Ollie told Arsenal not to fight the anger and now he can’t fight it. He was doing pretty well with Thea and Ollie’s help, but he didn’t have Thea anymore and Ollie told him to let his anger give him power. Plus, with how worried he was about Thea, it was crappy timing for Ollie to give him that bad advice.” 

“Great.” Roy groaned.

The scene changed to Queen Manor. Oliver was talking to the police as Moira stood in the lounge, staring at an old picture of Thea. "Can you guys give us a minute, please?" Oliver asked the cops quietly. They moved out into the foyer, and Oliver made his way over to his mother.

"Do you remember how she loved to color?" she asked absently. "Your father would buy her boxes of crayons by the truckload. She could never get enough. She'd draw on the walls. And I could never get angry, because it was just so adorable." She remembered tearfully.

"You should try to get some sleep." Oliver said awkwardly after a moment. He turned to walk out of the room, to give her some space.

"Is my baby still alive?" she whispered to herself.

Oliver turned back to Moira. "What?" he asked.

"Is my baby still alive?" she repeated, a bit louder.

Oliver paused for a moment. "Yes." He said finally.

"I woke up every day for five years the mother who lost her son." Moira said. "I- I can't I can't endure it again." She turned to look at him. "And now you hate me, and you have every justification."

"Now is not the time." Oliver started.

"Yes, it is." She said. "It is exactly the time. I've told you that these lies were to keep our family safe; to keep us all together, but that was the biggest lie of all. And I told it to you, to Thea, to myself. Because I was too weak to face any kind of truth." She admitted.

"What's happening now isn't your fault." Oliver told her truthfully.

“Yeah, it’s the fault of a psychopath who irrationally blames him for the death of a woman he had no claim on.” Tommy said darkly.

Moira put the picture back on the table. "From the moment your children are born, you worry what the world might do to them. But you never stop to think what you might do to them." She said. "That we could be our own worst enemy." Oliver moved to her side and took her hand, a reconciliation.

Five years ago-

Two of Slade's men dragged Oliver into the fuselage. They were followed by Slade, who pushed in Anthony Ivo ahead of himself.

"Ollie!" Sara exclaimed upon seeing the wretched state of her friend. "What did you do to him?" she demanded of Slade.

"Not enough." He said, pushing Ivo to the far wall. The two men pushed Oliver towards Sara, and she caught him just before he collapsed.

"And what did you do to him?" Slade demanded, looking at the unconscious Hendrik.

"We just knocked him out." Sara said. "It's better that way. He wasn't exactly a fan of the arrangement." She noted desperately.

"I would imagine." Slade said.

"Hendrik's all yours." Sara told him, turning back to Oliver.

"I know." Slade motioned for his two men and they hauled Hendrik to his feet. As he came up, Anatoly subtly pulled the arming pin out of his impromptu bomb. The two men started dragging him out of the plane, but as they passed Slade, he turned to look at the three men curiously. "Wait." He ordered. The survivors looked at each other in worry. "It's an incredible thing, this Mirakuru. Not only does it give you strength, it also heightens all of your senses." Slade explained. "TNT has a particular smell." He lifted up the back of Hendrik's shirt and ripped off the bomb belt. "How long before it goes off? 90 seconds? 60 seconds?" he asked, waving the belt in their faces. "You're thinking that the blast would kill me, but I disagree. Not that I could say the same for you lot." He sneered at Sara. "I am tempted to see this blow you to pieces." He ripped the primer cords out of the bomb, then drew his pistol and pointed it right at Sara's head. "But then again, maybe I'll just shoot you the same way that he shot Shado."

“Shit. Well there goes that plan.” Roy mumbled as everyone tensed, waiting to what would happen next.”

Oliver rose unsteadily to his feet, but moved between the gun and Sara once again. "No." he said in a firm voice.

Slade glared at his friend, even as he heard another voice speaking to him. "Slade…." Shado said, getting his attention.

“What the hell?!” Tommy exclaimed as the time travelers all stared at the screen in shock.

“Another side effect of Mirakuru: Hallucinations.” Dinah said grimly.

Present-

Having had enough of waiting, Roy made to leave.

"Hey, where are you going?" Sara demanded.

"Well, sitting around here isn't helping Thea, now is it?" Roy said.

Diggle moved to Sara's side, standing in front of the super-powered young man. His right hand slipped behind his back to grasp the butt of his handgun. "Neither is you running off half-cocked, Roy." Dig pointed out.

Roy scoffed. "I know that you think that this is the Mirakuru, but it's not." He said. "I'm right, and you know that I am. So you better get the hell out of my way."

“It’s the Mirakuru.” Thea told her boyfriend, who rolled his eyes.

“I know.” Roy said tiredly.

"Roy, just calm down." Felicity said tiredly. "It's what Thea would want us to do."

"She's right, Roy." Dig said, putting a hand on his back. "Come on, let's throttle back."

Roy allowed himself to be moved, and then suddenly his left arm interlocked with Dig's right, trapping it. With stunning ease he forced Diggle face-down onto a nearby table.

"Roy!" Felicity exclaimed, horrified as Diggle groaned in pain.

“Holy shit man!” Tommy exclaimed as Roy started and Diggle stared.

“That is why the Mirakuru is so dangerous. Not because of the strength or the hallucinations, but because those who are injected become slaves to their emotions.” Dinah explained as Roy groaned.

An arrow tipped with an injector pod slammed into the light right next to his head. He looked over to see Sara standing there with Oliver's bow, another arrow loaded with venom pointed at him. "Next one goes into your chest." She warned. "Let him go."

"You would honestly kill me because I dare to criticize the almighty Oliver Queen?" Roy asked incredulously.

"No, I'd kill you because you're hurting my friend." She replied. "Let him go." Roy glared at Sara, Dig gasped in pain, Felicity stood in the background, helpless…

"Let him go!" Oliver screamed angrily as he came into the lair. Roy let go of Diggle, who sighed in relief. "What the hell's going on down here?" he demanded.

"I'm done." Roy said heatedly. "That's what's going on. Thea, she's out there, hurt or worse, because of one person. And that is not Slade Wilson."

"Roy—"

"I believed in you." He said angrily. "There's nothing left for me here." Roy brushed past Oliver and bounded up the stairs ready to go out and look for the woman he loved.

“And irrationality.” Dinah added as Roy put his head in his hands, Thea drawing him close and whispering words of comfort in his ear.

The three remaining team members stood silently for a moment, before an alert caught Felicity's attention. "Oh, my God." She said, gaping at what she saw. "Oliver…"

"Now what?" Dig wondered.

“Yeah, now what?” Diggle groaned.

The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Isabel Rochev sat in the boardroom, talking to the new board. "Publicity has drafted a rather compelling statement, and I will be doing the talk show rounds to control the spin." She was saying when a furious Oliver barged into the room, followed closely by a security guard.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Rochev, but he was very… insistent." The guard said.

Isabel looked at the board members. "Can you give us the room, please?"

Oliver waited until they had left before he started speaking. "Isabel, what have you done?" he demanded.

"Me? Very little." She said as he started moving around the table towards her. "You're the one who made this possible when you made me CEO. I know it was only temporary, but it gave me the authority I needed to call an emergency board meeting. As of 30 minutes ago, your company belongs to me." She informed him happily. "The directors unanimously made my appointment permanent. I'd say they lost faith in your leadership, but that would imply there was any." She smirked. "Maybe you should have focused a little less on your…evening activities." She added significantly.

“Oh my god…Slade, she’s working for him!” Laurel realized and Dinah nodded.

“Since she showed up at the beginning of the year.” Dinah explained.

“God damn it, how could we not see this?!” Diggle snarled as the time travelers reeled at the revelation. 

“She’s a very convincing actress.” Dinah said dryly.

Oliver stepped back slightly, rocked by the realization. "Slade… you're working for him." He said, stalking closer to her.

"With." She clarified as she was moved back towards the wall. "He knew planting me in your family's business would draw you back to Starling City. Truth be told, I was skeptical, but—" She as cut off when his hand shot around her throat and forced her back to the wall hard.

"Why are you doing this?!" Oliver demanded.

"I think it's sad you don't know. The sins of the father are the sins of the son." She whispered.

“Crazy, vindictive bitch.” Thea sneered.

He looked at her, startled, and that's when she struck. Isabel leapt up and wrapped her legs around his arm, twisting them and falling back to the floor. They landed and she rolled free of his grip. They both came up slowly, and Oliver took another look at her as he realized she knew how to fight. Isabel launched a flurry of kicks at him which he blocked, grabbing her leg on the last click and spinning her forcing her face down onto the boardroom table. He held her pinned down with a hand on her neck.

"You are going to tell me where my sister is, or I am going to kill you." He whispered to her. "Where is she?!" he screamed.

"He's holding her at a storage depot just outside the city limits." She told him quickly. "Tosca Cartage."

"How do I know you're not lying?!" he demanded.

Isabel actually laughed. "It's cute how you think this isn't all playing out exactly how he wants it to." Oliver let her go and rushed towards the exit. "And he wants you to come alone." She added, stopping him in his tracks. "If he even smells your partners, he will gut sweet little Thea like a trout." She warned. He took a half step towards her, ready to kill her then and there, but Thea had to come first. He turned and ran out of the room.

“Damn it, what more could he possibly do?!” Tommy asked angrily.

“A lot.” Dinah said grimly as Moira’s headstone flashed through her mind.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Oliver." Isabel called after him, taunting him.

“Bitch.” Roy sneered as he lifted his head back up.

The scene changed to the Lair, where Oliver was frantically gearing up.

"At least let us surround the perimeter." Diggle offered.

"No, Isabel was very clear." Oliver stated. "I come alone or Thea dies."

"Ollie, this is another one of Slade's games, and unless—" Sara started.

Oliver angrily cut her off. "No! What I can't do, Sara, is nothing!" he shouted. "What would you do if it were Laurel, or your father, or your mother? I will not get dragged into the same debate over and over again!"

"Go."

The voice was Felicity's, and it was calm and measured. She walked up to him. "Go get Thea. Stop Slade. Do whatever it takes. End this once and for all." She told him. He nodded gratefully at her, then turned and hurried out.

“So, let me get this straight,” Roy began as he stared in disbelief, “she basically told him to walk into a trap? I mean, I realize that Thea’s life was at stake and all, but come on! This is the guy who has outmaneuvered them all night! If Oliver had died that night, it would’ve been on her.” 

“Well said Roy.” Dinah said grimly.

As Oliver sped towards the storage facility, Slade armored up and loaded his weapons, saving his armored helmet for last.

The Arrow pulled up to Tosca Cartage and jumped off his bike. He strode into the facility, and came face to face with three armed men in masks. Immediately he went to town, beating them down in record time. More men came in, and they fell just as fast. He managed to fire off two arrows, but his anger was so great that The Arrow settled for using his fists or beating them across the heads with his bow. As he finished off the last man, he stalked deeper into the facility, ripping an arrow out of one man's leg as he stalked past.

“Nice.” Roy whistled impressed along with the others.

The scene changed to a dark, deserted road. A prisoner transport bus was heading back to Iron Heights, loaded down with over 50 heavy offenders.

Back at the facility, Oliver encountered more of Slade's men. He used the arrow he had pulled out like a makeshift dagger, stabbing the men when he wasn't beating them down with the bow.

Back on the road, Deathstroke stepped out in front of the bus. "Holy…." One of the guards said, staring out the window at the imposing figure. "Stop! Stop, stop!" the bus slowed to a stop, and the guard grabbed his shotgun and stepped out. He cocked the shotgun as he approached the man.

Back at the facility, Oliver finished up with Slade's men and blew open the last set of doors. He stormed into the room, only to find one chair set up in the center of the room.

It was empty.

“He let her go then.” Tommy said relieved.

“At what cost though?” Thea asked grimly, knowing how she would likely react.

"Halloween was six months ago, ass hat." The guard said. "Now get off the road or get put down. You hear me?"

Deathstroke calmly reached behind him and withdrew his katana, throwing it in the same motion and impaling the guard in the heart. He followed that up by drawing his pistol and shooting the driver and the second guard. He lifted his hand and motioned for the prisoners to exit the bus. He waited until they formed in front of the bus. "I have a proposal for you men." He began.

“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” Tommy groaned.

“Because it’s Slade.” Roy pointed out.

At the facility, Felicity called Oliver on the comms. "Go!" he said angrily.

"Oliver, are you ok?" Felicity asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but Thea's not here." He said.

"You did it." Felicity said.

"Did what?" he asked in confusion.

"Thea's fine." She told him. "She's fine. She walked into the precinct five minutes ago. Safe and sound."

In the SCPD, Thea was led through the squad room, a blanket over her shoulders, as they took her to a place to rest and debrief her.

“This won’t end well.” Thea said, seeing the look on her face.

In the facility, Oliver looked around in confusion. "What…."

'Oliver, did you hear me?' Felicity asked.

A short time later Oliver burst into the precinct to find Sara and Diggle already waiting for him.

"Thea?" he asked hurriedly.

"She's fine, no injuries. He didn't touch her." Dig told him.

"He wasn't there." Oliver growled. "He had a lot of men, hired guns. He wasn't there!"

"Because he was busy elsewhere." Sara noted sourly.

"Iron Heights reopened a wing damaged in the quake." Diggle explained. "There was a prisoner transfer. Slade hijacked it. Soldiers for his army." He guessed.

"Abducting Thea was all a diversion." Sara told him.

“Damn it!” Thea swore.

“Slade is a master strategist, among his other qualities.” Diggle noted grimly.

"Oliver!" he looked up as Moira rushed over to him. He took her hand and the two ran towards the interrogation room where Thea was waiting.

"Oh, thank God." Oliver said as he and Moira rushed to Thea. They both grabbed on to her, holding her tightly.

"Oh, my baby!" Moira cried, kissing her on the forehead. Thea was strangely unmoved. "Ohh! My baby."

Oliver stepped back, noticing how tense she was. "What?" he asked.

"He told me." Thea said. "Mr. Wilson He told me your secret." She said, glaring at Oliver. He backed away, stunned. "How you've been lying to me for years." She continued as his heart froze. "How could you not tell me Malcolm Merlyn was my father?!" she cried. Moira looked devastated, but Oliver allowed himself a moment to breathe a small sigh of relief. "I believed in you." Thea continued tearfully. She pushed past him towards the door.

"We were trying to keep you safe." Oliver said automatically.

Thea stopped and looked back her at her brother in disgust. "Do you have any idea who you sound like? You sound like her." She spat, storming out of the room as Moira broke down.

“I know, I know,” Thea said before Dinah could open her mouth, “Ollie was trying to protect me, mom was saving her own ass. But she doesn’t know that.”

“Just as long as you do.” Dinah nodded.

Five years ago-

"Slade," Shado said. "Death's too good for them. This island should be their punishment."

"Death is too good for you. This island should be your punishment." He parroted.

"Their prison for the rest of their days." Shado continued.

"Your prison for the rest of your days." He repeated.

“So his hallucinations basically controlled him.” Diggle noted.

“In ways, yeah. It just sent him on his path to becoming Ollie’s greatest enemy.” Dinah said grimly.

He shoved Hendrik at his men. "Get him out of here." He ordered.

"Slade—" Oliver tried.

"Get back!" Slade roared.

"I can help you." Oliver pleaded.

“Slade was passed helping at that point.” Dinah said grimly.

Slade glared at him. "You can live, or you can die. You choose." He turned to leave, then paused and turned back around. "Would you like to send a message to your family?" he asked. "'Cause as soon as this boat is fixed, I'm paying them a visit." They all watched helplessly as Slade strode out of the fuselage for the last time.

“He really did turn into a monster from the moment he found out.” Tommy said disgusted.

Present-

The scene changed to the SCPD. Thea exited the building and wrapped her scarf around her neck to ward off the cold. She walked down the street, not noticing Roy as he watched her from his stolen Mustang. Knowing that she was alive, and knowing that he was the LAST person she ever wanted to see, Roy started the car and took off, leaving Starling City as fast as he could. 

Roy and Thea avoided looking each other, although Thea took Roy’s hand and he silently squeezed back.

Back in the SCPD, Lance was reduced to pushing papers. "Hell of a night." He noted to Sara, who was leaning against his desk.

"Quentin Lance, master of the understatement." She teased tiredly.

"A word, officer?" Lance looked back to see Pike. "Hold on, sweetheart." He told Sara, and then walked over to his Lieutenant. "Yeah?"

"I've spoken to DA Spencer about your… situation." Pike said "She doesn't want to press charges- if you cooperate." Pike offered. "Tell us where the vigilante is." Pike demanded.

"Well, I'd love to, but I don't know." Lance said truthfully.

"Well, that's unfortunate." Pike noted.

"Yeah, it looks like."

Pike reached to his belt and pulled out his handcuffs. "Quentin Larry Lance, you're under arrest for conspiracy and aiding in multiple felonies.' Pike began.

“Are you kidding me?!” Laurel exclaimed angrily.

“He admitted to adding and abetting a vigilante. Regardless of what happened, the law is the law in the eyes of the police.” Dinah said and Laurel crossed her arms, grumbling angrily.

Quentin stared at him in disbelief, even as Pike slapped the cuffs on him. "What? Are you out of your mind?!" he demanded. "What are you doing? Wilson-Wilson did it! I collared the right guy!" he pointed out, sighing in aggravation.

Sara looked up and, seeing what was going on, moved over to her father. "What are you—"

"You have the right to remain silent." Pike continued.

"What are you doing?" Sara demanded as Pike led Quentin out of the squad room as the other cops looked on.

"You have the right to an attorney…."

"Dad!" Sara called out helplessly as her father was led away.

Laurel sneered, seething as Tommy and Diggle discreetly inched away from her.

The scene changed to Queen Consolidated where Slade was sitting behind Oliver's desk, watching the news with Sebastian Blood and Isabel Rochev. 'Riding what pundits are calling a sympathy bump, Moira Queen pulled far ahead of Sebastian Blood in the latest polls conducted in the last 24 hours by channel—'

"The whole thing just blew up in my face!" Blood complained. "How the hell do I get elected now?!" he demanded.

"I think you intended a different tone." Slade warned.

"You said I'd be mayor!" Blood replied heatedly. Slade rose to his feet and moved around the desk, but Blood continued. "And you just delivered this election for Moira Queen, and for what? What is this obsession you have with the Queen family?" he wondered.

"You haven't told him?" Isabel asked, chuckling.

"Shh." Slade hissed playfully.

“Have you realized Aldermen that you’re in over your head?” Tommy sneered.

“Not yet he hasn’t.” Dinah said grimly, glaring at the screen.

"You promised me." Blood stated.

"I promised you this city." Slade roared, jamming his finger into Blood's face. "I promised you an army with which to take it." He looked to Isabel. "What is our status?"

"Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences division is now fully dedicated to replicating a serum based on your blood sample." She reported.

"You see," Slade told Blood, putting on his coat. "Everything is proceeding as planned."

"Where are you going now?" Blood asked.

Slade looked back at the would-be Mayor. "To service my obsession. Oliver Queen needs one more distraction." He decided, walking past the apparition of Shado and out of the office.

“What more could he possibly do today?!” Thea exclaimed angrily.

“Just wait a minute and you’ll see. Although this one kind of blew up in his face.” Dinah grinned.

The scene changed to the Lair. An exhausted Oliver walked in to find Felicity and Diggle waiting for him.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked tiredly.

"We thought this is where you would go. You're predictable." Felicity told him. "That, and you've been sleeping on the cot at night."

"What are you doing here?" Oliver repeated in confusion.

"Where else would we be?" Diggle said simply.

Oliver wearily sat on the edge of a work table. "Roy was right." He admitted. "At every turn, I had made the wrong decision. With him, with…the company, and," he gulped. "and with Thea. I was so focused on what Slade might do to me that it never even occurred to me what I could do to myself." He said. "I am my own worst enemy."

“Slade took the person he loved most, knowing it would cause Oliver to self-destruct. He knows Oliver too well.” Diggle noted.

“One of the things that made him such a dangerous enemy.” Dinah sighed.

"That's Slade talking, Oliver. Don't let him in your head." Diggle advised.

"I can't keep him out of my head, Diggle!" he exclaimed. "I can't…I can't stop him from doing anything."

"Yes, you can." Felicity said confidently.

"What makes you so sure?" he asked.

"Because you're not alone, man." Dig stated. He let that sink in for a minute. "Now what, boss?" he asked.

Oliver considered for a minute. "Now we fight back." He stated.

“Something tells me the tables are about to turn.” Diggle said grinning.

“You have no idea.” Dinah grinned.

The scene changed to Laurel's apartment, where she was standing in front of her TV, drinking a cup of tea while she watched the news.

'Police have issued a warrant for Slade Wilson after Thea Queen named him as the mastermind of her kidnapping yesterday.' The anchor was saying. 'This in the wake of Wilson's arrest and subsequent release by the SCPD hours before Ms. Queen was released. In a statement to the press, SCPD Lieutenant Franklin Pike reiterated his support for his department despite what appears to be a serious blunder. He went on to say, the SCPD is committed—'

There was a knock on the door, and Laurel headed to answer it. 'To making sure any arrest they make is a legal one, but without sufficient—' she opened the door-

To see Slade Wilson standing there.

“Holy shit!” Tommy exclaimed as Laurel paled and Thea started.

“Just relax. He wasn’t there to hurt me.” Dinah promised.

She made to slam the door, but he contemptuously pushed it back open. He calmly walked into the apartment as she backed away from the madman.

"Don't worry. I am not here to harm you." He assured her.

"Go to hell!" she spat.

"All in good time, I'm sure." He stated. "But before then, I have come to Starling City to see Oliver Queen suffer."

"Oliver…what?" she looked at him in confusion. "Why?"

"Because he's not the man you think he is." Slade said.

"And how would you know that?"

"Because I know Oliver Queen is… The Arrow." Laurel gasped in shock, as so many things started to make sense in her mind. His work done, Slade turned and walked out of the apartment.

That’s how we found out.” Laurel realized and Dinah nodded.

“He thought by telling me, it would turn me against Ollie. Clearly, he didn’t know me that well.” Dinah said as she started the next recording.


	56. The man under the hood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time travelers learn more about Oliver's time away as the race to stop Slade continues.

_The memory set opened in the back of a van as Felicity fiddled with her ski mask. "I don't think my eye holes line up properly." She complained, pulling off the mask to try putting it on again. As Diggle drove the van, Sara sat next to her while Oliver sat on the bench across from her. All were wearing black clothes with black leather jackets, backpacks, and ski masks. Tonight wasn't a job for vigilantes. Tonight they needed to be someone else. They needed to be something else. "Is anyone else having this problem?"_

_"Don't be nervous." Sara told her._

_"I'm a lot nervous." Felicity said nervously. "This is a big move, even for us. And we've cornered the market on big moves."_

_"Slade didn't give us any choice." Oliver said quietly._

_"Yeah, as far as plans go, this is not a good one." Felicity said sourly._

_"Felicity. This was your plan." Oliver pointed out._

_"I didn't think you'd actually say yes." She admitted. Oliver gave her a look that said 'Are you serious?'_

“Then why did she suggest it?” Thea wondered, honestly curious.

 

“Sometimes, we’d suggest thing that, at the time, sounded crazy. But, we’d give it a little thought and well…” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"We're here." Diggle announced as they pulled up to the Robert Queen Applied Sciences building. Leaving the van parked at the gate, the foursome ran to the gate and Diggle started cutting a hole in the wire mesh. Once inside, Oliver and Sara quietly made their way to the side door. As Oliver took out one guard with a sleeper, Sara moved behind the other and kicked his leg out from under his leg, sending him tumbling down the stairs hard._

_"Hey! That man used to work for me." Oliver told her crossly._

_"And how he works for our enemy." Sara pointed out._

“She’s got a point.” Tommy shrugged.

 

“But do we need to hurt innocent people, even in war?” Laurel wondered.

 

“Also a good point.” Tommy conceded.

 

_"Security cameras are down." Felicity announced, pulling off her mask. She bounded up the stairs, pulling out a familiar white cylindrical device. "You all remember the skeleton key? Courtesy of William Tockman, aka the Clock King. It can open any lock." She placed the key over the electronic lock and activated it. Seconds later, the door opened. "Including this one."_

“So it can be used for good as well as evil. Well, I guess it’s not all bad.” Tommy mused.

 

“Still, you should probably try and destroy it when you get home. The cons for it outweigh the pros.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_The four moved inside, and Felicity looked around wistfully. "This is where we met Barry."_

_Diggle started pulling charges out of his backpack. "These are plug n' play." He said, handing several of the devices to the other three. "Fasten them to what we talked about. Let the C4 do the rest."_

“We’re blowing the place up.” Diggle realized in shock as the time travelers all stared in stunned disbelief.

 

“It was either blow it up or let Slade use it to mass produce the Mirakuru. Which would you prefer?” Dinah asked dryly.

 

_"Been a while since I've blown anything up." Sara noted wryly._

_"Quick and clean." Oliver said. The four moved off into the building, stopping in their designated areas and fastening the bombs to various pieces of equipment._

_"I'm a bomber." Felicity muttered to herself as she set her charges. "I can't believe I'm a bomber. I wonder if I can list that on my résumé under special skills."_

“’I’m a semi-reformed Cyber Terrorist turned vigilante who sometimes blows places up.’ Yeah, that’ll go over well.” Roy said dryly and the others snickered.

 

_"Freeze!" Felicity froze as the third security guard came upon her with his gun drawn._

“She had to talk.” Laurel groaned.

 

“She can’t stop talking when she’s nervous, usually. One of the things that makes her a liability in the field.” Dinah sighed.

 

_. She stared at him wide eyed-_

_Then Oliver came out of nowhere, pushing the gun aside and knocking the guard out with one punch. He deftly picked the man up in a fireman's carry before he fell and turned to Felicity. "We have to go." He said._

“Well thank god for Ollie.” Thea sighed in relief.

 

“You said it.” Roy muttered.

 

_Minutes later the van drove off, past the three innocent security guards who had been moved to a safe distance._

_"Thermal shows everybody's out." Felicity reported, staring at a thermal image of the building courtesy of an A.R.G.U.S. satellite._

_Reluctantly, Oliver pulled the detonator out of his pocket and switched it on. He hesitated, knowing what he had to do, but hating it all of the same._

_"It's just a building, Oliver." Diggle reminded him calmly. Oliver took a breath and hit the button, and in an instant the Robert Queen Applied Sciences building was destroyed._

Thea sighed, feeling the same sense of sadness that her brother was no doubt feeling. To others it may simply be a building, but to her family it was more. It was their company, her father’s legacy. It brought about in her a great feeling of sadness to see it destroyed because of two people who had an axe to grind over people they had no right to feel angry over.  

 

_The scene changed to the Lair the next morning, as the team watched Isabel Rochev give a press conference from Queen Consolidated. 'Cowards.' Isabel said. 'Who else would needlessly destroy cutting edge, scientific and medical technology whose sole purpose is to make Starling City a healthier and safer place? As CEO of Queen Consolidated, I have a message to the terrorist who committed this unspeakable act.' She looked into the camera, and was seemingly speaking directly to Oliver. 'You will be caught, and punished.'_

_Felicity turned off the broadcast and sat back in disgust. "For the record, I hated her before we found out she was a super villain."_

“For once we agree.” Tommy muttered.

 

_"Ok. Slade's goal is to create an army of human weapons using the Mirakuru." Oliver said. "To do that, he needs an industrial centrifuge."_

_"Which having Isabel Rochev steal Queen Consolidated from your family gave him full access to." Sara pointed out._

_"But since Applied Sciences went kaboom, he can't use our technology- well, formerly ours- for his warped science experiments." Felicity said._

_"Slade has had us on our heels for weeks. It's about time we took the fight to him." Dig said, energized._

_"All this will do is set him back." Oliver pointed out. "We have no way of knowing where the next attack is coming from."_

“Damn it, you mean we only slowed him down?” Diggle demanded.

 

“Slade was too smart; he’s spent years planning this. This was only a temporary setback for him.” Dinah said grimly and, as one, the time travelers groaned in dismay.

 

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment. She had gathered all of the evidence she had on the Arrow, and had pinned it to her office wall, trying to piece everything together to confirm what Slade had told her- that Oliver Queen was, in fact, the vigilante._

“So it didn’t sink in right away then?” Laurel asked and Dinah shook her head.

 

“I was in shock and they had already cleared Ollie of being the vigilante. Plus, this was the guy who had kidnapped Thea.” Dinah pointed out.

 

_The scene changed to Iron Heights later that day as Laurel visited her father in prison._

_"Look, you need to drop this, ok?" Quentin said, taking her hand. "I'm fine. Really."_

_"How is any of this fine?" Laurel asked._

_"Look, you need to concentrate on you." He said. Now “listen, are you going to your meetings?"_

Dad.” Laurel sighed, shaking her head in fondness.

 

_"Yes. It's where I talk about how my father's facing prison." Laurel replied sarcastically._

_"Laurel," he sighed. "This will all blow over, ok? Please." He begged quietly, worried for her more than himself._

_"No. It won't, Dad." She said firmly. "You were caught aiding and abetting the Vigilante. Working with him last year cost you your detective shield. Now, it can cost you 18 months in prison." She told him. "They want his name. Do you know who the Arrow is?" she asked, looking into his eyes._

_She stared right back at her. "I don't." he said, staring right back. She didn't detect any lie in his words. "I swear."_

“What would you have done if he’s said it was Oliver?” Diggle asked curiously.

 

“I honestly don’t know,” Dinah admitted, “I’d like to say that I would’ve kept quiet. But I just don’t know. You guys may not like it, but that’s the truth.”

 

_"Ok, well, what about the woman in black?" she pressed on. Quentin looked up to see Sara walk into the room. "The one the Arrow works with? Do you know who she is?"_

_"No." he said quickly._

_"Well, you must have some idea." Laurel said, agitated._

“I’d say more than an idea.” Tommy quipped and Laurel rolled her eyes.

 

_"Honey, I can't tell you what I don't know." Quentin protested._

“Liar!” Tommy said accusingly and Laurel shook her head, amused despite herself at his antics.

 

_"Time's up." The guard announced. Quentin shrugged his shoulders and stood up. "You girls, you take care of each other." He told his daughters a she was led out of the room and back to his cell._

_"Do you really think he doesn't know who the Arrow is?" Laurel asked Sara._

_"It's not like dad to lie." She replied._

_"Sometimes it's people closest to us who lie to us best." Laurel noted to Sara's discomfort._

“Aint that the truth.” Tommy sighed.

 

“We don’t catch the lies from the people we love because we don’t look for them. It’s what makes the betrayal cut so deep.” Dinah explained and Diggle nodded absently as everyone else got a thoughtful look on their face.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Ned Foster, the Queen family attorney was sitting down with Olive rand Moira in the lounge preparing to discuss their new financial situation. But first…_

_"Where is Thea?" he asked. "She should be here for this, too."_

_"I doubt she's coming." Oliver said uncomfortably._

“Yeah, probably not.” Thea sighed and Roy wrapped an arm around her.

 

_"Well, I can't lie to either of you- it's bad." Ned said, pulling papers out of his briefcase. "If Isabel Rochev is one thing, it's thorough. She's been laying the foundation for this takeover for months."_

_"But we still own a majority of stock in the company, correct?" Oliver asked._

_"Yes, but Isabel has diluted that stock to the point where it's worthless." Ned replied. "On paper, you're virtually broke."_

_Oliver sighed. "And what's the good news?"_

_"We can protect your assets." He handed the papers over to Oliver. "We need to move everything into a new trust that Isabel can't touch. All I need is the beneficiaries from the current trust to approve the transfer. The two of you and Thea."_

“I have a feeling I won’t be up for helping out.” Thea said wearily.

 

“This shouldn’t be that difficult.” Laurel narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

 

“What do you mean?” Diggle asked confused.

 

“Ned should easily be able to get this takeover undone by pointing out that Ollie was under an incredible amount of stress due to the abduction of Thea when he named Isabel his proxy.” Laurel said confused.

 

“I suspect that Ned was in Isabel’s pocket but I can do nothing to prove it now, since he was killed not long after this. But you might want to look into Ned when you get back home.” Dinah warned her and Laurel nodded.

 

_Oliver looked up at Ned. "Thea needs to sign off." He said in dread. He knew how she could be when she was upset._

_"Yes. And quickly." Ned replied quickly._

_Oliver and Moira both rose, signaling the end of the meeting, "Thank you, Ned." Moira told the lawyer, who smiled grimly then made his exit. "Well, now I have to become mayor." Moira said to Oliver after they were alone. "It seems I'll need the income."_

_"Losing the company wasn't your fault. It was mine." Oliver pointed out. "I let Isabel Rochev get the better of me."_

_"No." Moira walked over to her son and placed a hand on his arm. "You always see the good in people, even if they don't deserve it. I know that better than most." She said warmly. "Isabel is a vindictive woman. She would have done this with or without your trust."_

“I really don’t doubt that.” Tommy said grimly.

 

_"How do you know?" Oliver asked. "You told me months ago I couldn't trust her."_

_Moira sighed. "Your father had a weakness for beautiful, strong women." She said reluctantly._

_That feeling of dread turned to nausea. "They were together?" he asked, praying…_

_"Yes." Moira said, and Oliver threw up in his mouth a little._

“And it was at that point that Oliver became scarred for life upon realizing he’d had a one-night stand with his father’s mistress.” Tommy said as though he were narrating.

 

“I know I was.” Thea muttered.

 

_He put his hands over his eyes, trying to rub out the image of her riding him in Russia as his mother continued. "She was still in business school at the time. The pretty intern that caught the CEO's eye." She sat and signed the papers. "All right. You take this to Thea, and you convince her, somehow, to help us fight back." She said, handing the papers to Oliver. He nodded his agreement, and she turned and walked out of the room._

“She really should have told Ollie this before.” Thea grumbled.

 

“In her mind, she was protecting the image Ollie had of Robert.” Dinah explained and Tommy scoffed.

 

“I think that ship sailed when he found out about The Undertaking.” Tommy said bitterly.

 

_Five years ago-_

_A battered, bloody Oliver sat in the fuselage as Sara tended to his wounds. "Hey." He said quietly. "Will you help me up?"_

_"Yeah." She said, helping to brace him as he struggled to rise._

_Oliver groaned, his body screaming in pain. "Just to my trunk." He said._

_"Ok." They hobbled over to the trunk, and Oliver opened the lid and rummaged around. After a moment he finally found the leather pouch filled with Yao Fei's healing herbs. He took a pinch and ate them; sighing in relief a he felt them start to work almost instantly._

“Man those things are good.” Roy whistled impressed.

 

_"Ohh, look who's up." The two turned to see Anatoli and Jerry walking back into the fuselage. "Just in time for all the fun." He glared at Ivo, who sat hunched over in the corner._

_"What are you going to do to him?" Sara asked hesitantly._

_"Make him scream. Just like he made us." He held up a rusty pair of garden shears he had found and snipped them threateningly. "Hmm? They say living well is best revenge? Ha. I prefer torture." He looked back to Oliver. "You want first turn?"_

_"No." Oliver said, shaking his head as much as his injuries allowed._

“He didn’t have the conviction to torture, not back then. And especially not for fun.” Dinah mused.

 

“Did he ever…”Thea trailed off, not sure how to ask.

 

“Torture for fun?” Dinah asked and Thea nodded as the others watched, curious, “Not for fun, but he did torture for revenge. Once.”

 

“When?” Thea asked thickly as the others looked at her shocked.

 

“Do you remember that chemical spill in China a few years ago? It wasn’t a chemical spill,” Dinah said and the time travelers became confused, “it was a virus, The Alpha and Omega. It’s a deadly nerve agent. A psychotic US Army General unleashed it to try and cripple China’s economy. Ollie, his Argus handle, his wife and son were there when it happened. Ollie and his handler and wife were inoculated with a cure but the son died.”

 

“My god.” Diggle breathed as the time travelers stared in horror and Dinah nodded.

 

“Afterward, Ollie tortured the general…for hours, for no reason other than he wanted the general to pay,” Dinah said and Thea gasped in horror as Tommy and Laurel paled, “He learned an important lesson that day: justice and vengeance are not the same thing. He was so disgusted with himself that he didn’t come home when he had a chance, he didn’t want that darkness around any of you until he could learn to control it.”

 

“We could’ve helped him through it.” Thea said softly.

 

“I’m not so sure you could’ve ,that anyone could have.” Dinah sighed as she unpaused the recording.

 

_"Please." Ivo said weakly. "I can help you."_

_"No, Doctor." Anatoli said. "I can help you." "What was it you said you needed for research? An eye?" he asked, lunging forward, the shears pointed at his eye._

_"No!" Ivo screamed, terrified._

_"Let me get you a fresh one." Anatoli growled, the shears moving closer._

_"You can still stop Slade Wilson!" Ivo screamed._

“What?!” Tommy and Thea exclaimed in shock.

 

“Just keep watching.” Dinah sighed, wondering if things would be any different if Oliver had cured Slade.

 

_Oliver started at that. "Anatoli. Wait." He ordered, moving closer to the Doctor. "What did you say?"_

_"I can help you stop him." Ivo said._

_"How? That miracle drug of yours has turned him into monster." Anatoli pointed out._

_"I know." Ivo replied. "I can turn him back."_

_"Ivo, what are you saying?!" Oliver demanded._

_"The Mirakuru. There's a cure." Ivo revealed to a stunned Oliver._

“A cure?” Roy repeated, realizing that Arsenal had not displayed any of the Mirakuru side effects now that he thought about it.

 

“A cure.” Dinah nodded.

 

“I’m taking Ollie didn’t use it.” Tommy noted.

 

“You’ll see.” Dinah said simply.

 

_Present-_

_Sara was prepping the club for the night's opening when Oliver walked in, followed closely by Felicity and Diggle. "Hey." She said in greeting._

_"Hey, is Thea here?" Oliver asked._

_"No, I haven't seen her." Sara told him._

_Oliver sighed. "How's your dad?" he asked._

_"He's willing to go to jail for the Arrow." Sara told him._

_"I know you said you weren't worried, but Dig and I went to Roy's apartment." Felicity said, coming up to the pair. "It's empty.”_

_"Seems like he cleared out a few days ago." Diggle said._

Thea cluttered to Roy worriedly and he smiled at her weakly.

 

_"Where the hell did he go?" Oliver wondered anxiously. He let out a tense breath. "Roy will have to wait. All right, we need to deal with Slade, figure out what his next move is." Oliver said, leading the way to the basement door. "I know Slade." Oliver said as the four walked down the long steep stairs to the Lair. "He is not going to stop till…"_

_"Welcome home." The four stopped and stared at Deathstroke, who was standing in the middle of the Lair._

“Holy shit!” Tommy exclaimed.

 

“How the hell did he get in there?!” Diggle demanded.

 

“It wasn’t exactly hard for Slade to figure out where Ollie kept his base of operations. Or to figure out that the pass code was the day the Gambit left.” Dinah explained.

 

_He chuckled as he drew his pistol and opened fire. Felicity screamed as Oliver grabbed her from behind and jumped over the railing with her, dropping the seven feet to the floor. He pushed her deeper under the stairs as Slade alternated between firing at Sara and Diggle, who were running down the stairs as fast as they could and himself on the floor. Sara ran for cover behind the Salmon ladder as Diggle ran the opposite way, drawing his fire. He pulled his piece as he hit the far wall, taking a moment to throw the power switch and send the basement into darkness. Slade growled in annoyance, searching for his targets._

_Sara took the opportunity to attack, running at the salmon ladder and jumping up, grabbing the bar as she went. She leapt at Slade, ready to spear him with the heavy metal rod-_

_But he caught her by the throat with a single hand. She dropped the rod as he choked her._

_"Hello, Sara." Deathstroke growled, and then threw her across the room. She crashed into a work table, toppling it over and crashing to the floor hard._

Laurel put a hand over her mouth, worry for her sister flooding through her.

 

_Diggle took his chance and ran at Slade, firing all the way. "Diggle, stay back!" Oliver yelled in warning. He watched the bullets sparking harmlessly off of his body armor as Deathstroke just stood there and took it._

_"You're wasting your bullets." Slade told the man as the gun clicked on empty. Switching to plan B, Diggle wailed on the mercenary, smashing the gun into the armored helmet with no effect. Even as Oliver bolted towards the two men, Slade casually punched Diggle so hard he flew through the glass display case._

“Bullets versus Slade, Slade wins.” Dinah told Diggle, who nodded absently.

 

_Oliver leapt over a table and grabbed a pair of steel escrima sticks and attacked. Slade drew his sword and expertly blocked Oliver, Pinning the sticks in place and pushing back to cut into his arm. Oliver screamed in pain as Slade swept the sticks aside, picked him up by his arm, and flipped him over. Oliver landed hard on his back, still screaming in pain as Slade knelt down and punched him once hard in the head, stunning him. "Don't forget who taught you how to fight, kid." Slade growled._

_With her three friends out of commission, Felicity ran towards the junction box and flipped the switch. The lights came back on to reveal the three other members of the team coming back to alertness, and Deathstroke-_

_Gone._

“Let me guess, he just showed up to mess with their heads.” Tommy said grimly.

 

“No, he had another reason. You’ll see soon enough.” Dinah said before anyone could ask.

 

_The scene changed to Starling General. Laurel was walking down the halls briskly, looking for Sara. She stopped a passing nurse. "Excuse me, I'm looking for my sister, Sara Lance." She asked. The nurse pointed her in the direction of the doctor, so she thanked the nurse and headed over to him. "Excuse me. I'm Laurel Lance. Is my sister ok?" she asked._

_"Oh, she'll be fine." He assured her. "Just a hairline fracture of her wrist. We set it. She's got some nasty bruises; Looks worse than it is." He said._

_"Thank you." Laurel went to open the door to the room, but then the doctor's next words caused her to pause._

_"Nothing compared to her previous injuries." He noted._

_She looked back at him, surprised. "Previous…injuries?"_

_He glanced at her chart. "Yes, your sister has extensive scar tissue over her entire body. The last person I saw with that much damage was a veteran injured in Iraq." He stated, looking at Laurel. "Has your sister served in the military?" he asked._

“Isn’t that some sort of violation of Doctor-patient confidentiality?” Tommy wondered.

 

“Of every sense of the word.” Laurel said, wondering what this guy was thinking revealing that information.

 

_"No. No, she hasn't." she replied shakily. She opened the door and quietly walked into the room, just in time to see some of those scars on her sister's back as Sara put her shirt back on. "Sara." She said, announcing her presence._

_"Hey." Sara said, turning to face her._

_"What happened to you?" Laurel asked._

_"Oh, I'm fine. Ollie and I just had a little motorcycle mishap." Sara lied._

“The motorcycle excuse is beginning to wear thin. Eventually, someone is gonna look into these alleged accidents.” Diggle noted.

 

“Yeah, we need a new excuse.” Roy agreed.

 

_"It was nothing. I already got my discharge papers."_

_"But your back," Laurel started, "Those scars, where did you get them?"_

_"You ok?" Sara breathed a sigh of relief as Oliver walked into the room._

“Saved by the boyfriend.” Roy quipped and Laurel rolled her eyes.

 

_"I will be." She said. "You?"_

_"Yeah." Oliver replied, turning to Laurel with a smile. "Hi."_

_"Hi." She replied tensely. "So tell me what happened."_

_"Motorcycle accident. It was stupid." Oliver began._

_"We were making a left turn, this car ran a red light." Sara continued the lie with practiced ease._

_"Did you file a police report?" Laurel asked suspiciously._

_"We didn't see the point." Oliver said. "We're both fine. That's- that's what counts, right?"_

“Yeah, because that won’t raise suspicion at all.” Roy drawled.

 

_"Right." Laurel replied softly. "I should really go. I have a deposition in an hour." She said, telling her own lie._

_"Ok." Oliver said._

_"Thanks for checking up on me." Sara added warmly._

_"Always." Laurel said, stepping out of the room. As the door closed, she fell back against the wall, her mind racing. She remembered Slade Wilson's visit from the other night;_

_'I know Oliver Queen is the Arrow.'_

_She remembered the time when Oliver let her see his scars; the same kinds of scars she just saw on her sister's back. She remembered the Canary, and her unusual interest in her safety-_

_And in that instant, she knew two things. Oliver was definitely the Arrow; and Sara was definitely The Canary._

“Well, looks like I finally put it together. Although I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.” Laurel muttered.

 

“Watch and make your own judgements.” Dinah told her.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. Oliver walked into the stockroom to find Thea putting bottles on the shelves. "Hey. We missed you yesterday." He began. She ignored him, continuing to put away bottles. "The meeting with Ned Foster." He continued. Silence. Oliver sighed. "Thea, I know that you're mad at mom and me, but we may have found a way out of this financial mess where we aren't going to lose everything." He held out the papers to her. "Mom and I both signed, we just… we need your signature, and hopefully we can stop Isabel from ruining us."_

_Thea took the papers without looking at him. "After you let her ruin us, you mean?" she said acidly._

_"Yeah." Oliver ground out._

_She glanced at the signature line. "It says Thea Queen here. Who's she?" she asked, glancing at him as she headed out of the stockroom._

“And I’m being a bitch.” Thea sighed.

 

“In your defense, you do have reason to. And a psychopath twisted the truth.”  Tommy reasoned.

 

_Oliver sighed wearily. "That's you, Speedy."_

_Thea scoffed. "No, it's not. Robert Queen wasn't my father. Malcolm Merlyn was." She looked up thoughtfully as she headed down the stairs towards the bar. "Thea Merlyn. Kind of has a nice ring to it."_

_"Merlyn was your biological father, but Dad raised you." Oliver argued._

_"Only because he didn't know I wasn't his." Thea shot back angrily, stalking away._

“You know that’s not true.” Dinah said and Thea sighed as she nodded.

 

“I do…but she doesn’t.” Thea sighed.

 

_Oliver grabbed her arm. "Hey, hey! He," he stopped her and turned her back to him. "He loved you. So do I, and I am still your brother."_

_"No, you're not. You're my half-brother." She pointed out heatedly. "And you know who else was my half-brother? Tommy. Tommy, who I tried to kiss." She was fighting back tears now. "I tried to kiss my half-brother- before my real father killed him! That's how screwed up I am!" She started to walk away, but then stopped. "And you know the sad part? I was actually starting to be in a good place." She said, turning back to Oliver. "I had the club, I had Roy, I had a brother who wasn't lying to me. And for the first time in my crazy life, everything didn't seem so completely and totally messed up. I thought I was going to be ok." She shook her head and took a shaky breath. "I'm so stupid."_

_"You're not stupid." Oliver tried._

_"No, what I am is the daughter of two mass murderers. Not one, but two. So let's face it, Ollie. I was never going to be ok. It's not in my genes." She snarled before turning and stalking out of the club._

“You really did not take this well.” Tommy noted as Thea winced at her behavior.

 

_"Thea—"_

_"Oliver." He looked over to see Diggle standing there. "We need to discuss that security matter now." He said urgently. Oliver looked helplessly at Thea's retreating back, then sighed and followed Diggle down to the basement._

_"What do we have?" he asked when he entered the Lair._

_"What Slade took." Felicity said._

_"Took?" Oliver asked in surprise._

_"He wasn't here to kill us. He was here because we had something that he wanted." Felicity said. "The skeleton key." She revealed._

_"I did a full sweep. It's the only thing that's missing." Sara reported._

“Oh shit.” Tommy said as his blood ran cold.

 

“With that, Slade can break into wherever he wants as discreetly as possible.” Diggle realized in horror.

 

“You see why this device is a bad idea.” Dinah said and the time travelers all nodded.

 

_Oliver let out a long breath. "He needs a new way to mass produce the serum now that we've dusted Applied Sciences."_

_"With the skeleton key, he can get into anywhere and take anything he wants." Diggle stated._

_"We know what he wants. We just need to find it first." He turned to Felicity. "Where is the most cutting edge technology housed in Starling City?" he asked._

_The scene changed to S.T.A.R. Labs' Starling City branch, where Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow were running an inventory as they prepped the facility for closure._

“Cisco and Caitlin look so young and new.” Dinah mused wistfully.

 

 “Who are they?” Laurel asked curiously.

 

“Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow, they were both members of Barry’s team once he woke up from his coma.” Dinah explained.

 

“Were?” Tommy noticed.

 

“Cisco still is, he’s actually here if you would like to meet him.” Dinah said.

 

“And Caitlin?” Diggle asked causing Dinah’s face to darken.

 

“Some things…are best left unsaid.” Dinah said as she saw Killer Frost in her mind’s eye.

 

_"The combined inventory of every scientist who ever worked at S.T.A.R. Labs. All housed right in here." Cisco said in excitement as he scanned crates on the long, high shelves. "I hereby christen this building 'da bomb'."_

“I already like this guy.” Roy grinned.

 

_Caitlin gave him a look from her seat at the computer. "Nobody says that anymore."_

_"I say it. I define my own cool." Cisco argued good-naturedly. "I still can't believe Dr. Wells is shutting this place down."_

_"S.T.A.R. Labs blew a hole in Central City when we turned the particle accelerator on." Caitlin pointed out. "It's not surprising that Starling City cancelled the lease on this facility. We're not exactly the poster children for 'let us store our unregulated prototypes in your neighborhood'."_

_"It was an accident, Caitlin." Cisco pointed out._

_"Yeah, well, try telling that to the families of the people who died." Caitlin said morosely as she rose from the computer._

“I take it a lot of people were killed and hurt in the explosion?” Diggle noted.

 

“Hurt, killed, and presumed dead…including Caitlin’s fiancé.” Dinah sighed.

 

_"Maybe you can figure out how to tell that to yourself." Cisco said gently._

_Caitlin sighed. "Look, Cisco, let's get this inventory done so we can go home." They moved to back to work, but then they heard a door opening at the far end of the building. "I thought we were the only ones here." She said nervously._

_"Maybe it's one of the security guards." Cisco suggested. The two moved down the aisle, and turning the corner they came upon a security guard standing there. "Oh." Cisco said, part in surprise and part in relief. "Hey, man. We should be wrapped up any minute now." The guard stood there, silent and unmoving. "Are you getting a bad vibe off this guy?" he asked Caitlin. Suddenly the guard coughed up blood, then toppled over to the floor to their surprised horror. Standing behind the guard, skeleton key in hand, was Deathstroke._

“Great, another innocent life lost to this bastard.” Diggle growled as they all stared, horrified and worried for the two scientists.

 

_He quickly slid the key into a pouch on his belt and withdrew his pistol as the two scientists took off running. "The longer the chase, the slower the kill." He warned, following them like the Terminator._

_At Verdant the Arrow, with the Canary riding behind him, roared out of the alley on his bike. As they sped down the road, unnoticed to them, a white Ford Fusion started up and pulled out to follow them._

“Why hello Veronica Mars.” Tommy teased and Laurel rolled her eyes.

 

_Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin led Cisco to a gated off restricted area. Quickly unlocking the door, she ran in and started looking for a particular crate. "Help me." She said. "This equipment belonged to Arthur Light. Wells fired him two years ago."_

_"Why?" Cisco asked._

_"Because he was a psycho." She said shortly._

Dinah barely refrains from scoffing. Ah, the irony.

 

_She found the crate she was looking for and quickly opened the lid. "Please tell me you can make this work." She asked hopefully._

_Moments later, Deathstroke appeared. When he entered the restricted area, he found Caitlin standing there all alone. "I take back what I said- I'll make this quick." He said, drawing his sword._

_"Now!" she cried, jumping out of the way. Cisco came from around a crate holding a large weapon, which he fired. It emitted an almost solid wall of light that threw Deathstroke back and sent him to his knees, momentarily blinded._

“Take that you bastard.” Roy smirked viciously as everyone leaned back, taking some satisfaction in the scene.

_"Aaah!" Cisco cried as the weapon sparked in his hands. He dropped it and the two fled._

_Deathstroke looked up, blinking his one good eye to clear it. He blearily saw the two scientists running down the darkened room towards the exit, and moved to follow, when he paused. Looking over, he saw exactly what he had been looking for, and under the mask he smiled. Easily he picked up the heavy machine and carried it to a waiting truck. He quickly packed it up, and then jumped in the cab._

“Damn it! Now he has everything he needs!” Diggle swore as the others paled.

 

_As the truck pulled out, The Arrow and The Canary arrived. He pulled to a stop in front of the building and looked inside as two panicked scientists ran up to the security desk. "We're too late." He noted sourly, pulling out and taking off after the truck. Unnoticed by him, Laurel watched the pair speed off from the driver's seat of the Ford._

_A short time later, Felicity and Diggle arrived at the Lab and walked right in. She made a bee-line for the two scientists, who rose to greet her._

_"Felicity!" Cisco said in happy surprise._

_"Cisco, Caitlin! Are you guys ok?" she asked worriedly. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"_

_"You said "he" twice." Caitlin noted suspiciously. "Do you know who attacked us? That lunatic with the mask and the sword?" she demanded._

_Felicity gulped. "Uh, no. I-no, I don't know." She stuttered out. "I-I said "he" twice, because on the radio, I heard that the person who attacked you had man parts, which would make him a… He." She lied poorly._

“Man she is a terrible liar.” Tommy noted.

 

“Oh tell me about it. How Ollie’s secret was not exposed ten times over due to her terrible lying is beyond me.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Dig stepped up to save her as the two scientists looked at each other suspiciously. "I'm John Diggle, I work security for Queen Consolidated." He started. "Do you have any idea what the masked man may have taken? An industrial centrifuge, by any chance?" he asked._

_"No. It's a secret." Caitlin said quickly._

_"What kind of secret?" Felicity asked._

_"The kind I have to keep." She replied firmly._

_"Well, does Cisco have to keep it, too?" Felicity asked hopefully._

_"Yes. He does." Caitlin said quickly, shutting up her partner._

_Felicity sighed. "Ok." She relented. She hugged Caitlin. "We're just so happy that you guys are ok." She said honestly. "How's Barry doing?" she asked as she stepped back._

_"He's the same." She reported._

_"Barry's condition deteriorated. They moved him to S.T.A.R. Labs. They've been looking after him. That's how I met Cisco and Caitlin." Felicity explained to Diggle._

_"Right." he said._

_"Well, I'll come visit again, as soon as I can." Felicity promised._

_"That would be cool." Cisco said as the two moved off. "Don't worry, Barry gets lots of visitors. Iris is there a lot." He mentioned._

“Iris would be the foster sister?” Roy guessed and Dinah nodded.

 

“That’s the one.” She said.

_Felicity stopped and spun around. "Iris?" she asked, a bit jealously._

_"Oh. Sure. Good." She said weakly. She turned and moved back to Diggle, and the two walked off. "That's just swell." She scoffed. "Barry's in a coma and he's already moved on."_

“I think foster sister he’s known since he was a kid trumps girl he barely knows who has no claim on him.” Laurel stared, stunned at Felicity’s pettiness.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair later that night. "I hacked into Harrison Wells' personal files." Felicity was saying to the assembled group. "He's the director S.T.A.R. Labs, which basically makes me unstoppable."_

“And dangerous.” Diggle muttered uneasily.

 

_"And look what I found." She pulled up the schematics of the machine Slade had stolen. "It's a prototype for one of their new bio-tech projects. The patent is still pending, which is probably why they didn't want to tell us what it was."_

_"So what is it?" Oliver asked._

_"It's a biotransfuser. It can deliver blood from one single patient into multiple patients, at once." She explained._

_"Why would Slade need a blood transfusion?" Diggle asked._

_"He doesn't." Oliver realized. "The prisoners that he freed from Iron Heights last week to create his own personal army do."_

_"With a few tweaks, Slade can retro-fit it for the Mirakuru, bypassing what we know to be a less than desirable ratio of success to, you know, death." Felicity stated. "Instead of it metabolizing in the person, it happens in the machine."_

_"That's going to require a whole lot of blood." Sara noted._

_"Even a man with Slade's stamina can't handle that kind of drain." Diggle stated._

“Something isn’t right here.” Diggle said, feeling like he was missing something.

 

“It will all make sense soon John.” Dinah promised.

 

_Good." Oliver said harshly._

_"What do you mean?" Sara asked._

_"We let him use it." Oliver explained. "He'll be weak, vulnerable, and that will be my opportunity to kill him. How do we find this thing?"_

_"A machine like this pulls an exorbitant amount of power from the grid. When it turns on, I'll know when and where." Felicity said softly. "Right now, we just wait."_

_"I'm tired of waiting." Oliver growled._

“He needs to be patient or he’ll end up making more mistakes. Something he really can’t afford.” Diggle noted concerned.

 

_Five years ago-_

_"Don't listen to him, he's lying!" Anatoli said angrily._

_"The cure is real, I promise!" Ivo pleaded._

_"No, he's just trying to save his neck." Anatoli growled. Sara lay a gently hand on his shoulder, silently asking him to move away. Anatoli scoffed in annoyance, but moved away so that Sara could kneel down in front of the doctor._

_"Anthony, look at me." She said as Ivo gasped in pain. "Tell us about the cure."_

_"I want to help you, Sara." He gasped. "But first, you have to promise you'll help me, too."_

_"She can't save your life." Oliver told him coldly._

_"No one can, not anymore." Ivo said, moving the shirt away from his blackened stump where his hand used to be. He pulled away the collar of his shirt, showing a similar black spot that was spreading through his veins._

“What did Slade do to him?” Thea asked stunned.

 

“Slade exposed him to a highly radioactive substance, giving him radiation poisoning. It would’ve been a very painful death.” Dinah explained.

 

“Exactly what he deserved.” Roy muttered and no one could disagree. 

 

_"All I ask is for is a quick death."_

_"You don't deserve a quick death." Oliver whispered harshly._

_"I know." Ivo replied. "And I'm still asking."_

_Sara looked back Oliver hopefully. For all the evil he had done, Ivo had saved her from being a victim for over a year. She owed him at least this._

“Even then, Sara was completely brainwashed.” Laurel said sadly.

 

“What was done to Sara in that year…it’s not something that can just be broken that quickly.” Dinah explained and Laurel sighed.

 

_Oliver nodded. "It's your call." He told her. Sara looked back at Ivo and nodded as well, agreeing._

_"Thank you." He said._

_"Start talking, Ivo!" Oliver demanded._

_"I was never able to replicate the Mirakuru serum from the original Japanese World War II research I discovered." Ivo started. "After conducting experiments on the prisoners that I acquired this past year, I was able to synthesize a solution that counteracts, reverses the physiological effects that exposure to Mirakuru produces." He looked at them significantly. "From more than human back to human."_

_"Where is this cure now?" Oliver asked._

_"You'll keep your word about ending my life?" Ivo begged._

_"Yes. Tell us." Sara replied after a moment._

_Ivo sighed and used his remaining hand to pull a key out of his pocket. "On the freighter. In the safe in my quarters." He revealed, handing the key to Sara._

_"Now I believe… this concludes my end of our deal." He said weakly. Sara stood and walked over to the crate where the pistol was laying. She picked it up, turned back to Ivo, and aimed it at him shakily…_

Laurel tensed; wondering of this was the moment. If she would see the moment her little sister first took a life. But Dinah was quick to put her fears to rest.

 

“You won’t see the first time she takes a life.” Dinah said and Laurel relaxed slightly.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Isabel was working in her new office- Oliver's old office- when Oliver and Diggle entered._

_"Whatever you came here to say, it takes security about 60 seconds to reach this floor, so I would start talking." She advised, not looking up from what she was reading._

_"Where's Slade?" Oliver asked calmly, causing Isabel to look up at him and grin. "I just wanted to give you the chance to do the right thing." He added._

_"I'm under 30, and I'm the CEO of a Fortune 500 company." She said with a smirk. "I'd say I've already done the right thing."_

“Well of course you would say that, you psychopath.” Thea said bitterly.

 

_"And do you even know who Slade Wilson is? Or why he's doing this?" Oliver asked._

_"I don't care. I got what I earned." She said, going back to her reading._

_"What you earned?" Oliver said incredulously. "You think that sleeping with my father entitles you to my family's company?" he asked harshly._

_Isabell's head snapped up. "You have no idea what you're talking about." She snarled._

_Oliver scoffed. "Wow, he fooled around with a lot of girls. I don't see any of them ordering hostile takeovers."_

_"Fooled around?" she said in disbelief._

_"Yeah."_

_"Is that what your mother told you? Of course she would write me off as a meaningless affair." Isabel rose from her chair and walked into the boardroom. "Slade Wilson put me through hell. His training nearly killed me. Would I put myself through all that just because I was a jilted lover?" she demanded._

“Yes. Because that’s what a delusional psychopath would do!” Dinah sneered.

 

_"Honestly, I don't know what you are!" Oliver replied._

_"I was your father's soul mate." She said passionately. Oliver laughed. "He was going to leave your mother, leave the company, leave you." Isabel revealed. "Our bags were packed."_

_"Really?" Oliver said, unbelievingly._

_"Your sister had to go and break her arm- doing something ridiculous, no doubt." Isabel continued, laying out sheets at each seat at the table._

_Oliver started, the memory coming back to him in an instant. "She fell off her horse." He said slowly._

_"We were at the airport when he got the call." Isabel continued. "I begged him not to go. I reminded him that Thea wasn't even his."_

_Oliver looked at her in shock. "Are you saying that my father knew?"_

_"Of course he knew. He was a fool, not an idiot." Isabel stated to his shock. "And like a fool, he loved her anyway.”_

“It’s called loving someone more than you love yourself. Something you clearly know nothing about, you crazy bitch.” Dinah sneered with everyone nodding in agreement.

 

_“He promised me that we would leave the next day. But instead, my internship was terminated and he never spoke to me again." She finished bitterly._

“Because he got a reality check about what he really cared about. Soulmate, please.” Dinah scoffed.

 

“So you don’t think they would’ve lasted?” Tommy asked, more for Thea’s benefit then his own curiosity.

 

“No. I don’t doubt that he would’ve left but it wouldn’t have been the paradise she believes it would’ve been. Something would’ve happened that reminded him of Ollie or Thea, he would’ve grown bored with Isabel and it wouldn’t have been long before he would realize what a mistake it was to walk out on his kids. If I was a betting woman, I’d have given them a month; maybe to if I was being generous. Robert Queen wasn’t perfect but at his core, he did care about his family above all else.” Dinah said and Thea released the breath she didn’t know she was holding.

 

_Oliver scoffed. "Oh, so that's what this is really about. He chose us over you." He said harshly._

_That was the moment security walked into the room. "Please escort Mr. Queen off the premises." Isabel ordered._

_The guards moved to Oliver, but he twisted out of their grasp. "Don't touch me." He snarled._

_"He's no longer welcome in this building. My building." Isabel said vindictively._

“Oh please tell me someone shuts her up!” Thea pleaded.

 

“Eventually.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_Oliver glared at her, but turned and walked out. He walked out of his old office into the hallway, glaring over his shoulder at the security guards as he pulled out his phone. He quickly dialed his sister's number._

_\- Hello?—Thea said._

_"Thea, its Ollie. Listen, I just need five minutes face to face." He said quickly before she could hang up._

_-What do you want?- she asked angrily._

_"There's something you need to hear." Oliver told her._

_Thea sighed. -Five minutes. Come by the club after we close.—she said, then hung up._

_Oliver walked over to the elevator that Diggle was holding. "Just spoke with Felicity." Dig said. "Someone reached out to the Arrow. Wants a meeting."_

_"Who?" Oliver asked as the two stepped inside._

_"Laurel." Dig said to his surprise as the doors closed._

“He probably wasn’t expecting that again.” Tommy mused.

 

_The scene changed to Iron Heights. Lance was in his cell playing solitaire when one of the watch officers walked up to the cell door. "You comfortable in there, Officer Lance? I can see if there's an extra blanket if you're cold." He offered._

_"Nah, I'm good." Quentin said, looking up at the guard and smiling. "But hey, now that I'm on this side of the bars, I think it's just Quentin."_

_"I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding. You'll be out of here soon." He replied._

“Well, at least some people n the force respect my dad.” Laurel grumbled.

 

_At the end of the hall, another guard was leading a new prisoner in. He undid his handcuffs in anticipation of putting him in his cell._

_"Yeah, I appreciate your optimism." Lance said with a chuckle._

_At the end of the hall, the prisoner exploded into action, rushing his guard and tackling him to the ground._

“Oh no.” Tommy said uneasily.

 

“Well this can’t be good.” Roy noted as Laurel leaned forward, worried for her father.

 

_"Hey!" the watch officer shouted, running from Lance's cell towards the prisoner. He rose to meet him, taking him down with a strength borne of fury._

_Lance jumped up and headed to his cell door. "Hey, what are you doing?" he yelled. As the prisoner beat the guards. "Officer! We need help!" Lance shouted, trying to raise the alarm. The prisoner grabbed the keys off of the watch officers belt, grabbed his baton, and moved towards Lance's cell. "We need help! Whoa, whoa, what are you doing, man?" Lance said in alarm, back up as the prisoner unlocked his cell door._

_"Remember me? You should, 'cause I remember you, Officer." He snarled._

_"No, you can't do this." Lance said, grabbing the bars to keep the door closed. The prisoner whacked his knuckles with the baton, causing him to jump back and cry out in pain._

“Dad.” Laurel whimpered and Diggle stood up so Tommy could scoot over and wrap his arm around her as Diggle took Tommy’s seat.

 

_"All right, take it easy." Lance tried as the man stepped into his cell._

_"'Cause you and that hooded freak show are the reason I'm in this place, I thought I should be the one to welcome you." He hit him once with the baton. Lance slugged him back, but he shook it off and hit Lance again, knocking him down. As Lance lay on the floor, dazed, the prisoner went to town, hitting him again and again with the club. Lance curled up into a ball and put his hands over his head to protect it, praying for the guards to come. Moments later they did, and the two new guards pulled the prisoner off of Lance._

_"This isn't over! This is not over!" he yelled in rage as he was forcibly pulled out of the cell, leaving a dazed and bloodied Lance behind._

“Relax, he made it out alright.” Dinah reminded the worried Laurel.

 

Laurel nodded, sighing in relief and Tommy decided to remove his arm before it became creepy and she broke it.

 

_The scene changed to a parking lot downtown. Laurel pulled in and got out of her car as The Arrow walked towards her. He stopped a short distance away._

_"I heard about your father being arrested." He began. "If I could help him, I would."_

_"That's not what this is about." Laurel said. "It's funny, isn't? A year ago, he thought you were a murderer. And me, I was- I was drawn to you." She began. His heart began to race. 'She couldn't know, could she?' "I couldn't explain why, but… but a part of me felt connected to you. You were always there. For me… for my family, and for some reason, I never asked why."_

_"Are you asking now?" he asked._

_"I don't have to." She replied. "Because I already know the answer." His breath hitched as he realized 'She knows.'_

“’Well shit’ is probably what he’s thinking.” Tommy quipped.

 

“Something along those lines, yes.” Dinah said amused as the others snickered.

 

_Suddenly her phone rang, and Laurel turned away to answer it. "Hello?"_

_"Laurel," Sara said from the other end. "It's dad."_

_She turned back to The Arrow. "What is it?" he asked._

_The scene changed to Iron Heights. As Laurel was walking briskly down the halls, Kate Spencer was walking towards her._

_"Laurel, I am so sorry. We had your father under protective custody." She said as Laurel brushed past her._

“Uh-huh, right.” Roy sneered as they all glared at the screen.

 

_Laurel glanced back. "There's no such as thing as protective custody in Iron Heights." She said coldly, entering the hospital wing. She saw her father lying in the bed, looking like he had been in a car wreck. Sara was also there, sitting at the edge of the bed._

_"Dad!" Laurel exclaimed, rushing towards him_

_"Hey. It's all right, sweetheart, it's all right." He assured her, but waved her off when she went in for a hug. "Hey, whoa, don't touch the ribs! The ribs." He said weakly._

_Laurel stood. "I'm getting tired of visiting my family members in a hospital." She said after a moment. "What happened?"_

_"Oh, it's just some old collar paid me a visit." Lane explained. "I guess I'm not the most popular guy in prison."_

_"Sara, do you mind giving Dad and I a second alone, please?" Laurel asked, glancing at Sara briefly before looking back down at her father._

_Sara considered her for a moment. "Yeah, of course." She said finally, rising from her seat. "I'll be right outside." She said._

_"Don't go far, sweetie." Lance called out._

_As soon as she heard the door close, Laurel sat down on the edge of the bed. "Dad…"_

_"What is it, honey?"_

_"I have to tell you something." Laurel began._

_"What is it?" he asked._

_"I know who the Arrow is." She revealed._

_"What?" Lance said, astonished. Almost immediately he continued. "Don't say another word. Don't say anything." He ordered. He groaned as he sat up a bit. "Ok, listen to me. There was a time when I would have sold out my badge to find out his name. You know that." He said. "But then I realized I didn't care who he was. In fact, I didn't even want to know who he was." He revealed._

_"Why not?" she asked._

_"'Cause I knew if I knew who he really was, then he'd become a person, right? Maybe he's got a family. Friends. People that care about him. Someone with a life. That he couldn't be what I needed him to be. What this city needs him to be. It's the Arrow that matters. The man under the hood isn't important." He said with conviction. "Look at me. Can you imagine what it's like to be him?" he asked his daughter. "What he has to live with day in and day out, what that's got to be like? Hey. The least I can do is sit here and do a little bit of time for him." The two looked at one another with a new understanding._

“Well, respect Detective.” Roy said, feeling moved by the speech along with the others.

 

“Say what you will about my dad, he gives one hell of a speech.” Dinah smirked.

 

_A few minutes later Laurel stepped out into the hall, smiling at Sara before turning to Kate._

_"How's your father?" she asked._

_"He'll be better once you drop all charges and sign his release papers." Laurel said._

_"He is facing 18 months." Kate pointed out._

_"Yes. But he is not going to stay here another day unless you want me to resign and embark on an exciting new career as a criminal defense attorney whose sole ambition will be to sue the District Attorney's office for wrongful arrest and reckless endangerment." Laurel threatened._

“Nice.” Roy said and Dinah smirked as Laurel sighed in contentment, glad her father would be released.

 

_Kate gave her a strained smile. "Your father will be released on his own recognizance within the hour. And reinstated. Tomorrow." She said, walking off. Kate stopped and looked back at Laurel. "A word of advice- be mindful of the battles you choose, because it will not always be this easy." She warned, then turned and walked off._

“That’s actually not bad advice. Some we should all heed.” Diggle noted and the others nodded absently.

 

_Sara was grinning as she walked up to her sister. "Nice work, counselor." She complimented with a chuckle._

_"Thank you." Laurel replied. "How's your arm?" she asked._

_"Mmm, fine." She raised it and wiggled her fingers through the soft cast. "Only hurts when I wave."_

_Laurel touched the bruise on her forehead. "Ouch." She remarked._

_"I'm fine, I promise." Sara said._

_"I know you will be." Laurel said with a soft smile, brushing her hair away from her face. Sara smiled and walked back into the hospital wing. The door closed, and Laurel stepped up to watch Sara take a seat at their father's bed. She considered them for a moment before heading out._

_The scene changed to Verdant. It was after closing, and Thea walked out to the side alley to meet Oliver._

_"Thanks." He said as she walked up to him. "Thank you for agreeing to talk to me."_

_"You're talking. I only agreed to listen." She said harshly._

_Oliver sighed. "I just want to start with—" and of course his cell phone chose that moment to start ringing. He ignored it. "I know you think that—" it kept ringing to both their annoyance. "Ahem. Hold on." He told his sister, pulling out his phone and turning away to answer it. "I can't talk right now, Felicity." He growled angrily._

“Does she have to call now?” Thea growled.

 

“It’s actually kind of important, so yes I think she does.” Dinah sighed.

 

_"I know." She said. "But the grid at Collins and Main just spiked, drawing a hell of a lot of power. Which means someone either plugged in the world's largest hair dryer, or the biotransfuser just went online. The power cycle on this machine is very specific. You have 30 minutes, 40 tops." She explained, then sighed, "I know this is selfish, Oliver, and don't hate me for saying this, but…don't go." She pleaded. "If you don't get Thea to sign those documents, your family loses all of its assets."_

_"If I don't stop Slade right now, a lot of people will lose a lot more." Oliver said, hanging up. He turned to make his excuses to Thea- but she was already gone. He looked at the empty alley sadly, then turned and headed for his side entrance._

“He just can’t win today.” Tommy sighed as Thea shifted uncomfortably.

 

_The scene changed to a warehouse at Collins and Main. Oliver dropped into the building from the roof access, warily making his way through the large space. As he walked into the center of the room, he found a terrifying sight. Twenty of the prisoners were laid out on metal tables, arranged in a circle around the biotransfuser. He made his way into the center of the circle, warily circling the figure whose blood was being used to fuel the Mirakuru army. He climbed the steps to the main bed, staring in horror at not Slade-_

_But Roy._

“What the hell?” Tommy breathed as Roy stared; shocked as Thea gripped his hand so tightly it hurt.

 

“How the hell did Arsenal end up there?” Diggle demanded.

 

“Just a few seconds.” Dinah said simply.

 

_He felt for a pulse- it was weak, but there. He looked Roy over, noting the main tube carrying his blood out of his body. He moved to yank it free, when a familiar voice stopped him_

_"I wouldn't touch that if I were you." Slade said. Oliver spun and drew, aiming at his former friend as he casually strolled into the room, Isabel right behind him. "Removing him mid-cycle will surely end his life."_

_"Slade, he's just a kid!" Oliver growled._

_"Who's here only because you pushed him away." Slade said with glee. "You were the one person he looked up to. And for that, you crushed his soul."_

_"We found him at a shelter in Bludhaven." Isabel explained. "Pathetic. Didn't even put up a fight."_

“And of course he tries to blame Ollie, because nothing is ever his fault.” Thea growled in rage.

 

“Psychopaths are typically unable to accept their own guilt, instead blaming their actions on others.” Dinah explained.

 

_"I will." Oliver promised. "Tell me how to shut it down."_

_"If you could feel the power that is surging through me… you would know that I do not fear an arrow. I am stronger than you can even imagine." Slade said, pulling out his sword and subtly waving it at the convicts. "And soon I will not be alone."_

_Oliver spun and fired his arrow into the fuse box, cutting the power to the machine and blacking out most of the lights. He then spun back to Slade and fired three arrows in quick succession that Slade blocked with his sword. Isabel drew a gun and opened fire, and Oliver dropped down behind the machine for cover. They ran the circle of tables with Isabel firing until Oliver threw a flechette that disarmed her. Isabel jumped and rolled over the edge of a table, kicking Oliver back and moved in to attack. He easily blocked her kicks, before punching her in the face with his fist once, then with his bow, knocking her down._

_Slade rushed at him, spearing Oliver and picking him up, then ramming him into a concrete pillar. He flipped Oliver over his shoulder, sending him crashing to the ground hard._

_"You can't hurt me, kid." Slade said confidently. Oliver turned over and held up his bow, then hit a hidden switch on the handle. A pair of small bolts fired from the arms of the bow, implanting into Slade's chest. He looked down at them in surprise- and then they exploded, sending him crashing to the ground._

“Tell me, did that hurt?” Laurel asked with a smirk and the others snickered.

 

_Oliver grunted as he pulled himself up. He moved to the biotransfuser, stopping as something caught his eye- a small glass vial filled with a green liquid. Mirakuru, he realized, taking the vial and pocketing it. As Isabel started to pick herself up, Oliver ran up the stair of the small platform and started unhooking Roy. "Come on, Roy. All right, stay with me." He urged quietly. He looked up, startled as he heard a gun cock. He saw Isabel standing there, a triumphant grin on her face as she aimed at his head-_

_Then suddenly there was a gunshot, then another, and two perfect bloody holes formed on her chest. Isabel collapsed to the ground, and Oliver looked back behind him. Up on the catwalk was Diggle, his gun still aimed at Isabel just in case she moved._

_She didn't._

“Wait a go Dig!” Tommy exclaimed and Diggle smirked as the others cheered him on, none noticing Dinah’s grim expression.

 

_Oliver looked past her as Slade rose from the floor. Knowing he couldn't beat him now, Oliver fired a grappling arrow into the ceiling, grabbed Roy, and hit the winch on his bow, drawing the pair into the air and out of Slade's reach._

_The scene changed to the Lair a short time later. Roy was laid out on the med table, a blood bag hooked into his arm as they tried to replace what Slade had taken._

_"He's lost a lot of blood." Sara said. "I don't know what the biotransfuser did to him. But his pulse is really weak; He's barely breathing. And he needs a real doctor." She urged._

“No kidding,” Dinah said grimly, “what that machine did to him…any normal human would have died a dozen times over. The only reason Arsenal was still alive was because of The Mirakuru.”

 

“Good to know.”  Roy said weakly and Thea wrapped an arm around his shoulder, snuggling close to him, hoping her presence brought him comfort.

 

_We can't take him to a hospital- they run tests." Oliver pointed out. "We need to keep what's in him from getting out."_

_"What do we do now?" Felicity asked._

_"The only thing we can do-we wait." He said._

_"Well, while we're waiting, we still have a Slade problem. He's got 20 guys just like him, and we have no way to stop him." Sara pointed out._

_"Yes, we do." Oliver argued, pulling the glass tube from his pocket and holding it up for them to see._

_"Is that what I think it is?" Felicity asked._

_"Mirakuru." Oliver revealed._

_"You weren't thinking about taking it, were you?" she asked._

_"No. We're going to use it to make a cure." Oliver revealed._

_"Oliver, we don't even know if it's possible to reverse the affects." Felicity argued._

_Oliver sighed. "Yes, we do." He said, turning to face his friends. "Ivo did it." He revealed to their shock._

_"Why didn't you ever tell us that, Oliver?" Diggle demanded._

_"Because I'm ashamed." Oliver admitted._

_"Of what?"_

_He looked at Sara, and she nodded. "Five years ago, I had the chance to use the cure on Slade. I chose to kill him." He revealed to their shock. "Everything that's happening right now is my fault."_

“No Ollie. It’s Slade’s fault, Ivo’s fault even for killing Shado. But not yours.” Tommy said in a voice that dared the others to argue with him.

 

They didn’t.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Sara stood frozen, the gun held on Ivo as he looked on, helpless. "I saved you once, Sara." He said weakly. "It feels like a long time ago now. Time to return the favor." Her hand shook, but her finger started tightening on the trigger…_

_Then Oliver's hand came up and gently pushed the gun down. Ivo sighed as Oliver took the gun from Sara. "You might not believe it now, but I was considered a good man." He said. "A good doctor. A good husband." He sighed. "Until the Mirakuru drove me mad. I didn't even take any myself—"_

_He was cut off as Oliver shot him twice in the chest. The doctor slumped over, dead._

“Good, now we don’t have to listen to him try and justify himself.” Thea said, ultimately satisfied.

 

_Oliver turned away and put the gun down on a nearby crate._

_"You didn't have to do that for me." Sara told him shakily._

_Oliver looked at her. "Once you take a life, it changes you forever." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And I don't want that for you."_

Laurel smiled slightly, grateful to Oliver for protecting her sister, even though he didn’t have to.

 

_Thank you." She said gratefully._

_Anatoli and Jerry came back into the fuselage. "Schastlivchik." He muttered, looking at the body of the good doctor. "So, now what do we do?" he wondered._

_"Well, I don't suppose any of you know how to pilot a submarine?" Oliver asked._

“What does a sub have anything to do with this?” Tommy asked confused.

 

“If I had to guess, I’d say Oliver plans to use it in his plan to get to the cure.” Diggle mused.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to Queen Manor as Moira watched helplessly as Thea walked down the stair, a bag on her shoulder. "Thea." She began as Thea grabbed the handle of a red suitcase that was already at the base of the stairs. "What are you doing?" she asked._

_"Just grabbing some stuff. Something tells me the mansion's new owner won't want my clothes here." She replied snarkily as she headed for the door._

_"Thea, wait." Moira tried. Thea ignored her, and sighed in annoyance as Oliver stepped into her path, blocking her. "Now he's not busy." She groused._

_"I'm so sorry, that couldn't be helped." Oliver said quietly. "May I speak to you now?" he asked. She rolled her eyes, but looked at him, silently telling him to go on. "Dad knew the truth." He revealed to both hers and Moira's shock._

_"What?" Moira gasped._

_"He knew about Merlyn." Oliver repeated._

_"How? He never said anything to me." Moira said in surprise._

_"He didn't have to." Oliver said, smiling at his sister. "Thea, whatever Dad's faults were he loved us. All of us. Because we were his family. You were his daughter, and some stupid blood test wasn't going to change that." He told her. "He chose us. He chose you. He made a decision to be your father, even though he didn't have to be." He stared at his sister, who was struggling not to cry. "So what does that tell you?" he asked gently._

_Thea pulled herself together and glared at the two of them. "It tells me that he's a liar. Just like both of you." She spat before brushing past Oliver and walking out of the mansion._

“And I’m still being a bitch.” Thea sighed.

 

“It doesn’t last much longer.” Dinah said and Thea smiled, not seeing the grim look on Dinah’s face.

 

_The scene changed to S.T.A.R. Labs, where Cisco and Caitlin had moved to packing up equipment in the lab. A knock on the door got their attention, and they looked up in surprise as Felicity strode briskly into the room. "I need you guys to do me a favor." She began, holding up the vial of Mirakuru. "This time, it'll be our secret." Caitlin reached out and took the vial, silently urging Felicity to continue._

“So they created the cure then?” Laurel asked curiously and Dinah nodded.

 

“Never underestimate the power of Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow.” Dinah advised with a smile.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. A despondent Oliver sat on the stairs to the second level, staring at a small picture of his family taken several years ago._

_"Oliver." He looked up to see Laurel standing there at the door. He slipped the picture into his pocket and stood as she walked towards him silently, staring at him. Suddenly she surged forward and hugged him tightly._

_"What's this for?" he asked._

_"Because you're important to me." She replied quietly. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to become lost in the hug._

“Whenever he’s at his lowest point, you always seem to help him pick himself back up again.” Diggle noted and Dinah shrugged.

 

“Wouldn’t be the first time, certainly wouldn’t be the last.” Dinah said nonchalantly and Laurel blushed.

 

_The scene changed to the warehouse. In the darkened room, Slade was fixing his sleeve after disconnecting himself from the biotransfuser. He stepped down to the last remaining table, occupied by a single figure-_

_Isabel Rochev._

_He placed his hand on her forehead as her eyes, still bloody from the tears, opened wide, the Mirakuru having healed her._

“Are you kidding me?! She’s still alive?!” Thea exclaimed angrily as they all stared in shock.

 

“Unfortunately, we would still have to deal with her for a while longer.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Around them his army gathered, ready to go to war._

“Slade finally has his army.” Diggle noted worriedly as the screen faded to black.

 

“One more and then we’ll definitely need to take a break.” Dinah said and the time travelers turned towards her.

 

“Why, what happens?” Roy demands.

 

“Some things…need to be seen.” Dinah said vaguely as she started the next recording.


	57. Seeing Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As everyone sees Arsenal's rampage, they learn about William's existence and the worst thing Slade ever did.

_The scene opened up in the Lair. Felicity was at work on her computers while Dig paced the lair, pausing to check on Roy, who still lay on the exam table unconscious._

_"No change?" she asked._

_"Nope." Dig replied. "So much blood mixed in with so much Mirakuru, I don't know if it's good or bad." He sighed. "We could really use that cure."_

_"I talked to Caitlin this morning. They're working on it." She informed him._

But not fast enough, Dinah thought as she sighed. Something which the time travelers noticed but their attention was drawn by the recording.

 

_"No mention on Isabel Rochev's death?" he asked, walking over to her station._

_"Not a thing." She said in surprise. "I wasn't expecting a glowing obituary, but she's a Fortune 500 CEO that's been missing for a week now. You'd think she'd have some column inches." She noted._

“We really should have put it together. I mean, we were dealing with the Mirakuru.” Diggle groaned.

 

“You’d shot her dead. It was only natural for you to think she couldn’t have survived.” Dinah reasoned.

 

_A sudden bang caused her to gasp, and the two looked back at Roy, who had jerked uncontrollably in his sleep. "Does the fact that him lying there freaks me out a little make me a bad person?" she asked._

_Dig chuckled. "Felicity, I don't think there's a force on earth that can make you a bad person."_

“Except maybe suggesting mass murder.” Laurel muttered.

 

“Wait, what?” Dinah sighed as the others looked stunned and decided to elaborate.

 

“Ollie’s Argus Handler, Maseo, joined the League of Assassins after the death of his son,” Dinah began as they looked over at her, “when he did, he gave Ra’s a vial of the virus that had caused all that destruction. That prophecy about Ra’s al Ghul h as one requirement: the person must wipe out their home to server all ties with their past prior to becoming Ra’s. Ra’s unleashed the virus on Starling City,” at this, the time travelers, save Laurel, who already knew, gasped in shock and horror, “a friend of ours, Ray Palmer, was working on a way to inoculate the virus and was close to succeeding when some trigger happy snippers were getting ready to take out Ollie as he was fighting Ra’s. Ray had a way to save him but it would have required him to let all the innocent people, hundreds, thousands of civilians to die. Felicity got word from dad what was going on and told Ray to stop what he was doing and save Ollie, all those people be damned.”

 

“And this is the person I worked with and supported?” Diggle asked disgusted.

 

“As I said, you developed a bit of a blind spot for her; we all did at one point,” Dinah shrugged, “but that’s why you’re here. To learn from our timeline’s mistakes.

 

_He pulled on his jacket. "But I am starving. Dinner?" he asked._

_"Yeah. No Big Belly burger, though. It's giving me a Big Belly." She said._

_"Sushi, then." Dig decided, heading up the stairs._

_"Sushi, then." She replied distractedly. She continued to peruse news articles looking for information on Isabel. "How can you be unconscious and freak me out at the same…" she turned back to the exam table- but it was empty._

“Is anyone else getting the creepy horror film vibe right now?” Tommy asked as Roy started.

 

“Yes.” Laurel and Diggle said absently.

 

_"Time?" she stood up and walked to the table. "Roy?" she called out nervously. She looked around the room, but didn't see him. She nervously turned back to her computer to call Oliver, then jumped when she saw Roy standing next to her table. "Oh, my God! Oh, you scared me." The little relief she had felt faded as she took him in- he was silent and shaking slightly. His hood was raised giving his blank face an almost sinister look. "Roy?" she asked hesitantly, moving closer._

And the feeling is getting stronger.” Tommy muttered as Roy tensed, having a feeling he is about to do something terrible.

 

_"Forgot my phone." Dig said, coming back into the room. He paused in surprise when he saw Roy standing there. Roy's shaking hand was on the edge of the computer table, and suddenly he threw it backwards with tremendous force. He stalked forward towards the stairs, walking right at Diggle._

_"Roy, listen—"Diggle stared, but Roy shoved him without breaking stride. Diggle flew into an equipment cart and crashed to the ground, dazed._

“Dude! Not cool!” Tommy exclaimed as Roy put his head in his hands.

 

“It’s not his fault!” Thea protested, glaring at her brother.

 

“It really isn’t,” Dinah said and Roy looked up as everyone looked at her, “that device had pumped so much Mirakuru in and out of his system that he was out of his mind, nothing left at that point but raw, primal instinct.”

 

“That’s not good. An animal acting on instinct is dangerous, but an animal acting on instinct that kills is lethal.” Diggle noted and Roy groaned as he dropped his head back into his hands, Thea pulling him to her and whispering words in his ear that she hopes will comfort him.

 

_"Dig!" Felicity screamed in panic. She ran over to him as he pulled himself up. "You ok?" she asked. Diggle just shrugged it off and took off up the stairs._

_Diggle hit the club and paused by the bar, looking around the crowded club for the boy. He spotted a flash of a red hoody across the dance floor, then drew his gun and started running towards the exits. "Move!" he shouted over and over again, plowing through the crowd and out the door. He looked around, desperately searching for Roy-_

_But he was gone._

“Damn.” Diggle swore as everyone froze, immediately knowing how bas this was.

 

_The scene changed to the Ritz Carlton in downtown Starling City. Oliver had gotten one of the nicer hotel rooms for him and Sara to spend a romantic night together as a break from all of the stress of the past few weeks. They lay kissing in bed as their clothes were scattered all around the room, a bottle of champagne on ice on the floor besides the bed._

“I really don’t wanna see this.” Laurel groaned.

 

“Me neither.” Thea said then smacked Roy lightly on the back of the head when he snickered.

 

_As they took a break from making love, Sara looked at Oliver thoughtfully. "You think Roy's ok?" she asked._

_He smiled at her incredulously. "Please tell me that you're not thinking about Roy right now."_

“Well, I do have that effect on women.” Roy choked weakly as he sat back u and Thea would have hit him but she was just so happy he seemed to be acting like himself.

 

_He asked with a chuckle. "We're finally alone, in bed, in a very nice hotel room."_

_"A hotel room that you couldn't afford." She pointed out._

_"I have something of a history with the manager." Oliver told her._

_"Mmm. I can only imagine." She said with a grin._

_Oliver paused and looked around the room thoughtfully. "I think I trashed this specific room once." He said, and Sara chuckled. He kissed her. "But favors run out. We should think about getting a more permanent place." He suggested._

_"We?" she asked hesitantly._

_"Well, you're probably getting tired of staying with Laurel, and we can't sleep in the foundry now that Roy's there, so…"_

_"But, I mean, 'we,' now you're asking me to move in with you?" she asked._

“Seriously? He launches a grenade into our relationship because he doesn’t want to move in with me yet he wants to do it with my sister?” Laurel asked in an icy voice that has Tommy and Diggle measuring how fast they can get to the door.

 

“As we have established, repeatedly in fact, he was not the same person he was when he got on that boat. If this version of Ollie had been the one you asked to move in with you, he would have done it in a heartbeat. And he truly did fall in love with Sara, so of course he considered a future with her.” Dinah explained and Laurel sat back with her arms crossed, not happy but knowing Dinah was right.

 

_Oliver smiled, and then placed a kiss on her jaw._

_Suddenly his phone started vibrating. "Hey, your phone's ringing." She told him._

_"I know." He said, ignoring it and kissing her neck._

_Then Sara's phone started to ring. "Okay, both our phones are ringing, that's never good." She noted. They both looked over at their phones. The caller ID screen showed Felicity for both._

_The scene changed to the Lair a short time later. Oliver and Sara returned just as Diggle was up righting Felicity's table from the sparking computers._

_"What happened?" Oliver asked._

_Diggle let out a breath. "I don't know. One minute he's comatose, the next, he's flipping over computer equipment." He said. "He was a lot more out of control than Slade was at your house."_

_"He looked like Roy, but he wasn't Roy." Felicity said shakily._

_"Where do you think he's headed?" Sara asked._

_"I don't know, but we have to find him." Oliver said urgently._

“Please find me before I hurt someone else.” Roy begged and Dinah knew she had to be prepared when he saw what he did.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Moira, with Mark Frances at her side, was giving an interview to the Starling Gazette reporter in the lounge._

_"Despite everyone's predictions, you've managed to pull ahead of Sebastian Blood in recent polls." The reporter stated into his recorder._

_"Yes." Moira replied. "I think our message is resonating with the voters. The people of Starling know that I have a vision, and the experienced apparatus to make that vision a reality."_

_"What would you say is the main reason they should vote for you over alderman Blood?" he asked._

_"Well, um Alderman Blood isn't a parent." Moira began. "And the soul of being a parent is making sure that your children have a bright future. And I've been very lucky to be able to do that for my own."_

_Unseen to her, Thea had entered the room behind her._

“I had to walk in at that moment.” Thea sighed, knowing she was going to be a bitch and possibly sabotage her mother’s campaign.

 

_Moira turned and gave her a look. "Uh, we're in the middle of an interview." She told her daughter._

_"Oh, I'll keep it short." Thea said. "You can't have your rally at Verdant. It's the only place I have that hasn't been poisoned by you." With that, she turned and stalked out of the room_

_Moira rose, but turned to the reporter. "Can you give me one moment, please?" she asked, moving after her daughter._

_Mark stared hard at the reporter. "Turn it off." He ordered._

_Moira caught Thea out in the foyer. "Thea, I know you're upset, and you have every right to be, but we need to talk somewhere else."_

_"I'm done talking." She said angrily. "I just came by to tell you, it'll be a cold day in hell before you can use my club."_

_"We can't just change the venue the day before." Moira argued._

_"I'm sure you can figure something else." Thea gave her a pointed glare. "I mean, you have such an experienced apparatus."_

_"You signed a contract." Moira said sharply._

_"Huh." Thea shook her head. "Just when I thought you couldn't go any lower… you threaten your own daughter." Thea turned and walked off as Mark came out into the foyer._

“She’s not threatening you, she’s simply pointing out that you have a legal obligation to allow her to use Verdant. If she doesn’t, people are going to ask why. It’s not a threat simply because you decided to throw a temper tantrum.” Laurel explained and Thea sighed.

 

“I know that, I do. But all she,” Thea gestured to the screen, “can see is the fact that her mother and brother kept this huge, life changing secret from her.”

 

_"Moira." He said, gaining her attention. "What's going on?"_

_"Sorry you had to witness that." She told him tiredly._

_"After her abduction, I'd think that the two of you would be closer than ever." He noted with surprise._

_"It's a very complicated situation." Moira said._

_"Well, my advice? Simplify it." He said. "You have to be either a mother or a candidate. You can't be both. Not right now. You cannot split your focus."_

_Moira nodded. "You're absolutely right." She said._

_Seven years ago-_

_Laurel and Oliver were in the lounge, with Oliver lying across the couch with his head in her lap. She sat there, gently brushing his long hair with her fingers. "You're really cute when you're mopey." She joked, trying to lighten his mood._

_"I'm not mopey." He argued moodily._

_"Mopey's your default, Ollie. It's part of your smoldering charm." She quipped._

“What’s up with him?” Roy asked as the other time travelers looked on in confusion.

 

“I don’t know, he never told me.” Laurel admitted.

 

“Well, you’re about to find out,” Dinah said and they all looked at her, “it’s going to be a shock but, try to remember…he was a different person back then.”

 

_Oliver was thoughtful for a moment. "I do have smoldering charm." He agreed._

_Laurel laughed. "But you're more than usual mopey. Is everything all right?" she asked._

_Oliver pulled himself up and moved closer to his girlfriend. He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a kiss. "It's fine." He lied._

_"Ollie." She said, seeing through some of his bullshit._

_Oliver sighed wearily. "Tommy had me out a little bit later than maybe I should have been, and," he chuckled. "I'm wiped."_

_Laurel looked at him with understanding. "Well, you want me to go? I promised Sara I'd help her with her trigonometry." She offered._

_"I don't know what that is." Oliver joked._

_"You are very cute." She said, kissing him gently. "Get some sleep." She said, rising and heading for the door. "Bye."_

_"Bye." He called out, staring into space._

_"Good night, Mrs. Queen." Laurel said, walking past the woman on her way out of the house._

_"Good night." She said warmly. As the door closed, Moira headed into the lounge and started fiddling with the flowers on the table. "You didn't go out with Tommy last night." She pointed out._

_Oliver laughed. "Hey. Thanks for eavesdropping on my entire conversation, Mom." He complained weakly. "That's… that's nice."_

_"Sweetheart, something's bothering you," she said, sitting down next to her son. "Tell me what it is."_

_Oliver sighed. "Dad's going to kill me." He said bleakly._

_"Your father loves you." Moira promised him. "I love you."_

_"I screwed up." Oliver said. "It's bad."_

“Wow, this sounds worse than the time Ollie took the paint off one of his dad’s Mercedes.” Tommy noted, wondering what he could have done that was so bad.

 

_"What happened?" she asked._

_"I got a girl pregnant." He revealed._

“He did what?!” Laurel exclaimed, too shocked to be angry.

 

“Holy shit.” Tommy breathed.

 

“How, why…I don’t understand.” Thea said, her mind jumbled from this news.

 

“Laurel,” Dinah began and Laurel looked over at her, “do you remember at that party on Campus about three months before you asked Ollie to move in with you?”

 

“Yeah, we got in some stupid fight, I don’t even remember what about, and I left him there.” Laurel nodded.

 

“Well, he stayed for a while and he drank. A lot. Most of the night was a blur for him and the next thing he remembered was waking up the next morning in bed with Samantha Clayton.” Dinah explained gently and Laurel stared before letting out a bark of humorless laughter.

 

“Samantha. Oh, this is just perfect. How many women did he cheat on me with?!” Laurel snarled as she whirled on the frightened Tommy.

 

“I don’t know. I was his best friend, not his body guard.” Tommy said timidly.

 

“So, if he has a kid, why haven’t any of us heard about this before?” Thea wondered.

 

“Because Moira paid Samantha off,” Dinah explained and those who knew Oliver gapped at her while Diggle and Roy weren’t that surprised, “without Ollie’s knowledge, she paid her a couple million dollars to tell Ollie she had lost the baby and leave Starling City and never speak to Ollie again. It wasn’t until four years after Ollie came back that he found out.”

 

“I imagine he wasn’t too pleased.” Diggle noted and Dinah smiled grimly.

 

“That’s putting it lightly. Samantha told him if he ever told anyone about William, his son, that she would make sure he never saw William again.” Dinah explained.

 

“What?!” Tommy exclaimed outraged.

 

“Why would she do that?!” Thea demanded angrily and even Laurel was angry on Oliver’s behalf.

 

“She didn’t know what kind of person he was, she didn’t know what kind of people Ollie had in his life. William was happy, well adjusted, she didn’t want him to be overwhelmed by Ollie’s chaotic life,” Dinah said and the three calmed down slightly as they realized Samantha had a point, “not that it matters anyway. Damien Darhk found out about William and kidnapped him. After we saved him, Ollie and Samantha decided it would be best for William if Samantha took him away where no one would ever find him…Ollie included.”

 

“He sent his own son away?” Diggle asked as they all stared in shock and Dinah nodded.

 

“He decided it would be best for William to have a normal childhood, something that he couldn’t give him. He sent a video message with them, that Samantha would give him on his eighteenth birthday. But, a few years before he died, he got in contact with Samantha and told her not to give it to William until he contacted her again.” Dinah announced to their shock.

 

“What, why?” Laurel asked in confusion.

 

“With Slade and Talia out there, gunning for him and everyone he loved, Ollie decided it would be best if William didn’t know, to reduce the risk. Knowing this risk was nothing for a child to bear. He wanted to keep William safe.” Dinah explained.

 

“Conner, Olivia, and Lian are here, they were at risk.” Diggle pointed out.

 

“Olivia and Lian live here on the Watchtower, where they are protected by the world’s best state of the art security system. And, if that fails, they are protected by two Kryptonians, the world’s greatest detective, a former assassin, the best archer still alive, and me. And Conner was trained for combat almost since he could walk, first ruthlessly by Talia and then by the gentler hands of Ollie and Nyssa. He could protect himself. William couldn’t.” Dinah waited to see if they had more questions before unpausing the recording.

 

_"Laurel's pregnant?" Moira asked, already knowing the answer._

_"No. Not Laurel." He said, ashamed. Moira looked at him in disappointment._

“No, just some girl he cheated on me with.” Laurel muttered bitterly.

 

_Present-_

_The Arrow and the Canary skidded to a stop in the middle of a deserted road outside the Glades. "This is ridiculous." Sara complained. "We can't just ride around all night hoping to lay eyes on him."_

_Oliver hit his comms. "Diggle?" he asked._

_At Roy's apartment, Diggle was just coming out from checking on it. "His place is clean. I don't think he's been back here." He opined._

_"Call just went out for an ambulance at 14th and Hobart." Felicity said from the Lair, where she was monitoring the police band. "There's four men seriously assaulted… by someone wearing a red hoodie."_

“That would be me.” Roy sighed and Thea took his hand.

 

_The two vigilantes looked at each other, then spun their bikes around and headed to 14 and Hobart. They arrived just minutes later to see three men on the ground, with a fourth grasping a pole to keep himself upright._

_"What happened?" The Arrow asked the bloodied man._

_"Guy jumped us." He said weakly, spinning at the glare of the bikes headlamp. "Came out of nowhere. The dude is 'roided out or something. Crazy like." He said._

_Oliver glanced back at Sara. "Roy."_

“Great.” Roy groaned.

 

_A few streets over, Sin was leaving a bar when she saw a familiar hoodie._

_"See ya, Sin." The bartender said._

_"Adios." She replied distractedly, running out to the street. "Yo, Abercrombie! Hold up." She reached out and grasped his arm, stopping him. "Where you been, man?" she asked worriedly._

“Get away, get away, get away.” Roy muttered desperately as tension filled the room.

 

_"I went over to your place like 20 times. Thea said you skipped town." She looked at Roy, but he just stared back silently, a dead look on his face._

_She started looking him over for injuries, and then noted his hands. "Holy crap." She said, taking his hand and bringing it closer to her. She noted the bruised knuckles. "Have you been in a fight?" she asked._

_Roy stared back blankly, saying nothing. Suddenly he yanked his hand free, then grasped her by her shoulder and pushed her hard into the side of a parked car. A couple of her friends from the street noticed and moved quickly towards her as she stared at Roy in shock._

Why couldn’t she just get away?” Roy moaned.

 

“Because you don’t turn your back and your friends.” Diggle told him.

 

_"Hey, Sin, is this guy bothering you?" one of the guys said._

_Instantly Sin realized how bad it would get if Roy started fighting. "No, no, no, he's chill. Seriously, just step off." She warned them._

_"We going to have a problem, guy?" the leader said._

_"Seriously? Just leave him alone, he's fine." Sin said anxiously._

“Please step away.” Roy begged.

 

_He glanced at her, but Roy was giving him a bad vibe. He reached out and clasped a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, what, you got nothing smart to say?"_

_Roy snarled, then grasped his hand and twisted it, breaking his wrist and arm at the same time. The other two guys started pummeling him, with one grabbing him from behind. Roy grabbed his hands, broke his grip, and tossed him over his shoulder onto the room of the car, denting the roof. He then spun and grabbed the third guy by his face, then drove his head through the passenger side window of the car._

_"Roy!" Sin screamed, moving towards him. Roy backhanded her, sending her to the ground hard. He glared at the stunned girl before turning and walking off._

No one was insensitive enough to say anything as Roy groaned, putting his head in his hands. Thea stroked his back soothingly, bot saying anything but letting him know she was here.

 

_"Felicity's running facial recognition on traffic cameras throughout the city." Oliver was telling Sara as they entered the club._

_"Which could take forever." Sara said crossly. "We need to take Roy down now before he attacks any more people."_

_He was about to respond when Thea stomped up to him. "What part of 'I want nothing to do with you' are just not understanding?" she asked snarkily._

_"I came by to see Sara." Oliver said quickly, smiling at his girlfriend._

_Thea glared at him, and then gestured with her head at Diggle, who stood in the background. "And what about him? He's been stalking me." She complained._

_"He's protecting you." Oliver said._

_"From what?" she asked, exasperated._

_"Slade Wilson is still at large." He reminded her. "He already tried hurting you once."_

_"He didn't hurt me." She shot back. "He told me the truth, which I know you think is a bad thing, but it's actually not."_

“You’re so angry that you’re not even asking the most important questions,” Diggle noted and Thea looked over at him as Roy gathered himself and sat up, “you haven’t stopped to wonder why Slade did all this, why he went through the trouble of telling you about Merlyn being your father or what he gained from it.”

 

“I just can’t see passed the fact that they lied to me.” Thea sighed.

 

_"It is if it costs me you." Oliver said softly._

_"Your lies did that." She replied hurtfully, relishing the look on his face. "Now, I'm going to go upstairs to the stock room, and if I get attacked by some shot glasses, I'll call 911." She spun and headed upstairs for the stockroom._

“And I’m still being a bitch.” Thea sighed.

  
_Oliver stepped over to Diggle. "Thanks for taking care of her." He said quietly._

_Diggle smirked. "Lucky for me, she's not as good at disappearing as you were." He said, moving to follow his new principle._

_Sara looked over to see Sin walking hesitantly into the club. "I'll be right back." She told Oliver, heading over to her friend._

_Sin saw her and smiled weakly. "Have you seen Thea?" she asked._

_Sara stared in alarm at the bruise on her face. "What happened to your eye?" she asked._

_"It's ok." Sin said quickly. "I could cover it with make-up. If I work make-up." She flinched back when Sara reached out to brush her hair away for a better look. "It's fine." She said defensively._

_Sara ignored her and brushed the hair back, looking at the bruised eye. "Who did this to you?" she asked._

_"It's a long story." Sin hedged._

_"I asked you who." Sara demanded._

_Sin sighed in defeat. "Roy. But he's not right in the head." She added quickly, seeing the rage on Sara's face. "He got injected with something. A drug, I don't know, but it made him strong. Like, comic book strong. Look, I know it sounds nuts—"_

_"It really doesn't." Sara said sadly._

_"Sara, Roy's a friend." Sin reminded her. "He needs help, not a beat down." Sara nodded at her, reluctantly agreeing._

“Something tells me she’s not convinced.” Tommy muttered and Roy winced.

 

“She’d lived so long in the darkness…she’d just started letting it control her without her even realizing it.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene changed to Blood's campaign office. He was on the phone with one of his supporters when Clinton Hogue led Moira Queen into his office. "I'll have to call you right back." He said, hanging up the phone and rising from his seat._

_"Do you want me to stay, Mr. Blood?" Hogue asked._

_"Uh, no, no, thank you." Blood replied. "I'll be fine." He smiled at Moira after Hogue left the room. "My new body man. He's a little over-protective."_

_"Hmm." She said noncommittally._

_"Please." He gestured at the seat in front of the desk._

_"No, thank you." Moira said._

_Blood took a breath. "I'd say this visit is unexpected, but I despise understatements." He began._

_"I'm dropping out of the race." Moira said, cutting him off. "I'm making a concession speech at my rally tonight."_

“What?” Thea asked shocked as she stared at the screen.

 

“Just watch.” Dinah told her.

 

_Blood stared at her in shock. "You're ahead in the latest polls." He pointed out. "Even the most skeptical pundits are saying you could actually pull this out."_

_"I felt I owed you the courtesy of informing you in person." Moira said calmly. "I don't, however, owe you an explanation as well."_

_"No, you don't." Blood admitted. Moira turned for the door. "But I'd appreciate one." He added, stopping her in her tracks. "What you're doing, Moira, as much as it benefits me, doesn't really make much sense."_

_"It's my daughter." She said after a moment, turning to face him. "At the moment, she needs me more than Starling does."_

“She’s dropping out…for me?” Thea asked in stunned disbelief.

 

“Thea, both Robert and Moira had a lot of faults, but they both loved you and Ollie above all else. That never changed.” Dinah said gently and Roy took the stunned Thea into his arms.

 

_"Well, you're doing the right thing." Blood said. "I'm going to change this city, Moira. A new day is coming. A better day. For all of us." He promised._

“You keep telling yourself that. Maybe if you do it enough, you’ll finally start to believe it.” Tommy sneered as they all glared at the screen.

 

_Seven years ago-_

_Oliver was still moping in the lounge while Moira tried to comfort him. "I know things seem bleak, sweetheart, but we're going to figure this out, I promise." She said_

_"Mom, does it seem fair?" he whined. "To make… one mistake, and it…" he sighed. "feels like my entire life is over."_

“One mistake, right.” Laurel sneered, wondering what she had ever seen in this version of Oliver.

 

_"Oh, your life is far from over." Moira assured him. "Are you sure it's yours?" she asked. "Where there is money, Oliver, there are people looking to take advantage." Moira pointed out._

_"She's not that type of person." Oliver argued. "She's a good person, Mom. She's…"_

_"All right." Moira rose to pace the room._

“Samantha was a lot of things, but she was never a bad person.” Tommy said firmly with Laurel nodding in agreement.

 

_"I don't know what to do." He said morosely. He looked at his mother. "What do I do?" he asked._

_"We all make mistakes, Oliver." She said. "And I had hoped that one day you'd forgive me for any that I might make, so…" she took a breath. "All right, um, I'll be right back." She said quickly, stepping out of the room._

“That was her asking for his forgiveness without asking for what she was about to do?” Diggle asked and Dinah nodded.

 

“It was kind of a moot point though, since I don’t think Ollie ever completely forgave her for what she did.” Dinah said regretfully.

 

_Present-_

_Oliver and Sara were standing behind Felicity at her station. She pulled up a map on her one remaining monitor of all of the locations of Roy's attacks. "Verdant, 14th and Hobart, and the bar Sin spotted him at." Felicity said. "He looks to be moving east."_

_"What's east?" Sara wondered._

_"Queen mansion." Oliver realized._

“I was heading for Thea,” Roy realized with horror.

 

“Maybe, maybe not. After Arsenal got the cure, he couldn’t remember a whole lot about what he did during this time.” Dinah explained.

 

_"If he still remembers where Thea lives well, used to live, but Roy doesn't know that…" she looked at Oliver hopefully. "There might be something in Roy still left in there." She said._

_"Or it's just a coincidence that he's moving east." Sara said._

_"Ahem." Oliver looked seriously at Sara. "I know that Sin's involved, but don't let that cloud your judgment." He warned._

_"Well, don't let the fact that this to be Roy cloud yours." She shot back. He glared at her phone started to ring. She pulled it out and answered. "Sin."_

_"I found Roy." Sin said._

“What?” Laurel asked alarmed as Roy tensed.

 

_"Well, I thought I told you to go home." Sara scolded._

_"Yeah, that's where I am right now." She said, standing across the street from the clock tower. "And so is he."_

_A short time later The Arrow and The Canary arrived in the clock tower._

_"Roy!" Oliver called out. The two looked around, pulling back tarps and looking into the darkened corners._

_Sara sighed in frustration. "He's not here." She said._

“Oh why’d she have to say that!?” Tommy groaned.

 

_Suddenly, Roy dropped down from the ceiling. At once The Canary attacked, hitting him as hard as she could with her staff. Roy shrugged off the hits, swatting the staff aside and grabbing her by her throat and throwing her back against the far wall. She hit hard and fell to the ground, unconscious._

_Oliver drew an arrow filled with Tibetan pit viper venom and fired, but Roy easily caught it before it hit. Frustrated, Oliver threw back his hood and pulled down his mask. "It's Oliver." He began, moving slowly towards him. "It's me. What you're doing right now, it's because of the Mirakuru. You're a good person, Roy. You have a conscience and a soul." He reminded him. "I need you to use those and fight this. You can do it!" he urged._

“With how far gone he is, I don’t think that will work,” Diggle noted and Roy winced, “sorry.”

 

“Don’t be, it’s the truth.” Roy sighed and Thea pulled herself close to him, hoping to offer him comfort.

 

“Nothing short of the cure would’ve gotten through to Arsenal.” Dinah said gently.

 

_Roy stared at him for a moment, then snarled and attacked. Oliver blocked the first hit with his bow, but not the second. Roy punched him in the chest, sending him crashing into a metal support column. Oliver fell to the ground, groaning in pain, and as he tried to pull himself up, Roy stomped down on the back of his knee, dislocating it. Oliver screamed in pain as Roy turned and fled, punching a hole in the floor and dropping down through it._

_Roy stepped out onto the street just as a police cruiser pulled up, its lights flashing. Sin watched from the sidewalk as two cops got out and approached Roy with their guns drawn._

“Oh no.” Tommy groaned in dismay.

 

“The one time the cops in this city are doing their job, the one time.” Roy tensed and Dinah knew it would be soon.

 

_"Drop the arrow, drop it!" One of the cops screamed. Roy looked down at his hand and saw he still had the arrow clenched in it._

_In the tower, Oliver hobbled over to the broken clock face and looked down as the two cops closed in on Roy. One started pulling his arms behind him to cuff him, but Roy spun around, grabbing the cops gun and hand and yanking down hard, dislocating it. The cop screamed in pain as Roy spun and planted the arrow in the second cops' chest, killing him instantly._

Roy jumped, staring in shock and horror as remorse and shame filled him instantly. Thea gasped as Laurel, Tommy, and Diggle stared at the screen in shock.

 

“It wasn’t your fault Roy.” Dinah told him.

 

“How can you say that, I just killed him?” Roy asked in self-loathing.

 

“That wasn’t you, it was the Mirakuru. You feel this insane guilt when you have nothing to feel guilty for. You were not in control of your body, the Mirakuru was. This moment was actually what set you up for becoming Prometheus,” Dinah admitted and Roy looked at her sharply, “your feeling that you deserved to be punished for this was what made you take the fall for Ollie, which allowed Talia to kidnap you and turn you into Prometheus without anyone noticing. You never killed anyone when you were in control of your own actions, so stop feeling guilty Roy.”

 

Roy had a thoughtful look on his face as the recording continued.

 

_Roy spun around again; sweeping the first cops legs out from under him and sent him crashing to the ground. He fell on his back, hitting his head and knocking him out. Roy looked around in anger, then took off running as Sin and Oliver both watched, horrified._

_The scene changed to Glades Memorial Hospital. It was late and the halls were deserted as Dr. Lockhart made his rounds, talking on his phone. "A full moon tonight." He noted to the person on the other line. "That really brings out the whack jobs. Good news is, it can't get any stranger." He opened the door to an exam room and walked in to put away some paperwork, then froze at what he saw. The Arrow was sitting on the exam table, grimacing in pain, as the Canary stood next to him._

“You were saying?” Tommy said dryly.

 

_"My friend needs your help." She pleaded to the doctor._

_"I was wrong. Got to call you back." He said into the phone, hanging up._

_A short time later, Dr. Lockhart was hanging up the x-rays of Oliver's knees on the light board. "Some of this damage is chronic." He explained. "The cost of jumping off rooftops, I guess."_

_"I need to get back on my feet." Oliver said through the voice changer._

_"I can give you a brace, but you'll still be in horrendous amounts of pain." The doctor said. He opened a cabinet and started rifling through the pill bottles, looking for the right one. "Six months ago, this cabinet would have been empty. The Chinese Triad was stopping all of our med shipments until someone stopped them." He grabbed a bottle and looked over at The Arrow. "Ever since, I've been looking for a way to thank you." He said earnestly._

“Well, looks like you found one.” Diggle muttered with a smile.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. Thea was checking her inventory, needing to do something at her club since her mother took it over for the night. She sighed in annoyance. "If you're going to have to follow me everywhere, at least don't lurk, all right?" she called out._

_Diggle stepped into the room from the hallway. "I can't let you out of my sight. You're sick of seeing me everywhere you go; lurking seemed like a good compromise." He explained, examining one of the bottles on the shelf._

_"Yeah, well, it's not." Thea said, moving out of the room._

_Diggle followed. "Family's hard. Sometimes they're the hardest in the world." He said as they walked. "Loving someone so much and letting them love you back."_

_"You know, you're right." Thea said, annoyed. "You should go back to lurking."_

_"I've spent a lot of time with your family." Dig pointed out._

_"If you think that gives you the right to weigh in, you're wrong." She shot back as she headed down to the bar. "Plus, Oliver will be out of money soon and you'll be unemployed." She added with a wicked smile._

“Sorry I’m being a bitch to you now.” Thea sighed and Diggle shrugged.

 

“I’ve had worse.” Diggle said nonchalantly.

 

_Dig sighed. "Right. I guess I should get this in under the wire." He leaned up against the bar. "You know, your mother isn't perfect. Her judgment definitely isn't. But there's one thing she's consistent about is that she loves you and Oliver."_

_"And that should buy her what in your mind?" she asked._

_"Well, I don't know, Thea. But she is your mother. That should buy her something. A second chance, maybe." He suggested._

_The glanced up at the TV, trying to ignore Dig, and froze. On the screen a newscaster was talking, but what drew her attention was a blurry photograph of a man in a red hood. 'A citywide man hunt for the perpetrator of an attack that left one police officer seriously injured and the other dead.' The anchor was saying. 'We have video shot by a bystander, but please be warned that the footage may be too graphic for some viewers.' The picture changed to a blurry cell phone camera video showing a guy in a red hood killing one cop and crippling another. It never showed the man's face, but Thea instantly knew who it was. "Oh, my God." She said, horrified._

“And now you’re going to put yourself in danger to try and help him.” Tommy groaned in dismay and Thea shrugged.

 

“The heart wants what it wants.” Thea said shamelessly as she leaned into Roy, who smirked despite himself.

 

_"Thea—" Diggle started._

_"I have to go see a friend." Thea said shakily. "If you have to follow, follow." She hurried out of the club, with Diggle following closely behind._

_The scene changed to the lair, where Oliver was grinding up some of his herbs for his knee._

_"These aren't going to fix your knee." Sara told him._

_"They'll help it heal faster." He replied crossly._

_"And until then?" Sara demanded._

_"Where are we with facial recognition?" Oliver asked Felicity, ignoring Sara._

_"Traffic cams can't get a clear shot." She replied. "Now I see why you wear that hood."_

“Yep, great way to avoid facial recognition.” Dinah mused.

 

_"Felicity," he sighed. "We need to find Roy before the police do." He said urgently._

_"Because they'll kill him and we won't?" Sara demanded._

_Oliver turned and glared at her. "S.T.A.R. Labs is working on a cure." He reminded her._

_"Which they may never come up with." She shot back. "And even if they do, I mean, how many people are we going to let Roy kill in the meantime?"_

“She really did live in a ‘kill or be killed’ world.” Laurel said sadly and Dinah nodded.

 

“It’s what eventually tore her and Ollie apart. He had decided he didn’t want to live like that anymore but Sara couldn’t see any other way to live, at least not back then.” Dinah explained.

 

_"You know, you wanted to kill Helena, too. You found another way." He reminded her._

_Sara scoffed dismissively. "That was different, and you know it." She said. "Roy has the Mirakuru in him, just like Slade. And if you had a clear shot of Slade right now, you would take it." She pointed out._

_"Roy isn't Slade!" Oliver said hotly._

_"Roy isn't Roy." Sara replied. "He's not himself anymore, he's too far gone."_

“She’s not wrong.” Roy sighed and Thea took his hand, squeezing it in what she hoped was a soothing manner.

 

_"I don't believe that." Oliver said quietly._

“It’s kind of touching how he won’t give up on you.” Laurel said with a slight smile.

 

“He was the only one who never did. When you were Prometheus, almost everyone had given up on Arsenal, thinking there was nothing left of him in Prometheus. You know what Ollie said? ‘I’ll give up on Roy when my heart stops beating.’” Dinah said and Thea smiled while Roy was stunned that someone could care so much about him.

 

_Sara sighed and knelt down in front of him. "Do you even hear yourself right now, Ollie?" she asked. "This is the exact conversation that we had five years ago, except we were freezing on Lian Yu." He remained silent. Sara stood and headed over to the weapons drawer._

“It’s not the same situation. Slade was a psychopath; Roy just needs to be saved.” Tommy said and Roy smiled at him weakly.

_"What are you doing?" Oliver demanded._

_Sara pulled out a Colt 1911 and inserted the clip. "What needs to be done." She said firmly, slipping the gun into her waistband. "The Mirakuru won't do anything against a head shot."_

_"Sara!" he called out angrily as she headed towards the stairs._

_"Your mother's rally starts in a half an hour. I'd start getting dressed if I were you." She advised, heading out to hunt Roy._

“Well, she’s certainly a woman on a mission.” Diggle said dryly as Roy winced.

 

_Oliver sighed in defeat. He limped back to his seat and leaned against the table. "She reminds me so much of me after I came home." He said despondently. "When it just seemed…" he sighed. "Seemed impossible to believe in anything even resembling hope."_

_"But you did." Felicity reminded him quietly. "You did. Eventually. Sara will, too." She told him. He smiled weakly at her before limping off to change._

“She’s not wrong,” Laurel admitted, “it just took a few years and going traveling through time.”

 

“What?” Tommy asked as they all stared in shock.

 

“Long story.” Dinah explained.

 

_The scene changed to the Alley outside of Verdant. Thea, with Diggle close behind, walked out and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a hooded figure at the end of the alley._

_"Oh, thanks for coming." Thea said, walking up to her friend._

_Sin looked up. "It's chill." She nodded towards Diggle. "Who's that?"_

_"I…my shadow." She said tiredly. "Listen, something is going on with Roy."_

_"I know, I saw him." Sin said. "He's totally crazed."_

_"What's happening to him?" Thea asked._

_"Do you remember around Christmas when he bailed on us?" Sin asked after a long pause._

_"Yeah?" The replied uncertainly._

_"He got shot up with something, this drug, and it's been messing with his head." Sin revealed._

_"Did you tell my brother any of this?" Thea asked after a moment._

_Sin looked at her, confused. "No Why?"_

_"He's got this bodyguard all over me." She said. "He must know about Roy, think he's coming after me or something."_

“You’re putting part of it together.” Diggle noted.

 

“How long would it take me to put it all together?” Thea asked.

 

“You wouldn’t. You would find out when Ollie took you down into the lair ten months later.” Dinah explained.

 

“Why the hell would he do that?” Tommy asked stunned, along with the rest of them.

 

“Tomorrow, before we send you all back, I’ll fill in all the blanks.” Dinah promised.

 

_"Well, what are you going to do?" Sin asked. Thea sighed._

_Father off in the Glades, Roy was walking aimlessly when he heard a familiar voice._

_"Roy?" he looked up and saw Thea walking slowly towards him. "Roy, it's me. It's Thea. I'm so glad I found you." She said emotionally. "I've been looking everywhere. This is all my fault." She said. "I did this to you. When you broke up with me, it was a cry for help, and I didn't listen. I should be punished. I deserve to be punished." She said harshly. "Someone hurts you, and you hurt them worse. You hurt them permanently." Roy stared ahead at the empty street as the phantom Thea's voice continued to ring in his head. "You should just kill me. Kill me." Her voice said, echoing in his mind._

 

“What the hell was that?” Tommy demanded as Thea stared in shock and confusion while Roy stiffened.

 

“Slade got the homicidal Shado; Arsenal got a deranged Thea telling him to kill her.” Dinah explained.

 

“Great.” Roy groaned.

 

_The scene changed to Verdant. Oliver was sitting on a bar stool, taking the weight off of his leg when Mark walked hurriedly up to him. "Oliver, where have you been? Haven't you got any of my calls?" he asked frantically._

_"I've been busy." Oliver said shortly. "What's wrong?"_

_"It's your mother." Mark said._

_"She'll do fine." Oliver replied offhandedly._

_"No, she won't." Mark said urgently. "She's not using this event to rally the troops. She's using it to tell people she's dropping out of the race." He revealed to his shock._

_Upstairs in Thea's office, a small make-up table had been set up. Moira sat in the office, alone, going over her speech when Oliver limped in. Moira looked up and saw Oliver hobbling, and turned to him in alarm. "Oliver. What happened?" she asked worriedly._

_"It's a motorcycle accident, it was stupid." He replied automatically, sitting down on the edge of Thea's desk._

_"Yes, this would be the second accident in as many weeks, if my math is correct." Moira said dryly._

“Like I said, we need a better excuse. Someone is gonna put it together if that becomes his go to cover.” Diggle pointed out.

 

“Lucky for me, I’m great at covers. I’ll think some up.” Tommy promised.

 

_"Mom, what's happening with Thea right now isn't because you weren't spending enough time with her." Oliver pointed out._

_"Well, maybe not." She moved to the windows to look out over the club. "I have to do something and I'm not sure what else to do."_

_"Thea hates you right now because of the things that you've done." Oliver pointed out. "Terrible things. So let her see you do something good- as mayor. Mom, I know a little something about… sacrificing the people closest to me for the good of this city." He said as she tuned to look at him. "It's what you need to do now."_

_"I know." Moira said._

_Oliver smiled. "Good." He said, He started to hobble out of the room._

_"Oliver, I know." Moira repeated, stopping him cold. "I know." She said again quietly. Oliver turned to look at her in shock. "I've known since last year, I suppose." She revealed. "The night of the Undertaking, everything became so clear. It was pretty much the night I stopped sleeping."_

_"Before you say anything else—" Oliver began._

_Moira cut him off. "There's nothing else to say." She said, taking his hands in hers. "Nothing I need to say. Except I could not be more proud."_

“Tommy…are you crying?” Laurel turned towards her friend.

 

“No, I just have something in my eye.” Tommy denied feebly as he swiped at his eyes.

 

“Sure.” Roy said and Thea grinned cheekily at Tommy’s glare.

 

_Seven years ago-_

_Moira led Samantha Clayton into the lounge at Queen Manor. "Can I have Raisa get you anything to drink?" Moira asked pleasantly. "Or something to eat, perhaps? Please." She gestured at the couch for Samantha to sit._

_"Where's Oliver?" she asked._

_"Ah, he's running an errand for me." Moira replied. "I thought it would give us a chance to talk." She said, sitting down._

_"With all due respect, um, Mrs. Queen, what's happening, it's between me and your son." Samantha said, sitting down next to the intimidating woman._

“Yeah, but mom makes everything that’s our business her business.” Thea said in a tone mixed with exasperation and fondness.

 

_"Yes." Moira said, opening a file she had been carrying with her._

_Samantha eyed the file warily, seeing her picture in it. "What is that?" she asked._

_"Oh, I had one of our investigators write up a dossier on you." Moira said offhandedly. "I'm sorry, but it's a necessary precaution against a fraudulent claim of paternity."_

_"Well, the baby is Oliver's." Samantha said firmly._

_"Oh, of that I have no doubt." Moira replied. "Our investigators were quite thorough. But you can imagine how many people my family attracts who are looking for handouts." She said, looking at Samantha._

_"Well, I'm not looking for money." She stated._

_"Of course not." Moira replied. She pulled a check out of the folder and held it out to Samantha._

_"I told you, I don't want money." Samantha repeated._

_Moira placed the check down in front of her. "And I'm telling you that this is my first grandchild." She said. "And I want to make certain that he or she has a bright future. Please." She smiled, pushing the check closer to Samantha._

_Reluctantly she picked it up, and then gaped at the amount. "This is a million dollars.' She said in astonishment._

_"I want to make certain that my son has a bright future as well." Moira said. Her voice turned colder. "That money is yours once you tell Oliver that you've lost the baby."_

_"What?!" Samantha exclaimed in shock._

_"And another million when you return to Central City, never to speak to him again." Moira continued. "Can I offer you some advice, one mother to another? When it comes to your children, there is no action that is inconceivable; there is no decision that is impossible. You do what you must to provide the life that they need. And I think that $2 million is sufficient to provide the life that both our children need." She reached out and took Samantha's hand. "Don't you?" she asked._

“More like stopping him from dealing with his responsibilities. No wonder he was so spoiled, she and Robert probably stepped in to clean up after him every time he messed up.” Diggle said disgusted.

 

“And this time, she robbed him of the first several years of his son’s life.” Roy noted.

 

“I’m not sure I could ever forgive that.” Diggle admitted.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to Verdant. Moira's supporters cheered her as she climbed onto the stage. She smiled and waved as she stepped in front of the microphones. She waited a moment for the applause to die down before she began to speak. "When I was first approached about entering this race, the prospect of winning seemed a distant, nearly impossible feat." She said. "Now, how could a city that had suffered so much place its faith in someone so responsible for its suffering? But as the weeks progressed, good people such as you raised your voices in support, and I began to think that I could make a difference. I could help save this city."_

_From his office, Blood watched the television coverage in anticipation._

_"But… recent events have changed things, and…" she trailed off, spotting Thea in the crowd. The two stared at each other for a moment, and Moira turned to find Oliver, who gave her a small smile of encouragement. "And now I know I can make a difference." She continued strongly._

_Blood stared in disbelief as Moira didn't concede._

“Take that, you bastard.” Roy smirked viciously as they all took a sadistic sense of joy in the look on Blood’s face.

 

_"And should the honor become mine, I promise with every breath I take to do what is necessary; to sacrifice what is necessary for the good of this city."_

_Thea stared at her mother, and then looked back at the TV, seeing the live coverage, and a plan formed in her mind._

“Why do I have a bad feeling about that look?” Tommy groaned.

 

“Because it’s Thea, Captain of the bad idea train.” Dinah said dryly and Thea glared at the both as the others snickered,

 

“Thanks.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

“Vertigo.” Roy said and Thea sunk back into her seat, knowing she was beaten.

 

_"Starling City is my home, you are my family, and there is nothing more important to me than family. Thank you, thank you all." She smiled and waved as the crowd cheered. Moira walked off the stage towards Mark and Oliver._

_"Ahh! Great speech, Moira." Mark said in relief. "A little too off-book for my liking, but we'll work on that."_

_"I thought it was perfect." Oliver said, smiling at his mother._

_"Um… Hi." They turned to see Thea standing on the stage in front of the cameras. She chuckled nervously. "I just wanted to come up here and say a few words. I am so proud to have my mom here tonight at my club, Verdant, in the Glades." Thea said awkwardly._

_In the crowd, Diggle looked at Oliver. "What is she doing?" he wondered._

_"She knows this is being televised." Oliver realized. "She's sending a message to Roy, trying to draw him out."_

“You are captain of the bad idea train.” Roy looked at his girlfriend, wondering if she was mentally sane.

 

“I didn’t know you had another me telling you to kill me!” Thea protested.

 

“But you knew he assaulted people and killed someone.” Dinah pointed out and Thea knew she was beaten once more.

 

_"So vote Queen. Tell your friends. Thanks." She said, raising a glass of champagne in a toast. She walked off the stage to applause._

_"Thea," Moira began._

_"That was… that was not for you." Thea said, not even looking at her as she walked past._

“No, that was for your homicidal boyfriend.” Roy said dryly and Thea sighed, realizing he still blamed himself. They would need to have a talk later, she decided.

 

_Oliver limped quickly as she could down the stairs into the Lair. Felicity caught him at the bottom and let him lean against her shoulder. "Oh, God, you're heavy." She groaned. "Is this really all muscle?"_

_Oliver cleared his throat. "How many of those venom arrows do we have?" he asked._

_"About 20.' She said._

_"I need all of them." He said, leaning against the medical cart._

_"Okay." Felicity said. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Can you even get into those leather pants with that knee?" she wondered._

_"Lidocaine. Now." He ordered._

_Felicity opened the drawer and pulled out a bottle of Lidocaine and a syringe. She stuck the needle into the bottle and looked at the label. "Ok. Let's see, the bottle says the proper dose is—"_

_Oliver reached over and pulled the stopper all the way up. "Is all of it." He finished._

_"I don't think that's a good—" Felicity started, but Oliver pulled the needle out of the bottle and jammed it into his knee. She winced. "Ooh." Now medicated, Oliver turned and headed towards his costume as Felicity gagged._

“Well, that’s one way to handle it.” Roy said dryly.

 

_Upstairs, the champagne was flowing as Moira mingled with her supporters._

_"Terrific speech, Moira." One gentleman said. "How did we not think of running you years ago?"_

_"Thank you." She said with a smile. As he moved off, she looked over and saw Thea and Diggle standing at a table. "Uh, can you give me a moment?" she asked Mark._

_"Mm-hmm, of course." He said happily._

_She started moving towards Thea, determined to make things right, when suddenly gun shots rang out. She looked over in alarm to see Roy rushing in, throwing one of the security guards across the room._

“You happy now?” Roy asked bitterly and Thea sighed guiltily.

 

_People started screaming and running for the exits as Diggle ran over to Moira._

_"You need to go now!" he urged, passing her off to one of the other guards._

_"No, no, no! I can't leave without my daughter!" she cried fearfully._

_"I'll see to the safety of your daughter! Go, go!" Moira struggled as she was pulled towards the exit. Diggle turned to Thea. "Thea, we have to go now!"_

_"No, it's Roy!" she yelled back. "I'm not leaving him! He came here for me!"_

“Yeah, but not for the reason you think.” Roy groaned.

 

_Roy grabbed another guard by the hand, blocking his gun, and tossed him at Diggle. Both men were sent crashing to the ground. Roy looked over and ripped the velvet rope off of the metal pole, then picked up the pole and swung it into Diggle's head, knocking him out._

“Not cool man.” Diggle said and Roy winced.

 

“Sorry.” Roy muttered.

 

“Wasn’t you.” Diggle assured him.

 

_"Roy!" Thea cried out, drawing his attention. "Roy, listen to me! Listen to my voice! I don't know what's going on with you, but I have to believe the man I fell in love with is still inside there, somewhere." She cried. As he moved towards her. His hand was shaking as the Mirakuru kept hold of him. "You have to fight." Thea urged. "You're strong. You can fight this. Fight this!" Suddenly Roy's hand snapped out and grabbed her by the throat. Thea was gasping and choking as he lifted her a foot off of the ground._

Roy looked away, shame and horror filling him as Thea took his hand, smiling at him reassuringly.

 

Tommy’s fists were clenched so tightly that his hands began turning white, Laurel put her hand over her face, and Diggle tensed. All waiting to see what would happen next.

 

_"Roy!" The Canary yelled, coming into the club with her gun drawn. "Put her down." She ordered._

_"Please don't." Thea choked out. "He can't control it!"_

_"That's why I don't have a choice." Sara said coldly._

“Why is she so hellbent on killing Arsenal?” Laurel asked, disturbed by her sister’s bloodlust.

 

“She’s seen what the Mirakuru did to Slade. She doesn’t think Arsenak can be saved. What she didn’t realize was that Arsenal had more strength of character then Slade. Dinah explained as she looked over at Roy.

 

_Suddenly Sin was there, blocking her shot. "Whoa!" she yelled._

_"Get out of the way." She told her friend._

_"Don't do this." Sin urged._

_Roy suddenly tossed Thea to the ground and turned fully towards Sara. The Canary shoved Sin out of the way and dripped to one knee, shooting Roy- in the leg. The boy fell to the ground, groaning in pain as Sara stood over him, her gun pointed at his head._

_Roy looked up at her. "Kill me." He gasped out. "Please. Kill me." He begged._

Roy nodded absently and then became aware of Thea gripping his hand so tightly he thought it was going to break.

 

“We are so talking about this later.” Thea hissed in his ear.

 

_"Please don't do it!" Thea pleaded. Sara's finger tightened on the trigger as Roy got back to his feet…_

_Then The Arrow arrived, firing three venom-filled arrows into Roy's chest. Roy looked down in surprise, and then fell back to the ground, unconscious._

_"No one dies tonight." Oliver told Sara harshly._

Thea sighed in relief, letting go of his hand and Roy flexed his hand, wincing at her tight grip.

 

_"The police…" Thea croaked._

_"Go outside." The Arrow ordered the two girls. "We'll get Roy the help he needs. I promise! Go!" he urged. Sin led Thea out of the club, and Oliver and Sara picked Roy up and dragged him back down to the basement. Soon, he was back on the table, hooked up to an I.V._

_"Ah, Tibetan pit viper venom. A constant dose of that can't be good for you." Felicity said worriedly. She looked to Oliver. "Right?"_

_"It'll keep him sedated like it did Slade." Diggle said._

_"Until when?" she asked. "And what happens when we run out? It's not like you can buy this stuff over the counter. Unless you're in Tibet. Then maybe."_

_"We'll take care of him." Oliver said. He looked at Sara. "I'm not ready to give up on Roy." He stated before limping off._

“He never was.” Dinah mused fondly.

 

_"Anyone else crave dim sum after fisticuffs?" Felicity asked. The others were silent. "No? Ok. Dumplings for one, then."_

_"I would have killed him." Sara said after Felicity walked off. "I was ready to." She turned to Oliver. "He'd be dead right now if you wouldn't have stopped me."_

_"But he's not. That's all that matters." Oliver said, limping off._

_"That's not true." Sara said. "I wanted to kill Roy. Because that's what I do. That's who I am." She said. "I spent six years in the darkness. And I looked into the eyes of the devil and I gave him my soul."_

_"Let me help you get it back." Oliver quietly pleaded._

_"No, you deserve someone better." She said sadly. "Someone who can harness that light that's still inside of you. But I'm not that person. And I never will be."_

“It’s not you, it’s me? Really…just….really?” Tommy asked as he stared incredulously.

 

“It may be cliché, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Any attempt at a relationship between them right now would blow up in their faces.it would not have been good for either of them to stay together.” Dinah explained.

 

_"Sara…" he turned to her as she started to leave. "Don't." he begged._

_"I'm sorry." She said. "I just care about you too much to be with you."_

_A few minutes later, Sara was climbing onto her bike when Sin walked up to her. "Hey." She said. "Everything ok?"_

_"Yeah. Just had a long day." Sara said tiredly._

_"How's Roy?" she asked._

_"Well, he's alive, no thanks to me." Sara smiled at her friend. "You know, that was brave getting between us. It took guts."_

_"Not really. I knew you wouldn't really hurt him." Sin said confidently. "You're not a killer."_

“I wish she had opened up to Sin more. Sara needed people like Sin in her life, people who only saw the best in her.” Dinah sighed sadly.

 

_Sara looked at her sadly, and then hugged her tightly. "What's this for?" she asked._

_"Saying good-bye."_

_"What?" Sin said in alarm. "Wait, where are you going?" she asked._

_Sara climbed onto her bike and started it up. "To see an old friend." She said, before revving the engine and taking off. Sin looked on sadly as another person she cared for left her behind._

“Where was she going?” Laurel asked curiously.

 

“To get backup.” Dinah said vaguely.

 

_Inside the club, the police were running their investigation while a detective reported to Moira. "We've got every cop in this city canvassing. We'll find this guy." He said._

_"Thank you." Moira said. The detective moved off just as Olive limped in. "You ok?" she asked her son._

_"Fine." He said._

_"Where were you?" Thea asked, her arms crossed._

_"He was with me." She lied. Oliver gave her a grateful look._

_Thea sighed. "Glad to see the two of you are getting along again." She said before storming out._

“Please tell me that I stop being a spoiled brat soon.” Thea begged.

 

“You do.” Dinah promised but Diggle noticed the look on her face and began to get a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

 

_Moira sighed as well. "Thea…" the three headed out and climbed into a waiting limo, which pulled off as soon as the doors closed._

_The three sat in silence, with Moira and Oliver both looking out the windows. Thea, however, was looking at Oliver. "You knew about Roy." She said._

_Oliver looked at her in surprise. "What?" he asked._

_"That's why you had your bodyguard stalking me." She continued. "Somehow, you knew what was going on with him."_

_He let out a long breath. "I'm just trying to protect you." He said._

_"By not telling me the truth." She pointed out. "Just like with Malcolm Merlyn. You know, the two of you; you think you're protecting me by lying and by keeping secrets. But that's what's actually hurting me." She pointed out._

“You know, that’s what helped him start realizing he didn’t need to lie to everyone to protect them. Only when it was necessary.” Dinah said and Thea smiled.

 

_"You're absolutely right." Moira said to her surprise. "We need to turn a new page."_

_"It's not going to be that simple. Or easy." Thea argued._

_"I know." Moira conceded. "If the truth were easy for me, we wouldn't be in this situation. But to start… there's something about Malcolm that both you and Oliver need to know." She took a breath. "Malcolm—" Suddenly their limo was t-boned hard, sending glass flying as the three passengers were knocked out._

“What the hell just happened?!” Tommy exclaimed as everyone sat up, fear and worry filling them.

 

“The next phase of his plan.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_When Oliver regained consciousness, the first thing he realized was that he was bound exceptionally well- his hand and ankles were bound, and thick cord was wrapped around his arms to prevent him from slipping his bonds. As his eyes opened, he blearily saw a woman crying, and for a moment thought it was Shado. As his vision cleared, he saw it was his mother, and Thea besides her. Both were on their knees with their hands bound behind them._

_"Oliver!" Moira cried out. Thea was crying next to her, and behind them both was Slade Wilson._

_"I was dead the last time you were offered this choice." He said, walking towards him._

“That sick bastard,” Tommy growled through gritted teeth, “using this against Ollie!”

 

“He’s even more of a monster than I though.” Laurel glared as Roy pulled the frightened Thea to him.

 

_"Slade," Oliver groaned, forcing himself to sit up. He tried to slip out of the ropes, but they were just too tight._

_"What's happening?" Thea sobbed, terrified._

_Slade knelt in front of Oliver. "I often wonder how you looked… when he pointed the gun at Shado… and took her from me."_

_"You psychopath." Oliver growled. "Shado… Shado wasn't yours!"_

_"No, she was yours." Slade replied angrily. "Until you chose another woman over her."_

_"That's not what happened!" Oliver shouted._

_"It is what happened! It is!" Slade shouted back, standing. "She told me!" he pointed behind himself- to nothing._

_Oliver stared in confusion. "What do you mean, she?" he demanded. "There's nobody there!"_

“That’s when he began to realize just how crazy Slade actually was.” Dinah said softly as tension in the room began mounting.

 

_"Slade… you were on the island with Oliver?" Moira said in realization. Thea stared at him in shock._

_"I thought I had known true despair, until I met your son." Slade told her. "I trusted him to make the right choice."_

_"Let me make the right choice now." Oliver said. "Kill me." He begged._

“Slade would never do that. Not until he had made sure to make Oliver suffer as much as possible.” Diggle muttered.

 

_Thea and Moira both cried "No!"_

_"Choose me, please!" he begged._

_"I am killing you, Oliver." Slade said, pulling out a gun and cocking it. "Only more slowly than you would like."_

_"Don't." Oliver begged._

_"Choose." Slade demanded._

_"Don't…."_

_"Choose." Slade repeated._

_"Please…." Thea was begging through the tears_

_"CHOOSE!" Slade roared._

_"I swear to God, I am going to kill you!" Oliver screamed as he pointed the gun at Thea's head. "No! No!"_

Thea whimpered as Roy tightened his grip on her, Tommy clenching his fists that shook at his side as worry for all involved filled him. Laurel brought a hand to her face as tears filled her eyes. Diggle sat rigidly still, wondering what was about to happen next.

 

" _No." Moira said, rising to her feet._

_Thea looked over in horror. "No!"_

_"Mom, what are you doing?" Oliver asked, terrified._

_"There's only one way this night can end." Moira said tearfully._

_"No!" Thea pleaded._

_Moira turned to face Slade. "And we both know that. Don't we, Mr. Wilson?"_

_"Mom!" Oliver shouted, straining against the ropes. "Please, don't!"_

_"Both my children will live." She demanded of Slade._

“No, please God no.” Thea begged desperately as they all realized what was about to happen.

 

_"Mom! What are you doing?!" Thea cried out._

_"Thea, I love you." Moira said through her own tears. "Close your eyes, baby!" she said as Slade raised the gun at her head._

_"No!" Oliver roared._

_"You possess true courage." Slade said, slowly lowering the gun. He put it back in its holster. "I am truly sorry…" Slade continued, turning away from Moira._

_"What?" she asked in confusion._

_"You did not pass that on to your son." He finished. In one smooth motion he drew his sword and spun, stabbing Moira through the heart._

“NOOOOOOO!” Thea cried out, lunging forward and Roy was barely able to hold his thrashing girlfriend back as she sobbed.

 

Tommy stared in at the screen in shock, horror filling him as he felt his grief at the loss of another mother. Laurel slumped back into her seat, shock written across her face, not able to truly process what she had just seen. Diggle lowered his head as Dinah breathed deeply, a single tear falling from her eyes as she relived the loss again.

 

_"No!" Thea cried out, sobbing as Slade withdrew the sword and Moira's body dropped to the ground, dead. Oliver fell over onto his side, utterly defeated. He stared in anguish at his mother's open, dead eyes._

_"There is still one person who has to die," Slade said, placing the blade of the sword against Thea's neck. "Before this can end."_

_"No…" Oliver pleaded weakly. Slade stepped back and used the sword to cut Thea's bonds, before turning and calmly walking back to his waiting vehicle._

_"Mom?" Thea scrambled over to her mother's side. "Mom! No! No! Mom!" she sobbed, laying hugging her body as Oliver passed out from the pain._

 

At this point, Thea had slumped forward, still crying as Roy simply held her, knowing he couldn’t make this better but hoping his presence would give her comfort. Tommy felt tears streaming down his face as Laurel began crying as well as she began to process what she was seeing.

 

_Seven years ago-_

_Oliver was walking the halls in Queen Manor talking on the phone to Samantha. "Well, yeah, I'm sorry, too." He was saying. "Well, listen, if there's ever anything that I can do… hello?" he looked at the phone sadly, before hanging it up._

_"Who was that?" Moira asked as she walked into the room._

_"That was, um…" Oliver looked at Moira, conflicted. "She lost the baby." He said._

_"Oh." Moira said sadly._

_"She said she's sad about it, and she's going to go back to school in Central City." He told her. "Apparently she has family there."_

_"Well, I'm sure this has been very traumatic for her.' Moira said. "But it sounds for the best."_

_"Hmm?" Oliver looked up at her. "Sure." He said distractedly._

_"You ok?" Moira asked._

_"Yeah. Yes." He said more firmly, a smile on his face. "I continue to be the luckiest guy on the planet. What… what would I have done if she…" he sighed, "Ahh. I'm not ready to be a dad." He said with a chuckle._

_"No." Moira agreed. But someday. It's my fondest hope for you." She told him honestly._

_"I'm glad I told you." Oliver said. "I don't think that I could have gotten through something like this without you."_

_"You're never without me. My beautiful boy." Moira pulled Oliver in for a hug,_

_Oliver relished the hug for a moment before pulling away. "It's, uh… I love you." He told her._

_"I love you." She replied. She leaned against the railing, watching Oliver move off into the house with a content smile._

_Present-_

_In the forest, Thea hugged her mother's body as Oliver lay still bound nearby._


	58. Break five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy and Thea get advice on how to deal with the events of the last recording from an unexpected source.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is probably not one of my better chapters. To be honest, I struggled with some parts. But I do hope you enjoy it.

“I’m trying not to take you being a thousand miles away personally.” Kara said as she looked over at Barry staring into space.

“I’m sorry,” Barry said as he turned on his side so he was facing her, “it’s just…every time I close my eyes, I’m back in that moment again.”

“Zoom killing your dad.” Kara said softly and he flinched but nodded.

“Every time I close my eyes…I see Zoom put his vibrating hand through my dad’s heart. That is what I lived for four years, that was my hell,” Barry sighed, “I just…I don’t know if I’ll ever be okay again after reliving that moment for four year.”

“You will. In time. You’re not along Barry.” Kara said as she put a hand on his cheek and he closed his eyes, simply enjoying having her so close.

“Well, it’s been about four years since I’ve had a decent meal. But you kind of destroyed my shirt.” Barry gestured to his shredded shirt and Kara shrugged nonchalantly.

“It was in the way. I have some of your shirts in the closet.” Kara said and he looked at her sharply.

“Kara…do you…live here?” Barry asked uncertainly.

“Our house was just that, our house. We bought it so we could make a life together, and we did. After you were gone, it was just a reminder of what I had lost. So I sold the house and moved here on the Watchtower.” Kara told him.

“Kara…” Barry trailed off.

“It’s okay, you’re here now.” Kara smiled.

Thea had stopped crying after a while but she still clung to Roy desperately as she sniffled. Tommy simply stared without seeing, what he had seen putting him into a state of shock. Laurel had long since gained control of her emotions, but none of them were sure what to do about Thea and Tommy. They knew what Thea was going through, as they had lost a mother in one way or another, and for Tommy this must be like losing his mother again, except now he was old enough to really process what was happening. After several moments, Dinah stood up from her seat.

“I know you’re both really traumatized by what you just see. But I think I know someone who can help.” Dinah told them.

Not long after, the group entered the kitchen and the time travelers stopped and stared at the sight before them. Kara, in street clothes, was sitting next to Barry as he consumed foot at a speedsters pace. Dinah smirked, almost laughing at the looks on the time travelers’ faces.

“He’s really fast.” Diggle said with a bug-eyed look.

“I told you.” Dinah reminded him.

“Seeing is believing.” Roy muttered.

“I thought he was trapped in the speed force.” Laurel said confused.

“And until last night, he was.” Dinah said as Barry suddenly sped in front of them.

“Hey Dinah.” Barry said nonchalantly.

“Hey Barry, how are you doing?” Dinah asked concerned.

“I’m…doing.” Barry said and Dinah nodded.

“So, I’m glad you’re here,” Dinah said and he raised an eyebrow, “we just reached the one where Moira…”

“And you want me to help out,” Barry said and she nodded, “alright, Thea, Tommy; come sit with me for a minute.”

Exchanging a look, the two siblings followed Barry over to a random table and sat down across from him. There was silence between them for a moment.

“So, I know you two must be in a lot of shock and pain right now. I know what you’re going through” Barry began.

“You weren’t there when your mom was murdered. So no, you don’t know what we’re feeling.” Thea snapped and Tommy silently agreed, even though he felt Thea was harsh with Barry.

You’re right; I didn’t see my mom murdered like you did Thea. But my dad was murdered in front of me a few years after I got my powers,” Barry said and Tommy gapped as Thea began feeling guilty, “I won’t lie to you, something like that stays with you, forever. It changes you in ways that you can’t imagine until after it’s happened. It never goes away, no matter what. But you two are lucky; you have the power to change Moira’s fate. This hasn’t happened in your time, none of it has. But I want you to remember something.”

“What?” Tommy asked wearily.

“You aren’t gods. Your actions have consequences. You could create a future where we all live happily ever after or a worse future. Just…when you go back, I want you to think very carefully before you do anything.” Barry advised them.

“You think he can help them? “Laurel asked her future self as they watched Barry talk to Tommy and Thea.

“I think he’s the person most qualified to do it.” Dinah said confidently.

“That he is.” Kara said as she walked over to them.

“Hey, how are you two?” Dinah asked as she looked over at her friend concerned.

“HE’s gone through a lot…but we’ll get through it together.” Kara said confidently and Dinah smiled.

“SO you…and him?” Diggle asked as he looked over at Barry.

“eight years, not counting the four he was in the speed force. Three dating, five married.” Kara explained as the Barry led Tommy and Thea back over to the others.

“Hey, you okay?” Roy asked as Thea reached him.

“No,” Thea said honestly, “I probably won’t be okay for a long time. But it’ll manage, because what’s happening here is important. We can make a better future. So I’ll put aside my own feelings so we can get on with it.”

“Well said Thea.” Dinah smiled, for the first time since they had arrived seeing not the spoiled brat who came, but the strong, brave young woman who had fought by her side.


	59. City of Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The viewers see as Oliver reaches his lowest point after Moira's death and how he rises back up.

After they had all eaten lunch, the six viewers returned to the viewing room and retook their seats. Dinah picked up the remote and pressed play, causing the next recording to start.

 

_The memory set opened on the funeral of Moira Queen. Most of the elite of Starling City were in attendance at the graveside funeral, seated in neat rows of chairs lining the new grave. Diggle and Felicity sat a few rows back, as did Quentin and Laurel Lance. In the front row sat Thea and Walter, with an empty seat between them that should have held Oliver._

“He didn’t even go?” Tommy said sadly as Thea stiffened.

 

“He started to but well…you’ll see.” Dinah promised.

 

_Meanwhile at City Hall, Sebastian Blood was being sworn in as the new Mayor. "I do solemnly swear that I will support, defend, and abide by the Starling City charter." He told the judge with one hand raised, and one hand on the bible. "And that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of mayor of Starling City. That I will tirelessly pursue justice on behalf of all of starling's citizens Impartially, to the best of my abilities. So help me God." There was applause from the small audience._

“That bastard.” Tommy growled as they all glared.

 

“Don’t worry; he’ll get what’s coming to him.” Dinah promised with a grim smile.

 

_At the grave, Walter slowly stood, picking up the pink carnation that was supposed to be Oliver's. He walked to the casket and gently laid both of the flowers down on the lid, and soon the rest of the guests followed._

Thea closed her eyes, trying to remind herself that this hadn’t happened yet as Roy wrapped an arm around her.

 

_Later that day, the reception was in full swing at Queen Manor. Guests milled about somberly, quietly talking to one another and giving Thea their condolences. She was wandering the room aimlessly as Laurel approached her._

_"Thea." Laurel said, getting the girl's attention._

_"Hi." She said softly._

_"I'm here for you." Laurel told her, bringing her into a hug._

_"I know." Thea said._

_The two broke apart as Sebastian Blood approached._

“He’s got a lot of nerve, showing his face there.” Roy sneered with the others nodding in agreement.

 

_"Ms. Queen. I wanted to offer my sincere condolences on your loss." He told the grieving girl. "Your mother was a good woman. She would have made a wonderful mayor."_

_"Thank you." Thea replied dully._

_"I'd love to speak with Oliver." Blood asked._

_"Well, if you see him, tell him he missed his own mother's funeral." She replied shakily, moving off to be alone._

_"No one's seen Oliver for a few days." Laurel told him._

_"We all deal with grief in different ways." Blood noted. "And the loss of a parent is…" he cleared his throat.” Well, it changes you. When you realize that your ancestors now look to you; that your family's legacy, their continuing works, are solely in your hands." He shook his head. "If you see Oliver, please tell him that I came by." He asked._

_"Of course." She said, watching him thoughtfully as he walked out._

“What’s with that look?” Diggle asked as Laurel frowned thoughtfully.

 

“I think I may be starting to put it together.” Laurel looked over at Dinah, who simply nodded.

 

_In another corner of the room, Diggle approached a crying Felicity and handed her a handkerchief. "Hey." He said._

_"Thanks." She replied, taking the handkerchief and dabbing her nose. "I don't even know why I'm crying. I didn't even like Moira." She said. “Terrible thing to say about someone after they've just died. In my defense, she was not nice. She was diabolical. Not a word you often hear at someone's funeral."_

“This is my mother’s funeral you bitch!” Thea snarled as she stood up, barely allowing Roy to pull her back down.

 

“Calm down.” He said softly, although he didn’t look any happier.

 

“She’s right. This is Mrs. Queen’s funeral, show some respect for the dead.” Tommy said, glaring heatedly at the screen.

 

“I’m not sure she knew how to respect the living.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_"You're not crying for her, Felicity, you're crying for Oliver." Diggle said._

“And of course you don’t say anything.” Thea grumbled while Diggle stared, wondering how he could be so blind.

 

“She began my John’s blind spot. She could do no wrong in his eyes. If she had asked him to jump, he would’ve asked how high.” Dinah said and Diggle went from shocked to disturbed.

 

_Felicity sighed. "Where is he? How could he not be here?" she demanded quietly._

_"I don't know." Diggle said._

_"If Oliver's smart," the two looked at shock as Isabel Rochev came up to them. "He ran back to his island to hide. But maybe he'll attend your funerals." She smirked as she walked out, leaving the two speechless behind her._

“Say what you will about her, she knows how to make an entrance and leave an impression.” Dinah admitted grudgingly.

 

_The scene changed to the master bedroom. Walter was looking at a photograph of him and Moira when Thea walked in. "I always loved this photograph." He said. "I thought your mother looked particularly beautiful."_

_Thea looked at the picture. "Well, she didn't. She thought she looked bug-eyed."_

_He chuckled. "She never said. How are you holding up?" he asked._

_"I'm not." She admitted._

_"Your mother gave her life for you, Thea." Walter said. "She showed you how much she loved you in ways very few parents ever could."_

_"I know. She died thinking I hated her." She said sadly. "But all we ever needed was the truth. It was a lie that killed her."_

_Walter looked at her in confusion. "I don't understand."_

_"Slade Wilson." She spat. "He was on that island with Oliver. And despises him for some reason." She revealed. "There was a psychopath in our lives and my brother never warned us about him."_

“That could’ve been what Slade wanted him to do.” Diggle pointed out and Thea nodded thoughtfully.

 

“Something Ollie considered and is why he didn’t say anything.” Dinah explained.

 

_"Thea, your brother loves you more than life itself." Walter told her._

_Thea sighed. "You should keep that photo." She told him before turning and briskly walking out of the room._

_Five years ago-_

_Oliver, Sara, Anatoli and Peter climbed one by one down the coning tower and into the hull of the submarine. They shined their lights around the darkened space, looking it over._

_"This sub is over 60 years old.” Anatoli remarked._

_"It was carrying the Mirakuru during the war when it ran aground." Sara revealed. They moved into the next compartment._

_Peter's light caught something, and he fixed the beam onto it. "Blood." He said._

_"Slade's." Oliver replied. "He was bleeding out, dying. Until we decided to give him the Mirakuru." He said with a sigh._

_"Not one of your better ideas." Anatoli remarked._

“Oh isn’t that the truth.” Tommy groaned.

 

_"What about my idea for you to fix this sub?" Oliver asked hotly. "You were in the Navy."_

_"The Russian Navy." He shot back. "They taught us how to sink Japanese sub, not pilot them."_

_"Anatoli, please." He begged. "I know it's a long shot, but if we get this sub operational, we can blow Slade and the Mirakuru out of the water and get the hell off of this island. I mean, unless you have a better idea, this is our only chance of getting home."_

“So that’s how Slade ended up having to swim to shore.” Laurel mused.

 

“On someone with no Mirakuru in their system, it would put Slade down.” Dinah muttered grimly.

 

“It’s a good plan.” Diggle agreed.

 

“Just not good enough.” Thea sighed.

 

_Anatoli looked around and sighed. "Ok. I try." He said, moving to get to work._

_Present-_

_The scene changed to the SCPD, where Lance was filling in a detective on the latest on the Wilson case. "No one has seen Slade Wilson since the night of the attack. I mean, he hasn't made any further threats on the Queen family, but we got to find this son of a—" he looked up to see Laurel walking in. "Excuse me." He told the detective, and then moved towards his daughter. "Hey."_

_"Missed you at the reception." She said._

_Lance sighed. "Yeah. I had to get back here, see what was happening with the case."_

_"Any leads?" she asked._

_"No. Wilson's a ghost." He said, disappointed. "He's not the only one who's disappeared. You heard from your sister?" he asked._

_"Nothing apart from a text that she needed a change of scenery." She said._

_"Something else on your mind?" he asked knowingly._

_"It's Sebastian Blood." She said finally, pressing on despite his uncomfortable look. "There's something that doesn't seem right."_

_"Laurel…"_

_"Dad, I know what you're thinking." She said quickly. "When I accused him of killing his father, I was upset. But just because I had a problem doesn't mean I was wrong about Sebastian."_

“Nope, I was right the whole time and no one believed me.” Laurel grumbled.

 

“In their defense, I gave them every reason not to.” Dinah pointed out.

 

_"Please, don't go down this road again, ok?" he begged. He looked at his daughter seriously. "What's bringing this on?" he asked._

_"I saw him at the reception." She said. "And it struck me that the only reason that he's mayor now is because Moira was killed."_

_"Yeah, by Slade Wilson." Lance pointed out._

_"What if there's a connection?" she asked. "You once told me, a cop is only as good as his gut. Well, I'm the daughter of a cop, and I know in my gut Sebastian is not the man that you think he is."_

_He sighed. "You sure? Baby, last time—"_

_"I was a drunk." She said bluntly. "And you were right not to trust me. But, Dad I need you to trust me now." She pleaded._

“Please tell me he does.” Laurel begged.

 

“No spoilers.” Dinah said with a mysterious smile.

 

_The scene changed to the Mayor's office, where Blood was signing new legislation in front of the press._

_"This legislation is the first step toward making Starling City the jewel that it once was." He said, signing the paper as the cameras flashed. "The jewel that it can be again." He smiled as he finished, and handed the papers to an aide to file._

_His assistant came up to him and leaned in close. "Phone call for you, Mayor Blood." She told him as the press started filing out._

_"I'm still getting used to people calling me that, Alyssa." He told her with a smile. "Please take a message."_

_"The caller insisted." She said. "He said he's your father."_

_Blood blinked. "That's impossible." He said incredulously. Then he shook his head. "Never mind. I'll take it." He told her. He picked up the phone and waited until the door closed and he was alone before connecting the call. "Hello?"_

_'Hello, Sebastian.' Slade Wilson said from the other end. 'I'm sorry to bother you. I just wanted to check in and see how your first day is going.'_

“Not his father, just homicidal big brother.” Roy said sarcastically.

 

_"Very well, thank you." Blood replied. "But I'm a little busy right now, so if you'll allow me to call you back; I'll do that as soon as I can."_

_'No need.' Slade said. 'I'm sure you have quite a lot of business to attend to. You are the mayor now, after all. So get to work.' The implied threat made, Slade hung up. Blood shakily hung his phone up, glaring at the phone._

“It’s amazing how he didn’t realize who he was working for before this point and even a little after.” Dinah mused.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Diggle and Felicity were standing around the med table, where Roy lay, still sedated. Dig looked at the bag of snake venom and frowned._

_"We're almost out of snake venom." He said worriedly._

_"Seeing Roy like this reminds me of Barry." Felicity said. "And Barry reminds me of S.T.A.R. Labs. S.T.A.R. Labs reminds me of the Mirakuru cure that they're working on, which we could really use…right now."_

_"Yeah, especially since Isabel Rochev was clearly injected with the stuff." Dig said crossly._

_"How do you know?" she asked._

_"'Cause there's no other way she could be walking around after being shot dead-on with a nine-millimeter hollow point." He replied. They both sighed. "I've left about a dozen messages for Oliver about Isabel being back. No response. You have any luck finding him?" he asked._

_"Tons." She said worriedly, heading to her computers. "All of it bad. There's been no activity on his passport, cell phone, or bank accounts- what's left of them, anyhow. And facial recognition hasn't spotted him in any airport, bus, or train station."_

“Then he’s somewhere that’s out of sight. Oliver’s good, but spotting would have spotted him by now.” Diggle mused.

 

_Right." Dig said. "What about Sara?"_

_"Nothing either." She said. Diggle let out a long breath. "Dig, people don't just go missing like this, unless—"_

_"Don't go there, Felicity." He warned._

_"What if she is?" Felicity asked worriedly. "What if Oliver is? Maybe the reason we can't find him is because—"_

_"He's alive, Felicity." He said sternly. "If he wasn't, Isabel Rochev wouldn't be so shy about rubbing it in our faces. Believe me, he's alive."_

“If either of them had been killed, Slade would’ve taken great joy in letting you know.” Dinah noted.

 

_"Well, I hope you have some way on how to find him, because I am running out of places to look and people to ask." She said._

_Dig glared at the screen "I know who to ask." He growled._

_The scene changed to A.R.G.U.S. Felicity and Diggle were led into Amanda Waller's office._

“Are you kidding me, we ask her for help?” Diggle growled.

 

“If there was another way, you would have taken it. There wasn’t.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"Thanks for agreeing to see us." Diggle said._

_Waller looked up at Diggle with an inscrutable look. "Mr. Diggle." She greeted coolly. "Thought I made it clear after our last meeting. As far as A.R.G.U.S. is concerned, you're out of favors."_

_"I'm not asking for myself, Amanda. I'm asking for everyone in Starling City." He said, moving closer to her desk. "I need you to find Oliver Queen." He said._

_Shortly, they were led into the command room. As Amanda talked to one of her techs, Felicity was drooling over the computers._

_"Dig." She whispered excitedly. "That computer's running an XK-15 processor."_

_"Felicity…"_

_"But that's not even supposed to exist yet." She stared at the computer hungrily. "I want one."_

“Part of me is amused while the other part is scared what she could do with that.” Tommy muttered and the others nosed, feeling the same way.

 

_"Let me know what you find." Waller told the tech, and then turned back to Dig and Felicity. "I don't have time to keep track of your friends, Mr. Diggle." She said. "We deal with more pressing issues here."_

_"You don't understand. Oliver's disappeared." Dig said urgently._

_"Maybe he needs some time." She said sarcastically. "Or is it possible that the two of you simply haven't been looking in the right place? Did you try facial recognition?" Waller asked Felicity._

_"Yes, I ran it three times." she replied, insulted that Waller thought she hadn't._

_"Amanda, please." Dig said, taking her by the arm and leading her across the room to a quieter spot. "Slade Wilson has an army of men just like him." He revealed._

_Waller looked at him sharply. "How many men have been exposed to the Mirakuru?" she demanded._

_"Enough to lay waste to this city. We need to find Oliver right now." He said._

“You really should not have told her that John.” Dinah muttered grimly and he shot her a worried look.

 

“Why?” Diggle asked feeling a pit forming h=in his stomach.

 

“You’ll see.” Dinah said vaguely and Diggle’s worry grew.

 

_"I'll see what I can do." Waller agreed._

_The scene chanted to Verdant. Thea was talking to her new hostess as they came out of the stockroom and headed back down to the main floor._

_"Have you heard from Sara?" Thea asked._

_"No."_

_Thea sighed. "Can you just call Mandy and see if she can cover the bar?" she asked. The hostess moved off to make the call, and Thea looked up when the door opened. Her eyes narrowed when she saw who it was._

_"Isabel Rochev." Isabel said in greeting._

_"I know who you are." Thea said tensely. "What can I do for you, Ms. Rochev?"_

_"I'm sorry for your loss, Thea." She began._

Yeah right, she wouldn’t offer condolences over Moira, least of all you.” Dinah scoffed.

 

“Least of all me?”” Thea repeated.

 

“She blamed you for Robert leaving her.” Dinah explained.

 

“Blame a twelve year old for falling off a horse, yeah that’s mature.” Thea scoffed.

 

“Does Isabel strike you as an emotionally mature, stable woman?” Laurel asked sarcastically.

 

“Good point.” Thea conceded.

 

_"Is that why you came here? Offer me your condolences?" The asked sarcastically, turning her back on the woman._

_"My condolences, and to give you this." Isabel said, holding out a piece of paper. "It's a notice to vacate the premises." She continued with a small smile as Thea spun and angrily took the paper from her. "This club and the steel factory in which it's located are all assets of Queen Consolidated."_

_"No, you-you can't do this." She argued._

“Unfortunately she can, there’s nothing illegal about it.” Dinah sighed as Thea seethed.

 

_"It's already done." Isabel said sweetly._

_"How long do I have?" Thea asked shakily after a long moment of silence._

_"A couple days." Isabel said. Her work done, she turned and walked out, leaving Thea alone in what used to be her club._  
  


“What. A. Bitch.” Roy glared at the screen.

 

“My sentiments exactly honey.” Thea said.

 

“Can you not call each other pet names in front of me?” Tommy pleaded.

 

_The scene changed to the Mayor's office. As his staff worked busily outside, Blood sat in his office going over more paperwork as his assistant finished filling him on his messages. "Councilman Tyson is asking about dinner." Alyssa said._

_"I already have plans tonight." Blood replied._

_"Hi." He looked up to see Laurel standing there. "Excuse me, I didn't mean to barge in. It's just that nobody was at your front desk, so…"_

“What are we doing there?” Laurel narrowed her eyes.

 

“Investigating.” Dinah said vaguely.

 

_"Laurel, of course. Please come in." Blood said with a smile. He looked up at Alyssa. "Give us a moment." He told her. She left the office and Blood stood to greet his guest. "Twice in two days. To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked happily._

_"I wish I could say that this was pleasure, but it's about a case." She said, holding up a folder._

_"I've barely moved in and people are already asking me for favors." He said with a smile. "I guess I really have arrived."_

_"You certainly have." She smiled in return._

_Blood chuckled. "So tell me, how can I help you?"_

_"Murphy vs. Dunleavy. The state's charged a real estate developer for turning away low-income tenants based on his so-called 'morality'."_

“Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?” Tommy asked glumly thinking of his father.

 

_"Have a seat." He offered, taking the file from her and looking it over. "Let me guess. Our dear fair housing commissioner isn't willing to testify as your expert witness."_

_"Exactly." She replied. "And your predecessor wasn't willing to lean on him."_

_"Well, lucky for you, I'm not my predecessor." Blood said. "You know, this actually reminds me of one I had during my days as a community organizer."_

_"I was hoping that it would. I've seen dozens of cases like this at CNRI." She said._

_"Well, it's a good thing we both remember where we came from." Blood noted. "I'm happy to help."_

_"Thank you." Laurel said, she rose and turned to leave, but his voice stopped her._

_"Laurel," he started, "I'm really glad you got your job back at the DA's office. I look forward to us working together for a long time." He told her._

“In your dreams, you bastard.” Laurel sneered.

 

_"As do I." she replied with a smile. She turned and left, the wireless bug she had planted under Blood's desk blinking as it activated._

“We bugged the mayor.” Laurel said stunned and Dinah smirked.

 

“We bugged the mayor.” Dinah repeated.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD a short time later, where Kelton was accessing Blood's computer via the bug as Laurel and Lance looked on._

_"Is it working?" Quentin asked._

_"We're about to remote access the computer right now." Kelton said._

_"I'll tell you this, if you ever get tired of practicing law, you'd make a pretty decent spy." Quentin said to Laurel, who smiled back at him._

“I prefer being the Black Canary.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"You guys have a warrant for this, right?" Kelton asked. At the looks they gave him, he rolled his eyes. "Just Terrific. Could you at least tell me whose computer you bugged?" he asked. Then his computer beeped, and the seal of the Mayor of Starling City came up on his screen. He stared at it in disbelief. "You're kidding. I voted for him." He said._

_"Yeah." Quentin said._

_"I need to know if there's anything incriminating in Blood's files." Laurel said, leaning in._

_Kelton sighed. "What the hell, this is a dead end job, anyway."_

“How I wished that was true.” Dinah sighed.

 

“So you found something?” Diggle asked and she nodded, her lips set in a grim line.

 

_He started typing, pulling up files. "This all looks pretty benign. Lots of policy papers, old documents transferred from his campaign office. Draft press releases…"_

_"Wait, wait, wait, click back." Laurel said urgently. Kelton did so, and Blood's press release on Moira's death came up. "For immediate release- my thoughts and prayers are with the Queen family in the aftermath of this unspeakable tragedy." Laurel read._

_"So he worked up a press release after Moira was killed." Quentin said._

_"No, he didn't. He wrote that the day before Moira died." Laurel stated._

_"She's right." Kelton said in surprise. "Look at the timestamp."_

_Quentin bent over and looked at the screen. Sure enough, the date read the day before Moira Queen was killed. "Oh, my God." He whispered hoarsely._

_"Sebastian knew Slade was going to kill her." Laurel realized. Finally, she had her proof._

“Got you, you son of a bitch.” Roy smirked.

 

“I can’t believe he left that kind of evidence lying around. For how much Slade threatened him, it’s kind of sloppy.” Diggle noted.

 

“Pride before the fall.” Dinah told him.

 

_The scene changed to A.R.G.U.S. While Diggle and Felicity were waiting on word of Oliver, Felicity was multitasking by openly lusting after their computers._

_"Is that the satellite frequency communicator TX50?" she asked one of the techs. "Can I touch it? I know that sounds a little weird and creepy, but I've never seen one in real life." She reached out to pet the base of the monitor._

“Okay, now it’s gone from amusing to creepy.” Tommy muttered.

 

_"It's classified equipment, Ms. Smoak." She jumped up when Waller spoke._

_"You must feel very powerful. Knowing everything about everyone." Felicity told her. Then realizing who she was talking to, she added, "Not powerful in an evil dictator Stalin way. More of a Knowledge is power, way."_

“I’d say it’s more the dictator way.” Laurel muttered with the others nodding absently.

 

_Felicity was saved when one of Waller's agents approached. "Ma'am. We have something." He said, handing her a tablet. She looked over the information and sighed. "I should have known." She said._

_"What?" Diggle asked._

_"Oliver's at the lair from which he conducts his operations." She told them._

_Felicity looked at her in confusion. "But we were just there." She said._

_"Not that lair." She said with more than a bit of satisfaction. She handed Diggle the tablet. "His other one." Dig and Felicity stared down at Oliver's A. .S. file, that included two addresses- his primary lair, and his secondary facility._

“Ollie has a second lair?” Thea asked surprised.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah told her.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Oliver looked around as the lights in the sub came back on, courtesy of Anatoli._

_"Like riding bicycle." Anatoli said as the sound of the power plant spinning up could be heard throughout the ship. "Underwater." He added._

_He moved to the engine controls and pulled back the lever. A rumbling sound could be heard, but it sounded…wrong._

_"What's that sound?" Sara asked._

_Anatoli moved to the wheel and tried to turn it, but it wouldn't budge. "We're stuck." He grunted, letting go of the wheel in disappointment. "Like Japanese were."_

“Damn it, that’s not good. Not good at all.” Tommy muttered worriedly.

 

_Submarines have torpedoes, right? Can we blast our way out?" Oliver suggested._

_Anatoli grinned at him "I can see why you two are made for each other." He said, running over to the engineers station and grabbing a tube. "You like your explosions." He upended the tube on the navigation table, and an ancient set of blueprints slid out. He unrolled them and looked them over. "Chert voz'mi." he breathed._

_"What?" Oliver asked._

_"These are Kaiten torpedoes." He said. "Manually operated. Someone needs to steer from inside." He explained._

_"Okay, but then, how do they get away from the explosion?" Oliver asked._

_"They do not." Anatoli said sadly._

“Someone has to die for them to pull this off.” Laurel realized with horror as it hit them all.

 

“The things we do to survive.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Present-_

_Diggle and Felicity made their way down into Oliver's secondary Lair cautiously. They looked around at the place- again it was underground, but unlike the lair it was all concrete pillars with low ceilings, a few practice target dummies, and a couple of tables for making arrows. It was lit by Chinese box lights set around in corners and on the floor. As they made their way deeper into the space, they found Oliver sitting on the floor, his back to a column. He was dressed in a suit, minus the jacket, and was staring off into space._

_"Oliver." Diggle called out softly._

_"How did you find me?" he asked, not looking at them._

_"Waller." Diggle said._

_"We were worried about you." Felicity said._

_"After you missed your mother's funeral." Diggle added._

_"I'm sorry that I didn't go." Oliver said. "I left for the cemetery. But I ended up here."_

_"Here is…" Felicity started._

_"Here was a secondary facility in case the foundry was compromised." He revealed._

“Like when Slade found out where it was?” Roy drawled.

 

“He figured it wouldn’t matter, Slade would just find the other one.” Dinah explained.

 

_“But it became somewhere that I could just go and…" he sighed. "Be alone. She's dead because of me." He said._

“No Ollie.” Thea said softly.

 

“Moira is dead because of two people and neither name is Oliver Queen.” Laurel said firmly.

 

_Oliver slowly made his way to his feet. "Five years ago I could have cured Slade. And that would have prevented all of this. And now, all the people left that I care about, we are all in his crosshairs. It ends tonight." He said._

_"How?" Felicity asked worriedly as Oliver picked up his jacket._

_"I turn myself over to Slade." He revealed. "I end this vendetta."_

“Is he insane?!” Tommy exclaimed as they all stared in shock.

 

“He can’t!” Thea shouted, not wanting to lose another person she loved.

 

“He won’t,” Dinah assured them, “just watch.”

 

_"Oliver, you think this ends with you turning yourself over to Slade?" Diggle demanded._

_"Yes, I do." Oliver replied somberly. "After she was gone… he told me that one more person had to die. And then it would end. This ends for Slade when he kills me."_

“While that’s true, I don’t think that’s what Slade meant. There has to be more to it than that.” Diggle narrowed his eyes.

 

“You’re right John, there is more to it.” Dinah sighed.

 

“What did Slade mean then?” Thea asked hesitantly, not sure she wanted to know.

 

“You’ll find out in the next recording.” Dinah promised.

 

_"I don't accept that." Felicity said tearfully. She walked up to him. "You shouldn't, either. You can't just accept things, Oliver. If I had accepted my life, I would be a cocktail waitress in Vegas like my mother, and I never would have gone to college, and I never would have moved a thousand miles away to work at Queen Consolidated, and I never would have believed some crazy guy in a hood when he told me I could be more than just some IT girl. Please don't do this." She begged._

“I realize she is trying to help, really I do,” Diggle began, “but her talking about herself is not going help to Oliver. She can’t relate to what he’s going through right now, the situations are not even remotely the same. She can’t reach him like that.”

 

“So how do you guys reach him then?” Thea wondered and no one had an answer with Dinah being quiet.

 

_He looked at her sadly. "Felicity… someone once told me that the essence of heroism is to die so others can live."_

“That’s an alarming way to look at things.” Tommy said alarmed.

 

“He’s not exactly wrong,” Diggle said and they all whirled at him, “the people in our military, myself and Lyla included, laid down our lives time and time again to make sure that the people in this country could enjoy the freedom that most take for granted. A lot of them died doing it, so others could live. Oliver may be taking the saying at its most literal meaning, but he is not wrong.”

 

“Well said John.” Dinah smiled as the others looked away thoughtfully.

 

_"It's not that simple, Oliver." Diggle said._

_Oliver looked at his friend. "Yes, it is. Slade's whole plan was to take everything from me. He did. He wins. All that's left is for me to die." He said._

_"No, there has to be another way." Felicity said, taking his hand to stop him from walking out._

_"There isn't." Oliver said, pulling away. He gently pulled his hand free of hers and limped out of the Lair._

“Moira’s death broke him.” Laurel noted sadly.

 

“His entire crusade was to make sure that his family was safe. By Moira’s death, he feels like he failed.” Dinah explained.

 

“He didn’t fail.” Thea said softly.

 

“It would take him a little help for him to realize that.” Dinah told her.

 

_The scene changed to what formerly was Queen Manor, though by now it had been foreclosed on by the bank. Inside the house, with sheets covering the furniture and the personal possessions all boxed up, Walter was trying to talk some sense into Thea._

_"Thea, please. I understand you're upset. This is an emotional time for all of us." He was saying._

_Thea sighed in annoyance. "I'm not being emotional. I'm…I'm an orphan! I'm a jobless and homeless orphan." She exclaimed. "There's nothing left for me here."_

_"I'm here." He reminded her._

_Thea smiled sadly at him. "I thank you for that, but," she sighed. "Honestly, I need to start over."_

“I was planning on leaving.” Thea said shocked and Dinah nodded.

 

“Maybe if you had, things would have turned out differently.” Dinah said as she saw Thea’s headstone in her mind’s eye.

 

_He stared at her sadly, and then looked up in surprise as another figure walked slowly into the room "Oliver." He exclaimed. "We missed you at the funeral." He said._

_"And the reception." Thea added in quiet disgust._

_"I'm sorry that I couldn't be there." He said sincerely. "What's going on here?"_

_"Thea's thinking of leaving Starling City." Walter began._

_Thea cut him off. "No, I am leaving." She said firmly._

_"Walter, could I speak to my sister for a moment?" Oliver asked. Walter smiled and walked over to him, clasping him on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll have better luck." He said before taking his leave._

_"Ollie, please. Just don't even try to convince me to stay." Thea said tiredly._

_"I won't. I think it's a good idea." Oliver said to her surprise. "You should get as far from Starling City as you possibly can. In our family, out of you, me, mom and dad, you are the best of us." He told her. "You have the purest heart. And I can't ever have you lose that." He said shakily. "Ok? You promise me?"_

“He’s right you know. Out of all us, you are the best of us.” Tommy told her and she smiled weakly.

 

_"Ok." Thea said. Oliver slowly walked over and hugged her tightly. "I know that I haven't always been the best brother, or friend, or whatever you've needed me to be." He said, trying to hold in his emotions. "But there has not been a day since you were born where I didn't cherish having you as a sister."_

_"I'll, um, get in touch when I get settled somewhere." Thea told him, wiping away a tear. She awkwardly moved past him and out of the room, leaving him alone._

“Why didn’t I realize he was saying goodbye?” Thea groaned.

 

“There was no way you could have known.” Diggle said reasonably.

 

_After a moment, he pulled out his phone and dialed Isabel. "It's Oliver." He said. "This ends now. I'll be at the pier, I'll be alone." He hung up the phone and left the house for the last time._

_Five years ago-_

_"I'll do it."_

_Sara looked up at the fourth man in their group. "Peter, you'll die." She reminded him._

_"I'm already dead." Peter said, pulling up his shirt to reveal the same burns that Ivo had. "Radiation poisoning. Ivo's little gift. He said he needed to find out if Mirakuru could cure cancer." He scoffed. "Guess we'll never find out."_

“Bastard.” Roy snarled as they all felt angry on Peter’s behalf.

 

_"Oh, I'm sorry, Peter, I didn't know." Sara said sadly._

_"Ivo said the essence of heroism is to die so that others can live." Peter said, looking at the other three. "I held on to that. It's the only thing that gave me hope. So I'll go." He smiled at them. "I mean, I may not be saving millions of lives, but I'll be saving yours."_

_Oliver nodded, silently thanking the man._

“I don’t think Oliver interpreted Peter’s advice right.” Diggle noted.

 

“he had a habit of doing that,” Dinah said and they all looked towards him, “Sara once told him that people like him and her needed to be with people without masks. HE thought she meant Felicity, it was one of the things that pushed him towards her, but Sara later admitted she actually meant me.”1

 

“Go figure.” Tommy shrugged.

 

_Present-_

_Oliver stood alone on the pier, looking at the dock where 'The Queen's Gambit' once sat. He was looking out over the harbor when he heard footsteps approaching. "This is where it all started." He said without turning around. "Got on the 'Queen's Gambit' right over there." He shook his head. "I should have died on that boat. If I had, none of this would have happened. I never would have met you. Shado. And my mother would still be alive." He let out a breath. "No one else is going to die because of me." He started to turn, and that was when the tranq dart hit him in the neck. He gasped out in surprise before collapsing to the ground, unconscious._

_When he awoke, he found himself in familiar surroundings- the Lair, the first Lair, under the club. He looked up to see Felicity standing there nervously, then Diggle walking up to him. "Diggle, what the hell?" he started, and then froze as another person appeared. As his vision finally cleared from the drugs, he looked on in shock as Laurel stood there._

“Well shit, looks the cat’s out of the bag.” Tommy muttered as the time travelers stared.

 

“I so did not see that coming.” Roy said shocked.

 

“Me neither.” Laurel said softly.

 

_"Slade Wilson." She said. "He told me who you were."_

_Oliver jumped up from his chair. "Did he hurt you?" he demanded._

“Of course that would be his concern.” Dinah in exasperation and fondness as Thea grinned at a blushing Laurel.

 

_"No. He was trying to hurt you." She replied, walking over to the three vigilantes. "And when you went missing, I reached out- to your partners. They told me what you were planning on doing." She said._

_"It's what I have to do." Oliver said stubbornly._

_Laurel turned to Dig and Felicity. "Will you give us a moment?" she asked. The other two headed off to the far end of the Lair, and Laurel approached the glass case with the familiar green leather costume. "You thought about telling me," she realized. "The night of the Undertaking."_

_"I thought about telling you almost every night." Oliver admitted._

_"Why didn't you?" she asked, turning back to him. "Tommy knew. Didn't he?" she asked. "You were with him. You were with him at the end." She realized as well._

_"His last words were about you." Oliver revealed. "He wanted to know if you were safe. Sorry I couldn't save him. And my mother." He took a breath. "But I can save you. And Thea. I can save the city if this ends tonight." He said firmly._

_"No." she rushed over and hugged him hard. "No! You can't commit suicide, Ollie." She pulled back to look him in the eyes. "You won't do that to me. Or to Sara, or to your friends. Or to Thea. Oliver She just lost her mother. Losing you would destroy her." He told her._

_"But she'll be alive." Oliver pointed out._

“I’d rather be dead than lose everyone.” Thea said softly and Roy tightened its grip on her.

 

_"I don't know anything about hoods and masks or human weapons or any of this." She said. "But I know you. I know you like I know my own name. And I realize it may sound crazy in light of your secret, but I know who you are in your bones, Oliver. And that person- that person doesn't give up." She said firmly. "That person, he always finds a way."_

_"Not this time." Oliver said despondently._

_"You're wrong." She said through the tears. "You want to protect the people who you love? Then the only way to do that is to stop Slade Wilson."_

_"Laurel, I can't!" he said angrily._

_"Yes, you can! By stopping Sebastian Blood, because Sebastian is working with Slade Wilson." She revealed. He stepped back and looked at her in shock. "I have proof. Slade Wilson killed your mother so that Sebastian could become mayor."_

_"You were right about him." Oliver realized. He walked past her and looked out over the foundry. "The man in the skull mask works for Slade Wilson. And this entire time, it was Sebastian."_

_"What's happening is bigger than you and Slade." Laurel said, looking past Oliver at his bow. "This city needs the Arrow."_

“Thank you. For getting through to him.” Thea said as she looked over at Dinah, who simply shrugged.

 

“Part of the job description.” Dinah said cheekily and the time travelers laughed.

 

_Five years ago-_

_As Anatoli showed Peter how to operate the torpedo, Oliver led Sara over to the door to the bridge and handed her the radio._

_"What's this for?" she asked._

_"I don't want you to be in here." Oliver told her._

_"No, I'm going to stay with you—" she began to argue._

_"Sara." He cut her off. "If this doesn't work, I need you to be safe." He told her. "We will come for you when it's over." He promised._

“I seem to keep being grateful that he protected her.” Laurel said with a soft smile.

 

“Protecting the people he cares about is what he does.” Dinah said with a matching smile.

 

_"Ok." She agreed finally. She headed towards the conning tower, and Oliver walked over to Peter._

_"Do you know how the torpedo works?" he asked._

_"I get in, he fires, I steer, you pray." He replied._

_Oliver sighed. "Peter, what you're doing is—"_

_"Practical." Peter said. "My time's already up."_

_"Brave." Oliver finished. "You need to know that. And I don't think that I could do something like this."_

_"You have." Peter told him. "What you did for us- coming back to that boat, setting us free?"_

_"I came back to the boat because I want to go home." Oliver said with a self-deprecating grin. "I wasn't thinking about saving anybody. It's…It's not who I am."_

Denial’s not just a river in Egypt.” Tommy said cheekily.

 

_"Maybe not yet." Peter opined._

“See, even Peter sees it.” Tommy pointed out.

 

“Tommy, you’re talking to a dead man…you’re beginning to scar me.” Thea said and Tommy scowled as Roy snickered.

 

_He held out his hand, and Oliver shook it. Peter climbed into the torpedo tube, and Oliver closed and secured the hatch. He ran into the bridge._

_"Launch?" Anatoli asked._

_"Is Sara clear?" Oliver asked in reply._

_"Yes."_

_"Yes." Anatoli fired the torpedo, then jumped up and braced himself against the navigator's table. Oliver ran to the periscope and tracked Peter as the torpedo shot forward out of the ship. About a mile out, it suddenly reversed course and headed right back at the ship, dipping low and slamming into the rocky outcropping the submarine was stuck on. The two men were thrown against the bulkhead as the ship was shaken free._

“Farwell Peter. I wish I could have known you.” Tommy said solemnly with the others looking down in sadness at Peter’s sacrifice.

 

_Present-_

_Sebastian Blood walked into Mai Lee, a trendy new Asian restaurant for dinner, and greeted several of his constituents as they left for the evening "Hello. Good to see you." He told them. He looked back at his body man. "Clinton. You can wait in the car." He told him._

_"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Clinton asked._

_Blood smiled. "Nothing's going to happen to me here." He assured the man. Clinton turned and headed back to the elevator as Blood made his way through the dining room, greeting the diners and shaking their hands warmly. He stopped in surprise as he reached his table, and found Oliver Queen sitting there._

_"Sebastian, may I join you for dinner?" he asked evenly._

“Time for your lies to come out Blood.” Diggle said with a grim smile.

 

_At the elevator, the door opened and Clinton got in. Just as the door started to close, he heard someone call out._

_"Hey, can you hold that?"_

_Annoyed, Clinton stopped the door for closing, just in time for Diggle to jump in. "Oh, thanks a lot, man, appreciate it." He said. He pressed a button, then looked at Clinton and smiled. Just as the doors closed, a thud could be heard._

“Nice.” Roy said and Diggle shrugged.

 

_When Clinton awoke, he was in the boiler room of the restaurant, tied to a chair with a bag over his head._

_"Clinton Hogue. I have some questions for you." Diggle said, ripping the black bag off of his head. Clinton saw who it was and rolled his eyes._

_"Go to hell." He spat._

_"You sure that's how you want to play it?" Dig asked._

_"You think I've never took a beating before?" he shot back._

_Dig smirked and leaned in close. "Pal, you're going to wish I beat you." He whispered._

“Wonder what you’ve got in mind.” Tommy said as they all leaned forward eagerly.

 

_"Hi." Clinton looked to his right as a smiling Felicity came into view, a tablet in her hand. "I'll be your interrogator." She said._

“…what?” Roy asked as they all stared incredulously.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah said with an amused smile.

 

_Clinton scoffed. "Is this a joke?"_

_"Clinton Hogue." She began, reading off his personal information. "Social Security number 306003894."_

_"What the hell's this supposed to be?" he demanded._

_"Oh, look at this." Felicity said, walking around the bound man. "You have a bank account in the Cayman Islands. Wow." She exclaimed, pulling up more info on her tablet. "$2 million, quite the little nest egg. But," she taped a button on the screen, and money was siphoned off. "Looks like you just approved a wire transfer of $1 million to a charity here in Starling City." She said as Clinton moaned. "Very generous. What should I do with the rest?" she asked._

_"Greenpeace." Diggle suggested._

_"Great cause!" Felicity said, transferring the money. "And they really appreciate the support."_

_"You bitch!" he spat._

_"Bitch with WiFi." She corrected with a smile._

_She tapped some more. "Hey, Clinton, looks like your mom and dad have a really nice retirement portfolio, too, but they, oh, no, are just about to make some really bad investments." She warned._

“Okay,” Laurel said as she stopped laughing, “I realize that they are on a time limit and she was trying to get him to crack? But threatening an elderly couple’s retirement? That’s just low.”

 

“Maybe, but like you said, they were on a time limit.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"Ok, wait, just wait-just-stop!" he demanded. He sighed in defeat. "What do you want to know?"_

“Well, at least she got him to crack.” Tommy noted.

 

_The scene changed to the dining room. "I missed you at your mother's memorial service." Blood was saying. "I wanted to offer my condolences."_

_"You're the mayor." Oliver stated. "Congratulations. You've always wanted that."_

_"Believe me, Oliver, I wish it had happened a different way." Blood offered. "Your mother and I, we-we didn't agree on much. But we both wanted what was best for Starling City. I will help this city find its heart again, I promise you that." He said._

_Oliver leaned in. "Do you really think that he will let that happen?" he asked. At Blood's confused look, he clarified. "Slade Wilson."_

“Bet the bastard didn’t expect that.” Roy grinned savagely..

 

“I don’t think he did.” Laurel said with a dark smile.

 

_Blood looked at him in shock. "How do you know I've been working with Slade Wilson?" he asked._

_"Because I'm the Arrow." Oliver revealed._

“Bet he didn’t see that coming either.” Laurel noted.

 

_Blood scoffed. "Of course." He said, chuckling. "It all makes sense now. It was right in front of me. You came to my office and you shook my hand. You said that together, we can save this city."_

_"You think that there will be a city to be saved after you unleash Slade's Mirakuru army?" Oliver asked._

_"They'll only cause enough damage to make the city ready." Blood replied._

_"Ready for your leadership?' Oliver asked incredulously._

_"For my vision of what this city could be." Blood said passionately. "A better city. And after the storm they're about to suffer, the people of Starling will support and follow me to that city."_

“Man he is delusional.” Laurel said disgusted.

 

“It would almost be cute how he still thinks this is his plan if it wasn’t so pathetic.” Thea said scornfully.

 

“Tell me about it.” Tommy said grimly.

 

_"Whatever Slade promised you, he will not deliver." Oliver warned. "He wants to hurt me. You are a pawn in a much larger game."_

_Blood sat back, unbelieving. "Slade promised me city hall. And he delivered. He makes good on his promises. I understand he made you a promise, too." Blood added. Oliver grasped the dinner knife hard in his hand. Blood noticed and smirked. "What are you going to do?" he asked. "You going to stab the mayor in a restaurant full of people?" he shook his head and rose. "It's a new day in Starling City, Oliver. And there's nothing you can do to stop it." He told him, pushing in his chair and walking out._

“I wouldn’t say that. You clearly don’t know what he’s capable of.” Diggle noted dryly.

 

“Never underestimate Oliver Queen.” Dinah told him and everyone nodded.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor. Thea, a backpack filled with clothes and essentials, walked down to the foyer in the darkened mansion for the last time. She paused, looking around once more, when her phone rang. She pulled it out and looked at the screen. Seeing it was Walter, she chose to ignore the call, sending the phone's screen back to its home screen- a picture of her and Roy. Sighing sadly, Thea turned off the last light and walked out of the door._

Roy took Thea’s hand and squeezed it. she turned her head and smiled slightly at him.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair. Oliver and Diggle were gearing up as Felicity pulled up plans on her computer. Laurel watched from the sidelines, amazed at the synchronicity of the team._

_"Slade's men are taking the city tonight." Diggle told Oliver as he grabbed his bow._

_"They can try." Oliver growled._

_"There's more men than we thought, all on Mirakuru. It could be a massacre." Dig warned._

_"Not if we get to them first." Oliver said. "We stick to the plan, no matter what."_

_"Slade's using the sewer system." Felicity said, studying the sewer plans. "You can drop in at Rock Avenue and then head southeast. The lines converge at Water Street. If Slade's army's underground, that's probably where he'll be."_

_"Good. Let's go." He said. "Diggle, you ready?"_

_"Never not." Dig said, zipping up his bag._

_"I'm coming, too." Laurel said._

_Oliver sighed and turned back to the lawyer. "No, you're not." He said firmly._

_"Felicity can give me a radio. I'll just be your eyes and your ears." She offered quickly. "I'll stay out of your way, I promise. Nothing will happen to me."_

_"What if it did?" Oliver asked. "Slade's men, one on one, they are nearly impossible to stop. I need you to trust me. And I need you to be safe."_

_"But not them?" she remarked, looking at his team._

_"This started with the three of us." Oliver said. "It's time we got back to that." The three turned and walked out of the Lair as Laurel turned and looked at the computer, the map of the sewer system still up._

“Okay, this plan seems suicidal and stupid for Felicity to be there instead of Laurel.” Diggle noted.2

 

“That’s what I said.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene changed to a large chamber in a service tunnel under Starling City. As Oliver moved quietly through the tunnels, Blood sat in the dark, preparing himself before finally donning his mask. He turned to face his army, all of whom wore masks as well- the familiar blue and gold mask of Deathstroke._

_"Tonight we forge a new history." Blood called out. "Tonight we rise up as one and take back this city."_

“Take it back. Right.” Roy drawled.

 

_Outside the chamber, Oliver looked in through a grate. "I have eyes on Blood's army." He whispered over the comms._

_"Got it." Felicity said from her seat in their tactical van. "I'm forwarding Dig your ping along with the foundation schematics of the Topside Avenue." She said, doing just that. "Follow the route I laid out on the blueprints. You'll see structural joints in the concrete. Blow them all and Blood gets buried."_

_A short distance away, Dig pulled out his phone and looked at the plans. "Got it." He said, and then began setting charges._

_The scene changed to the Starling City Train Station. As Thea stood in line, waiting to talk to the service rep, she glanced over at the TV. 'The market opened today at 400 points thanks in part to the surprise rally of Queen's Consolidated.' The anchor was saying. 'New leadership has investors excited about the company's future in spite of this recent tragedy.'_

“Oh gag me.” Thea sneered.

 

_She rolled her eyes in disgust as she walked up to the counter. "Um, excuse me, why can't I board my train?" she asked._

_"I'm sorry, ma'am, it's just business class right now." The rep said. "Coach will be boarding soon."_

_"Ok." Thea said with a sigh. This was a new experience for her._

“Welcome to the lower class Speedy.” Dinah said dryly and Thea sighed as Roy snickered.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD. Lance and Kelton were still investigating Blood when another officer led a suspect in to the squad room._

_"Come on, pal." The officer said, leading him on._

_Lance looked at the criminal in surprise. "Isn't that one of the Iron Heights escapees?" he asked._

“Oh shit.” Tommy said as they all froze.

 

“Not good.” Roy said alarmed.

 

“Dad.” Laurel breathed worried.

 

_"Dumbass here tried to rob a convenience store but gave up as soon as I pulled in." the office said happily. "Mind if I just stick him here for a minute?" he asked._

And no one found it suspicious how he just decided to rob a convenience store after laying low for weeks?” Tommy groaned.

 

“Our tax dollars at work.” Roy drawled.

 

_Lance shook his head. "No, go ahead." He said. The man was pushed into a seat, and he looked around the squad room surreptitiously._

_The scene changed to the van. "I'm just asking here." Felicity said suddenly. "Oliver, you've worked really hard not to kill anymore. Dropping an entire block on these guys is murder. Manslaughter, at least." She pointed out._

“They were barely human before, now they’re just mindless monsters doing whatever Slade tells them to.” Dinah said grimly.

 

_"They're not men." Oliver whispered in reply. "Not anymore." He stood, and then a clomping noise drew his attention. He looked over to see a Soldier stomping quickly towards him. "Have Diggle blow the charges the moment he's ready." He ordered._

_"Oliver?" she asked worriedly as Oliver drew an arrow and fired. The bolo tied the soldier's hand to a nearby pie and Oliver ran at him, launching forward leap kick just as the soldier broke free. The Solder was thrown backwards and landed with a thud, but quickly got back up. Oliver kicked him again, ending him back a step, but a third kick was caught and Oliver was spun around and thrown down the tunnel._

“Ollie. Thea breathed as they all tensed.

 

_In the chamber, Blood was wrapping up his Churchill speech from hell. "We will lead this city out of the darkness, and each one of you will help me." He exclaimed_

_Oliver quickly rose and took the fight to the soldier, expertly blocking his clumsy yet powerful punches and launching a few of his own. But they had little effect, and the soldier managed to land a hard shot into his chest, taking the wind out of him. Oliver fell to his knees, and the solder walked behind him, takin part of the wire still attached to his wrist and wrapping it around Oliver's throat. He drew back, strangling the hero-_

_But let gut when Laurel came out of nowhere and whacked him on the back of the head with a pipe._

“You just had to follow, didn’t you?” Tommy looked exasperated between Laurel and Dinah.

 

“Did you expect anything less?” Dinah and Laurel asked I sync before grinning at each other.

 

“Great, there’s two of them. I wish this fantasy hadn’t come true.” Tommy groaned and they all laughed at him before the recording continued.

 

_The solder stood and turned to Laurel, unaffected by the hit, and started slowly stalking towards her as she back up, fearfully. The distraction was just what The Arrow needed, though, and fired and explosive arrow into the man's back. He stared at Laurel for a moment, and then shook his head. "Come on." He said, taking her hand and leading her away._

“You are so lucky to be alive.” Diggle told Dinah, who nodded.

 

“I was reckless back then. It took a while of being the Black Canary to gain the experience and patience I needed.” Dinah told him and Laurel looked thoughtful.

 

_On the street, Diggle was waiting to hear from Oliver before he blew the charges. "Oliver, where the hell are you?!" he whispered into the radio. Not receiving an answer, Diggle primed the detonator-_

_Then was knocked over by a powerful blow. He landed hard on his back, and he looked up in stunned disbelief._

_Isabel Rochev, in leather armor and a partial mask that mirrored Slade's, drew two swords from sheaths on her back. "You killed me," she said with a twisted grin, "Let me return the favor."_

“Damn. I know Dig’s in trouble…but what the hell is she wearing?” Tommy asked.

 

“I don’t even know. Personally, I think Slade was pulling a big joke he would laugh at behind her back.” Dinah explained.

 

“Wouldn’t put it passed him.” Diggle muttered.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD. "Hey." The escapee said, getting Lance's and Kelton's attention. "You got the time?" he asked._

_Automatically Kelton glanced at his watch. "It's, uh, 9:00." He said._

_"Thanks." The man said with a grin, then easily broke his handcuffs and jumped up, grabbing Kelton by the throat with one hand and snapping his neck._

“Holy shit.” Tommy breathed as they all tensed once more.

 

_Lance drew his gun, but the man quickly knocked it away. Lance punched the man, but all that did was seemingly piss him off. He advanced on the cop, grabbing him by the throat and pushing him back against the wall. Another cop grabbed him, but an elbow sent him flying, and the man grabbed a mask from under his coat and put it on. He threw Quentin across the room and then advance don the other cops who were beginning to respond._

“Dad.” Laurel breathed and Tommy gently put an arm around her, hoping to offer his friend comfort.

 

_The scene changed to the Train Station. As Thea sat, waiting to board, the man next to her looked over at the clock. Seeing it was 9:00, he stood and pulled out his own mask, putting it on. Approaching a guard, he broke the man's arm and yanked out his gun, firing it several times into the air and causing all the people in the station to run and scream in panic as Thea watched on, horrified._

“Why are you always there when this stuff happens?!” Tommy said as he looked at his frightened sister.

 

“Like I know.” Thea said shakily as Roy pulled her into his arms, more to reassure himself that she was safe then to comfort her.

 

_The scene changed to the van, where Felicity was trying to raise Oliver. "Oliver, please." She muttered. Her phone rang and, seeing it was S.T.A.R. Labs, she answered it. "Cisco, now is really not a good time." She said worriedly._

“They had the cure, right?” Laurel asked and Dinah nodded with a small smile.

 

“They had the cure.” Dinah said and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

 

_In the tunnels, Oliver was leading Laurel through the labyrinth when suddenly dozens of masked soldiers appeared behind them. "There." He said, leading her into a side chamber- which turned out to be a dead end._

_"Ollie! There's too many of them!" Laurel cried. "We can't fight."_

_"We're not going to." The Arrow said, drawing an explosive arrow and firing it at the ceiling right in front of the soldiers. It exploded, sending tons of concrete pouring down on top of them._

“That’s not a very good plan.” Tommy said, worried for both his friends.

 

“It was either that or we would both be killed.” Dinah pointed out and Tommy conceded her point.

 

_Five years ago-_

_On the sub, the two men scrambled back to their feet. "Turn the wheel!" Anatoli yelled._

_"What direction?" Oliver asked, jumping to the wheel._

_"It does not matter. Just turn the wheel." Anatoli said._

_Oliver grunted as he tried to turn the wheel, but it still wouldn't budge. "I can't!" he ground out._

_Anatoli turned the engines on, and then helped Oliver on the wheel. "That is not an option!" he yelled. Suddenly, with the effort of both of them, the wheel turned._

_"I got it!" Oliver cried happily. "We're moving!"_

_"Good, good!" Anatoli said._

“Well alright!” Tommy cheered along with the others, all of them glad for some good news.

 

_Oliver grabbed the radio. "Sara, we did it." There was silence on the other end, "Sara?" he called out again._

_From the other end, Sara' frantic voice called back. "Oliver!" she shouted in a panic._

“Sara.” Laurel breathed, fear for her sister flooding through her.

 

“Slade got her.” Diggle realized and Dinah nodded.

 

“He sent some of his men down to get to her.” Dinah explained and they all groaned.

 

“Can’t they get a break? Just once?” Tommy asked.

 

“If only.” Dinah sighed.

 

_Present-_

_On the darkened streets of Starling City, over 50 men in masks marched down the street, ready to burn the city to the ground._

“Well, on that cheerful not.” Dinah said as she started the next recording.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: I know a lot of people think Sara was trying to push Oliver towards Felicity when she had that and I thought that to at first. However, isn’t it more likely, given Sara’s actions and words at the end of season two, particularly in the finale, that Sara was actually trying to push Oliver back towards Laurel?
> 
> 2: I know it turned out for the best as Laurel saved Oliver’s life. But, did I miss something where Felicity actually had to be there to do her thing? If so, I apologize and will edit this but, wouldn’t it make more sense for Laurel, who had self-defense classes and could at least defend herself, to drive the care rather than Felicity, who has no combat training whatsoever?


	60. Streets of fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The race against time begins as Team Arrow and Slade each frantically races to get the cure. Thea is saved by an unexpected source.

_The memory set picked up where the last left off. In the tunnel, Oliver's ears were wringing as he dug himself out from the rubble. "Laurel." He groaned, pulling free of the concrete. "Laurel?" he looked around, but didn't see her anywhere. "Laurel!"_

“Relax, I was alright.” Dinah assured, seeing the worried faces of Tommy and Thea and the slightly fearful look on Laurel’s face.

_On the street, Diggle was waiting to hear from Oliver before he blew the charges. "Oliver, where the hell are you?!" he whispered into the radio. Not receiving an answer, Diggle primed the detonator-_

_Then was knocked over by a powerful blow. He landed hard on his back, and he looked up in stunned disbelief._

“Shit.” Diggle swore.

 

_Isabel Rochev, in leather armor and a partial mask that mirrored Slade's, drew two swords from sheaths on her back. "You killed me," she said with a twisted grin, "Let me return the favor." She attacked, and it took everything Dig had to block her powerful blows. "You can't kill me." She said confidently._

_"You're not invincible." Diggle growled, pulling out a telescoping asp._

_"Close enough." She said. Isabel moved in again, and Diggle frantically blocked the swords with the asp._

“You could really use some back up about now.” Laurel said worried for Diggle.

 

“Apparently, I live for three more years. Thanks though.” Diggle said and Roy flinched at the reminder.

 

_In the tunnels, Oliver was still searching. "Laurel!"_

_Finally he heard her voice. "Oliver!" it was coming from the other side of the rubble._

“Oh thank god.” Tommy sighed in relief as everyone relaxed slightly.

 

_Are you ok?" he yelled._

_"The tunnel collapsed." She said. "I'm trapped. I just… it's getting really," she coughed. "Hard to breathe!"_

_"You are going to be ok." Oliver assured her. "I need you to tell me everything that you see."_

_She started looking around. "Rocks, and water, and—" then she spotted something that could be useful. "And your bow."_

_"Do you see my quiver?!" he yelled back, hopeful._

_She searched frantically. "Wait! Yeah, yes, I have it! I have it." She called out, picking up the quiver still filled with arrows._

_"How many arrows are in it?" Oliver asked._

_"There's a bunch of them."_

_"There should be one with a metallic head that's bigger than the rest of them." He described. Laurel looked through the arrows, finally pulling out the right one. "Do you see it?"_

_"Why do I need this?" she asked nervously._

_Oliver sighed. "Because it's an explosive arrow." He told her. "And you're going to fire it."_

Well this should be good.” Roy drawled as Laurel stared at the screen incredulously.

 

“Eh, I did alright for a first try.” Dinah shrugged.

 

“So we used his bow more than once?” Laurel asked curiously.

 

“He didn’t train me until after Prometheus; he wanted me to be extra prepared. I used his bow mostly during training. It was very…helpful.” Dinah’s devilish smirk gave away what she meant and Thea groaned at the mental image as Laurel blushed while Tommy just looked uncomfortable.

 

_On the street, Diggle was holding his own against Isabel, but in the end she was just too powerful with the Mirakuru in her system. She tagged him on the chest with one blade, and then swiftly swept his feet out from under him with the other. Diggle landed on his back hard, gasping for breath._

_"Do you want to save me some time and energy?" Isabel asked, stalking towards him. "Then tell me where I can find Felicity Smoak. I have been aching to put a bullet in her smug little face ever since the day—"_

_She never finished her thought as the van slammed into her, sending her flying. From the driver's seat, Felicity looked down at the steering wheel in surprise._

_"Oh, I really thought the airbags were going to go off." She said._

“Not what I was expecting but I’m not complaining.” Diggle said as the others snickered.

 

_Dig groaned as he quickly jumped into the passenger seat. "Thanks for the help." He said. "Any word from Oliver?"_

_"Dig…" she said tremulously. Outside, the two watched in horror as Isabel slowly got back to her feat. "What do you think, hit her again?" she asked._

“If it didn’t work the first time, it’s unlikely it’ll work the second time.” Diggle noted.

 

“I don’t think any of us expected that to work.” Tommy noted.

 

“If it was that simple, Ollie would’ve just run Slade over with the biggest and heaviest car he could find and be done with it.” Dinah told them.

 

_"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!" Dig ordered. Felicity put the van into reverse and backed away, spinning it around and taking off as Isabelle watched, furious._

_The scene changed to the SCPD, where the criminal was making quick work of the police. Lance was thrown across the room, sliding and hitting a doorframe as other cops rushed the crazed man. One cop pulled his gun and started firing, but the soldier just shrugged off the bullet hits even as he continued to kill cops with his bare hands. Lance watched from the floor helplessly, then noted where he had been thrown and looked up, seeing a very welcome sign-_

_Weapons and Ordinance_

_-Storage-_

_Authorized personal only_

_He staggered to his feet and ran into the room. Moments later he came back out and jumped on the back of the soldier, pulling him off the cop he was beating while at the same time dropping a few things into the collar of his jacket. The soldier threw Lance once again, and he hit another doorframe hard and collapsed out of the room. "Get out!" he yelled to the cops still in the squad room as he looked at the pins in his hand. "Get out! Get out!"_

_The soldier heard several thunking sounds and looked down at his feet as the three grenades fell from his jacket to the floor. He cocked his head curiously-_

_And then the grenades exploded, killing him and shattering every window on the floor. Lance sighed in relief even as glass rained down upon him._

“Nice thinking dad.” Laurel smiled, relieved her father was okay.

 

“But why do the SCPD have grenades?” Diggle asked bewildered.

 

“In case of situations like this.” Dinah said blankly.

 

_The scene changed to City Hall, as Blood's staff was in full crisis mode._

_"Reports are coming in from all over the city." One man was telling him. "Starling General is preparing for possible casualties."_

_"Power is out south of Harbor Boulevard." Another reported._

_Blood nodded distractedly and turned his attention back to his own phone call. "Governor. Governor. Sending in the National Guard at this point will only cause mass hysteria. Trust me and my police force. We have this situation under control." He said placating, hanging up and watching the news coverage on his office TV._

“Bastard.” Roy sneered as he glared at the screen.

 

“Does he even care about all the people that dying?” Laurel asked angrily.

 

“To an extent. He saw it as a necessary evil, as something the city needed to survive. Not unlike Malcolm with The Undertaking.” Dinah explained.

 

“So they were both psychotic bastards then.” Tommy sneered as he glared at the screen.

 

_"Mr. Mayor." A new voice called out to him._

_Blood turned and smiled at the new arrival. "D.A. Spencer." He said in greeting._

_"What is going on? There are men in masks tearing through the city." She said gesturing at the news._

_"Yes, I know." Blood said seriously. "And we're doing everything we can. The SCPD have already mobilized."_

_"No, the police force, they're not equipped to handle this." Spencer argued. "You don't understand. I have never seen anything like this before. These-the men in masks, it-it's like they're not human." She said._

“Because they’re not, not anymore.” Roy said grimly and Thea put a hand on his shoulder, offering her silent support.

 

_"Not human? Kate, do you even hear yourself?" Blood asked incredulously. "Look, I know you're scared, but you need to pull yourself together. Starling City needs both of us thinking clearly right now." He told her._

_"How are you so calm?" she asked nervously._

_"Because I know we're going to get through this." Blood said with all sincerity. "And when we do, Starling City will be stronger and better for it. Can I count on you? I need you with me on this." He told her._

“He really is insane.” Tommy said as he stared at the screen.

 

“What was your first clue? The fact that he threw in with Slade Wilson or that he went around injecting people with Mirakuru while wearing a skull mask?” Dinah asked sarcastically.

 

_After a moment, Spencer nodded subtly. "Mm-hmm."_

_Blood smiled. "Good. Then let's save the city together."_

“Save it. Right.” Roy drawled.

 

_The scene changed to the tunnel, where Oliver was coaching Laurel on how to use his bow. "Are you far enough away from the debris to avoid the blast?" he asked her._

_"I don't know!" she called out. "What if I can't shoot that far?"_

_"The bow's a hybrid compound, Laurel." Oliver explained. "It's going to do all the work for you. All I need you to do… just aim at the middle of the debris. Take a deep breath." He told her. "Center your feet. Left hand on the bow. Place the arrow on the drawstring."_

_"Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok." She muttered to herself. Carefully she put the arrow on the drawstring, and the explosive head was activated._

_"All right, I want you to pull back on the drawstring. And keep your left arm straight. Ok?" Oliver called out. Laurel lifted the bow and shakily pulled back the drawstring. "You count to three and then you just let go. You can do this." He encouraged her, moving off to the side. "1, 2…3!"_

_Laurel fired the arrow. It hit dead center in the debris and exploded, blowing a hole just big enough for Oliver to fit through. Laurel was on the ground, coughing but otherwise unharmed. He helped her up and smiled._

“Like I said, not bad for a first try.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"Nice shot." He told her. He took his bow from her, grabbed his quiver, and led her back out, hitting his com as they went. "Diggle, you there?"_

_"Yeah, Oliver, we hear you." Dig replied from the van._

_"We're coming up." He told them as he led Laurel out of the tunnel._

_Five years ago-_

_Oliver climbed back down the conning tower into the submarine. "Sara's gone." He told Anatoli. He tossed the broken remains of her radio down onto the navigator's table. "Slade must have taken her." He growled, frustrated._

Laurel’s breath caught in her throat, worry for her sister flooding her. Tommy put a hand on her shoulder, knowing nothing he said would comfort her but hoping it helped nevertheless.

 

_"Chert." Anatoli cursed._

_A sudden pinging noise drew Oliver's attention. "What's that?" he asked._

_"It's sonar. I was monitoring the 'Amazo'." Anatoli said, checking the sonar. "She's moving." He reported._

_Oliver growled in frustration. "We have one torpedo left, right?" he asked suddenly._

_"Da." Anatoli said nervously._

_"Could you rig it to fire in a straight line?" Oliver asked._

_"I'm discovering capacity to do many things I never thought I would do." The Russian replied dryly._

“That happens in situations like this.” Diggle said in a grimly dry tone.

 

_Oliver grabbed his backpack. "I need you to get the sub close enough to the freighter so that I can swim over." He said, grabbing some supplies._

_"Well, then, what do you need torpedo for?" Anatoli asked cautiously._

_Oliver sighed and looked at the man. "If Sara and I aren't back in an hour, you're going to sink the 'Amazo'." He told his dismayed friend._

“…Holy shit.” Tommy said as the time travelers all stared stunned.

 

“Isn’t that a little extreme?” Thea asked alarmed.

 

“Would you want Slade coming for you and Moira?” Dinah asked and Thea was silent.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to the train station, where the masked soldier was throwing around people like ragdolls. One hapless man was thrown into the departure sigh, which fell over sparking. Thea, as panicked as the others, started running for the exits as the soldier's rampage continued._

_"Freeze!" A uniformed cop shouted, drawing his gun. He fired several times, but the soldier speared him into the floor, crushing his ribs. Looking up, he spied Thea pulling helplessly at the locked doors, trying to escape. Seeing an easy target, he stalked over to the girl and grabbed her around the throat, choking her as he lifted her two feet into the air._

Laurel gasped in horror as Tommy clenched his pants legs tightly, repeating ‘she’s alive’ over and over again his head. Roy took the frightened and very pale Thea into his arms, not sure that she even realized it but needing the reassurance she was still there.

 

_Suddenly, he was struck by two arrows in the back. The surprise more than the pain caused him to drop her, and Thea landed on the ground, gasping for air. The man turned around to see a man in a dark uniform of some sort, wearing a black hood. Contemptuously he yanked out one of the arrows, looking at the small blue ring under the arrow head that was glowing. "Who are you?" he demanded-_

_And then the arrow exploded, sending the man crashing to the ground._

_Malcolm Merlyn ripped off his hood. "I'm her father." He said as Thea looked on in shock._

“First thing you’ve done to actually earn it.” Tommy muttered as relief set in all of them that Thea was actually okay.

 

“One of the only good things he ever did.” Dinah agreed as Thea sighed in relief and Roy nearly sank into the couch.

 

_In the SCPD, more cops had arrived to sort through the mess and regroup. Lance was sifting through the rubble when his phone rang. He answered it with a sigh of relief._

_'Dad!' Laurel said from the other end._

_"Laurel, thank God. Are you safe?" he asked._

_Out on the streets, Laurel was walking next to The Arrow as they moved to regroup with the rest of the team. "I am now. I'm with the Arrow." She told him, glancing at Oliver._

_"Well, that's- that's good." Lance said, surprising himself._

“Never thought I’d hear my dad say that.” Laurel said, amused despite herself as Tommy snickered.

 

_"Well, that's- that's good." Lance said, surprising himself. "Now listen, something tells me he's got work to do." He continued "I want you off the streets."_

_"Yeah." She agreed._

_"Laurel, please, keep low, keep out of sight, all right?" he begged worriedly._

“That’s good advice. Listen to it.” Diggle said and Dinah shrugged.

 

“Not always possible.” She said simply and Thea and Tommy groaned as Laurel paled slightly, wondering what happened to her.

 

_"Dad, I know, you don't have to worry… about me." She trailed off as they hit a crest in the hill that allowed them to overlook Starling City. The city was burning as Slade's men ran wild, and sirens could be heard wailing all over the city._

“My god.” Diggle breathed as they all stared at the screen, horrified by what was happening to their city.

 

“And Blood still thinks this is the right thing?” Laurel asked disgusted.

 

“I think we’ve established by now he’s crazy and delusional.” Dinah said dryly.

 

_A helicopter flew overhead just as the van pulled up next to them._

_"You ok?" Dig asked as he climbed out._

_"Yeah." Oliver replied. "You?"_

_"Isabel attacked Dig so I hit her with the van." Felicity said nonchalantly._

_Oliver looked out over the city. "Slade's army. He has at least 50 men out there, all like him." Oliver said._

_"They're everywhere." Dig growled._

_"We need to stop them." Oliver said._

_"We might have a way." Felicity said. "S.T.A.R. Labs called. They have a cure. There's a courier en route." She revealed._

“The cure…it’s our only hope right now.” Diggle muttered grimly.

 

_"Where is it?" Oliver demanded._

_Felicity pulled out her phone and dialed the number Cisco had given her. After a few rings, a man's gasping voice answered. 'Hello?'_

_"Hey, it's Felicity Smoak." She said, putting him on speaker. "Where are you?"_

_"Fourth Street, I think." The man said as he crawled out of his overturned car. "I don't know what happened. A guy in a hockey mask came out of nowhere and attacked my truck. Please help me." He begged._

_"Stay where you are." Oliver ordered._

“Somehow, I don’t think he’ll have any problems with that.” Roy said dryly.

 

_'I can't move even if I wanted to.' The man said. 'I think my leg's broken.'_

_"You should go." Laurel told Oliver._

_He shook his head. "Laurel, I'm not leaving you out here in the middle of this." He protested._

_"The precinct, it's in the other direction." She reminded him. "I'll be fine." She moved to leave, but he grabbed her arm._

_"No." he said stubbornly._

_"I don't need you right now." Laurel told him. "Everyone else does. So go. Go save the city." Oliver nodded and let her go, and the three climbed into the van._

“You seem to be able to keep his head on straight.” Diggle noticed.

 

“Not always. But over the years, we were often able to keep each other in check when one of us didn’t have their head in the game.” Dinah explained.

 

“Yeah, and now you’re heading off alone into the city with Mirakuru soldiers.” Thea worried.

 

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Dinah pointed out.

 

_'Hey! You still there?' the courier asked._

_"Yeah, I'm here." Felicity said. "I pinged your phone. On our way." She promised._

_From Oliver's office at Queen Consolidated, Slade and Isabel listened in on the call thanks to their bugs in Oliver's system. 'Please hurry.'_

“Slade bugged Felicity’s phone.” Laurel realized as her blood ran cold.

 

“Yes. And this wouldn’t be the last time her system was hacked.” Dinah sighed at Felicity’s ability to underestimate other people.

 

_Slade looked over at one of his soldiers. "Find him." He ordered. The man put on his mask and left to obey._

_The scene changed to follow the van as Dig drove across the bridge into the city. He had to dodge wrecked and burning cars as he did so, sending the occupants tilting left and right. "In the last five minutes, SCPD has had over 200 reports of masked men attacking the city." Felicity reported as Oliver refilled his quiver._

_"Should have gone with Laurel and made sure she got to the precinct." Oliver said, distracted._

“It’s kind of sweet how he worries about us.” Laurel smiled softly.

 

“It could be. Other times it was annoying.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"She'll be with her father, she'll be fine." Felicity assured him. "She will, Oliver."_

_Five years ago-_

_On board the sub, Anatoli looked out through the periscope at their target. "All right. We are 10 meters away from the freighter." He told Oliver. "But still, this is sumasshedshiy - crazy. Crazy!" he repeated. "You cannot even be certain that Wilson has her."_

“No but it’s a pretty good guess.” Diggle said grimly.

 

_Oliver clapped a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "You're a good man, Anatoli." He told him. "If this is good-bye, be safe."_

_"I will see you soon." Anatoli countered. "You and Sara."_

“Something tells me it won’t turn out that way.” Tommy sighed sadly.

 

_"I meant what I said." Oliver said, heading to the ladder. "If we're not back in an hour, you sink the freighter and get yourself home."_

_"I think maybe I prefer Bahamas." He joked, and then more seriously he added, "Oliver. I don't know if we will see each other again. But know that you have made friend for life. If there is anything you need, it does not matter what… you have only to ask." He stated._

“Despite being a mobster, Anatoli was a good man at heart.” Dinah mused.

 

_Oliver nodded and held out his hand, but Anatoli pulled him in for a hug. "Prochnost, my friend." He said as they parted._

_"Proch-prochnost." Oliver repeated badly._

_"Prochnost-proch- I also teach you to speak Russian." Anatoli said finally with a grin. Oliver grinned in return as he climbed the ladder._

“Well, he certainly kept that promise.” Diggle mused.

 

_Present-_

_In the SCPD, Lance was taking control of the situation. As the officers loaded up, he brought out a map of Starling City and laid it on an undamaged desk. "Listen up." He said. "We're going to establish a perimeter with check-points at 5th and Adams, a safe zone, you hear me?"_

_"Who the hell are these guys?" one of the cops asked._

“How much time do you got?” Roy asked dryly.

 

_"These guys are the enemy." Lance stated._

_Pike walked up to the table, still in shock. "They're attacking innocents at random, creating mayhem and chaos." He said. "We need to put them down!"_

_"Lieutenant—"_

_"Now!"_

_Lance got in his face. "Listen to me, these guys, have you seen them? Huh?" he picked up the burnt, shattered remains of the mask and held it up for him to see. "You seen these guys? They do not go down!" he shouted. "We got to call in the National Guard."_

_"That's a call for the mayor." Pike said. "And he hasn't made that yet."_

“Except the mayor is a psycho who helped do this.” Thea seethed.

 

_And he won't. Mayor Blood let this happen." Lance revealed._

_Pike looked at him incredulously. "What?"_

_"Trust me. Blood's behind this." Lance stated._

_"Look, even if I believe you I don't have that kind of authority." Pike said._

_"Well, in an emergency, the chief of police does, so get him on the line." Lance pointed out._

_"Chief's dead." Pike said, shocking the cops in the room._

“Are you kidding me?” Tommy groaned.

 

“Just when things couldn’t get worse.” Thea moaned.

 

“Well, the chief was a corrupt bastard.” Roy pointed out and there were murmurs of agreement.

 

_Lance sighed. "Well, then," he began. "There's only one more guy we can call." He looked at Pike. "You're not going to like it."_

_"The Vigilante." He said shortly._

“Well, he was right. Pike really won’t like that.” Tommy winced.

 

_"The Arrow." Lance corrected. He moved closer to Pike. "Lieutenant, I know he's breaking the law. But what we're up against, it's not about the law. It's about survival." He said. "We got masks tearing our city to pieces, and we're going to need a mask to stop 'em."_

_Pike stared at him for a long moment. Finally he sighed. "Make the call." He ordered._

_Lance nodded. "Ok, let's do it."_

_"One more thing," Pike said as the other cops got to work gearing up. "You know more about what's going on over everyone else I got. I need you making decisions and leading these men," he slapped a gold shield into his hand. "Detective." Lance stared down at the badge with a bittersweet smile._

“Well, at least he got his badge back.” Laurel sighed.

 

“Yeah, only took the city being attacked for Pike to realize he was being an idiot.” Roy said dryly and Thea giggled.

 

_The scene changed to the streets of Starling, as Laurel was making her way through the panicked people towards the SCPD. As she looked behind her, she was horrified to discover she had picked up a tail- a man in a mask._

“Shit.” Roy said as everyone tensed.

 

_Laurel ran to the nearest alleyway, hoping to lose him in the maze of side streets, but it was blocked by a locked gate. She pulled at the gate, desperate to get away…_

_Suddenly the lock was broken, and Laurel spun as the gate was opened to see The Canary. "Follow me. I can get you to safety." She said through her voice changer._

“Well, looks like Sara got back just in time.” Tommy said relieved as they all sighed in relief.

 

“Yeah, and she brought backup” Dinah said with a smile.

 

“What kind of backup?” Diggle asked curiously.

 

“Next recording.” She said simply.

 

_The two took off into the alley._

_They turned a few corners, getting away from the soldier, and The Canary paused to allow Laurel to catch her breath. The two women stared at each other for several moments, and the Canary had activated her voice changer to direct her out of the danger zone, when Laurel stunned her by pulling her into a hug._

_"Sara." Laurel said, happy to see her sister._

“Well, that’s one way to tell her you know.” Roy quipped and Thea and Tommy snickered as Laurel looked unamused.

 

“Cute Roy.” Laurel said blankly.

 

_The scene changed to City Hall. Blood and Spencer were in his office, watching the news coverage of the siege as Blood tried calling Slade for an update._

_'We lost contact with our reporter on the streets, but we have over two dozen confirmed sightings of masked men attacking numerous municipal locations. Officials are asking that you stay indoors—" suddenly the power went out. In the darkened office, the two could see flashes of light outside as security opened fire on a masked soldier to no effect. They listened in horror as one by one the people were killed outside, until a body was flung through the doors. Kate screamed in terror as the masked man stormed into the room right at her._

_"Stop!" Blood ordered as he grabbed her around the neck._

_"No, no, no!" Kate cried in terror._

_"Enough!" Blood roared. "This isn't part of the plan!"_

“Oh, but it was okay for Slade’s army to tear the city apart?” Laurel snarled.

_Kate stared at him, stunned. "Sebastian?!"_

“And he just admitted to being involved. Which, naturally, means she has to die.” Diggle sighed as Laurel froze. There was no lost love between her and Spencer at this point, but that didn’t mean Laurel wanted her to die.

 

_"I am mayor of Starling City, and I order you to let her go." He said firmly._

_The man in the mask stared at him for a moment, and then casually broke Kate's neck._

“Damn it.” Diggle sighed, hating seeing people killed so needlessly.

 

“I didn’t like her, I thought she corrupt, but she didn’t deserve to die for it.” Roy noted as Laurel sighed.

 

“I agree.” Laurel said sadly.

 

_Blood could feel the contempt in the soldier's stare as he dropped the DA's body to the floor. "I don't take orders from you." He snarled, before turning and walking back out, leaving Blood alone with the dead._

_And the sinking suspicion that Olive Queen had been right after all._

“Looks like he’s finally starting to get that he’s being played.” Roy noted.

 

“I’d feel sorry for him if he hadn’t let this happen.” Tommy noted.

 

“And wasn’t an accessory to my mother’s murder.” Thea grumbled.

 

_The scene changed to the streets of Starling, where Dig was carefully navigating the van towards the courier._

_"Any word from Thea? Is she safe?" Dig asked._

_"She decided to leave Starling before the attacks started." Oliver said from the back of the van._

“Yeah, except I was still at the train station when the attack hit.” Thea said dryly and Roy tightened his grip on her.

 

_"Just under two miles to the bridge." Felicity reported. "And the courier." Her phone rang, and she looked at the screen- it read Lance. "It's for you." She told Oliver, handing him the phone._

_Oliver activated his voice changer, and then answered the call. "What is it, Detective?" he asked,_

_"How can we help you?" Lance said without preamble._

_Oliver paused. "We?"_

_"The Starling City police force is standing with you on this one." He revealed._

“Bet he wasn’t expecting to hear that.” Tommy noted.

 

“No, but it was welcome news.” Dinah told him.

 

_"We need help containing the soldiers." Oliver said at once. "We're working on something and it may stop them but we need more time."_

_"We can do that." Lance assured him. "Whatever you're doing, good luck. For all our sakes." He hung up, and Oliver handed Felicity the phone, still a bit stunned._

_"This is the only street that feeds into the bridge." Felicity said glumly as they hit another pothole. She screamed suddenly as a masked man ran right at the van. Dig hung a hard right down a side street to escape._

“Damn.” Diggle said what they were all thinking.

 

_"Floor it!" Oliver yelled. Dig did just that, speeding down the narrow corridor on the road not filled with abandoned cars. The Mirakuru soldier managed to keep pace. Up ahead, another soldier pushed a car directly into Dig's path. He saw it, but with all the cars blocking him, there was nothing he could do._

_"Hold on!" he yelled. He tried swinging around it, but there just wasn't any room. The van hit the front of the car and flipped onto its side as the two soldiers looked on. They slowly started making their way to the van._

“Oh man, this is so not good.” Tommy moaned as they all tensed.

 

_In the back, Oliver groaned. "Dig?" he called out. "Diggle!"_

_"Yeah, yeah." Dig groaned in reply. He was at an odd angle, half on his seat and half on the door, and Felicity had fallen halfway onto his lap._

_Oliver noted that she wasn't moaning, or crying, or saying anything. "Is she breathing?" he asked, dreading the answer._

_"Felicity!" Diggle felt for a pulse, and found it immediately. "Yeah, yeah." He assured Oliver._

_"Then we have to get out of here." Oliver said, looking out the back window at the two soldiers slowly approaching them._

_"Yeah, I'm on it." Dig said, kicking out the shattered windshield. He crawled out, dragging the unconscious Felicity behind him. Oliver grabbed his bow and made his way out last, drawing an explosive arrow and aiming it back into the van. Just as the two soldiers arrived at the back doors, he fired, embedding the arrow into the door. As they opened it, the arrow exploded, knocking them both unconscious._

“Oh thank god, their alright.” Laurel sighed in relief.

 

“For now.” Diggle said grimly.

 

“Do you have to keep being such a Debbie Downer?” Tommy asked annoyed.

_Oliver handed Diggle his bow and picked up Felicity bridal style, and the three continued on to the courier._

“It probably would’ve been smarter for me to carry Felicity and Oliver to hold his bow at the ready in case any more Mirakuru soldier’s attacked us.” Diggle noted.

 

“Well, this was around the time Ollie convinced himself he was in love with Felicity. So, it goes without saying he didn’t make the best decisions back then.” Dinah said causing Tommy, Roy and Thea to snicker.

 

_The scene changed to the train station, where a terrified Thea didn't know who she wanted to escape from more- the first masked lunatic, or the second masked lunatic. She ran down the platform, ducking behind a pillar next to a dead cop. She eyed his gun, but froze when she heard another set of footsteps running towards her._

_"Thea!" Malcolm called out. "I'm not here to hurt you."_

“And I totally believe you.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

_Great. It was the second masked lunatic. "Why should I believe you? You're a murderer, terrorist, and psychopath!"_

_"I don't expect you to understand what I've done." Malcolm said calmly. "Not now. Not without more time to explain."_

“No amount of explaining will every make it okay.” Tommy sneered angrily.

 

_"How are you even alive?" she asked. There had been a body found. "Why are you here?"_

_"I heard what happened to your mother." He said. "I needed to make sure you were all right. I needed to see my daughter."_

_Enraged, Thea came out from behind the column and glared at the man. "I am not your daughter!" she shouted. "You're nothing to me! And I want nothing from you. Do you understand?"_

Dinah silently mused that it would have been better for everyone involved if it had stayed that way.

 

_"Yes." He said, coming closer. "But right now, you need my help. My protection. You have no idea, Thea, how dangerous it is out there. The city is falling. At least let me take you to safety." He pleaded, holding out his hand to her as she looked on, conflicted._

“As much as it pains me to admit it-and it does-it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to go with him,” Dinah said and the time travelers looked at her stunned, “Malcolm is a psychotic jackass, don’t get me wrong, but he would have protected you. You were safer with him that night than by yourself.”

 

“Well that’s alarming.” Thea muttered.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Slade stood in front of the windows, looking out over the city as it burned around him. "They say Nero sang as he watched Rome burn." He said. "Now I understand why. If only Shado were here to witness this."_

_Isabel looked at Slade. "Who's Shado?" she asked._

“She doesn’t even know why she is doing this?” Laurel asked stunned.

 

“She didn’t care why; al she cared about was destroying the Queen family. And she almost succeeded.” Dinah said grimly and Thea gulped as Roy tightened his grip around her slightly.

 

_"What the hell is going on?" Isabel turned to see Blood storming into the office. "One of your juiced-up jack boots just killed my entire office staff, and snapped the district attorney's neck!" he said hotly._

_"And?" Slade said, still looking out of the window._

_"And?" Blood said. "And I never agreed to this! You were supposed to call off your dogs."_

_Slade glanced at him. "That was your plan, Mr. Blood, not mine." He said coldly._

_"We had a deal." Blood spat._

“And you expected him to honor it…because?” Tommy asked sarcastically.

 

_Slade turned fully towards him. "And do you feel that I've not lived up to my end of it?" he asked threateningly._

_"Those are innocent people." Blood said nervously, intimidated by the man's presence. "Dying out there. You do not need to kill them." He said._

_"Yes, I do!" Slade roared, causing Blood to jump. "I made a promise to someone once, and I will uphold it."_

_"So this really is all about you just trying to hurt Oliver Queen." Blood said in realization. Oliver had been right._

“And halleluiah, he finally sees the light.” Roy drawled scornfully.

 

“It only took unleashing the army of a madman on the city.” Tommy growled.

 

_"I vowed to him that I would take away everything and everyone he loves." Slade said. "And he loves this city."_

 

_"But this city… it's mine, too." Blood argued._

 

_"Not anymore." Slade said quietly. "As of tomorrow night, it'll be nothing but rubble, ash, and death. A land only good for one thing." He turned back to the window. "Graves." He whispered._

“And now the psycho comes out on full display for Blood to see.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

“It was there before, but Blood didn’t see it. He saw what he wanted to see. And the city paid the price for it.” Dinah said scornfully.

 

“Did he honestly think Slade would limit it to property damage or something like that?” Diggle asked incredulously.

 

“I don’t know what he thought; maybe he was just desperate to save the city like us. In any case, I guess we’ll never know.

 

_The scene changed to the streets. Laurel and Sara were walking now through the alley when they came upon a patrol car. Laurel rushed up to it, feeling for a pulse from the officer that had been thrown partway through the windshield. She sighed when she didn't find one. She turned back to her sister, who had sat wearily on an overturned crate._

_"Sara," she began, moving back towards her slowly. "Where have you been?"_

_"Doesn't matter." She said._

_"Why did you come back?" Laurel asked._

_"I don't know." She admitted, looking at her sister. "There isn't anything here for me."_

“Your family is there.” Laurel said sadly.

 

_"Your family's here." Laurel pointed out._

“You don’t have to repeat yourself Laurel.” Tommy said cheekily and Laurel gave a slight laugh despite herself.

 

_Sara sighed. She pulled off her mask, then her wig and looked at Laurel wearily. "You don't know, Laurel, about me." She began. "About who I am and who I've become."_

_"I know you're a hero." Laurel stated._

_"I'm not a hero Laurel." Sara argued. "I am the furthest thing from it. I am 'Ta-er al-Sahfer'. That was my new name. Because the woman that I was… the girl that I was, was gone."_

_Laurel knelt down in front of her. "I'm not going to pretend that I've been through anything that you have. One thing that I've learned in the past year is that these things- they don't break us. They make us who we are." She told her._

_"And what I am is irredeemable." Sara said._

“Sara…” Laurel said sadly.

 

“It took Sara a long time to break out of that mindset. We tried, but in the end there wasn’t anything we could have done for her. Sara had to fight her demons on her own.” Dinah sighed.

 

_"What was that word you said before?" she asked._

_"Ta-er al-Sahfer."_

_"What does that mean?" Laurel asked_

_"It means 'The Canary'." Sara said._

_"If you're so far gone and so irredeemable," she asked, standing. "Then why would they know you by such a beautiful name?" she held out her hand, and Sara took it. Laurel pulled her up into a hug, which Sara returned gratefully._

“Like I said, we tried but it wasn’t enough.” Dinah sighed once more.

 

_Five years ago-_

_Oliver made his way silently through the 'Amazo'- as silently as he could dripping water everywhere he went. He made his way into the cell block, dodging the guards and quickly locating Sara's cell. He used a knife to bust open the lock, and as the door swung open, Sara looked over at him in surprise._

_"Ollie!" she cried repeatedly in relief, jumping into his arms. "Thank God! Ollie!"_

“Oh thank god.” Laurel breathed a sigh of relief, not noticing the grim expression on her future self’s face.

 

_"All right, come with me." He said, leading her out of the cell block._

_"The sub is right alongside the freighter." He told her. "You just need to swim, ok?"_

_"Ok." She stopped as he pulled away. "Ok, what are you doing?" she asked worriedly._

_Oliver sighed. "I can't leave yet." He said._

“What?” Tommy exclaimed as they all stared incredulously at the screen.

 

“Wait for it.” Dinah said tiredly.

 

_"Ollie, come on." Sara began, but he shook his head._

_"The cure." He stated. She shook her head no, but he plowed on. "I can't-I can't leave Slade behind." He said. "I'm not just going to- I'm not just going to write him off. We injected him with the Mirakuru. But it was me! I chose you over Shado." He said._

“Now is not the time to be noble Ollie.” Tommy groaned.

 

“Ollie was not someone who would give up on people he loved easily, even when they didn’t deserve it. He tended to give more chances to people than they deserved, It was something I both loved and hated about him.” Dinah admitted.

 

_"Ollie, I-I just-I just want to go home.' She stammered out tearfully. "I just want to see my family, Ollie. Come on, please!" she begged, pulling him into a desperate hug._

_"I need to do this." He said. "I need to save my friend. I need to at least try." He kissed her. "Get to the sub. Get safe."_

_"Not without you." Sara decided after a moment._

_Oliver sighed. "Sara…"_

_"Come on." She said, pulling him back into the ship towards the cure._

“This has to be the worst idea either of them have had since getting on that boat in the first place.” Tommy groaned.

 

“You said it.” Laurel said stiffly, her heart racing with fear for them.

 

“Please let them both be okay.” Thea muttered fearfully as Roy pulled her to him, hoping his presence would help sooth her.

 

_Present-_

_On the streets of Starling City, Sara was still leading Laurel towards safety when Laurel's phone rang. She pulled it out and looked at it. "It's Dad." She said, answering the call. "Hello?"_

_"Laurel, baby, where are you?" he asked from the precinct._

_"55 and Alfred. There were a few roadblocks." Laurel understated._

_"But you're ok?" he asked._

_"Yeah. Sara's with me." She revealed._

_"Right. Ok. Listen, stay there, both of you. I'm on my way." He told her, hanging up and rushing out of the station._

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”  Laurel frowned, worried for her father.

 

“There’s safety in numbers.” Diggle argued.

 

“Against Mirakuru soldiers?” Laurel challenged.

 

“Yes.” Diggle said firmly.

 

_Across town, The Arrow and company were still headed for the courier._

_"I can walk." Felicity told Oliver. He gently put her down as she checked her phone._

_"Where is he?" Oliver asked._

_"The cell phone GPS says he should be within a 500-foot radius." She said. "I'll call him." She quickly dialed the number, and after a moment he answered._

_"Hey, where are you?" he gasped in pain._

_"We're here, where are you?" she asked. "Honk your horn."_

“No no no no, don’t, don’t do that. Very bad idea.” Tommy said alarmed.

 

“Slade’s soldiers will hear to.” Laurel realized.

 

“This isn’t good.” Roy said softly.

 

_"Cool. Hold on." He reached in and honked the horn a few times. He stopped and sighed in relief. "Wait! I can see your feet." He said with a relived smile. "You're standing right outside my car." His smile turned to terror when he saw the masked men round the car._

_On the other end of the call, Felicity paled. "That's not us." She said, and then she heard screaming- both over the phone, and somewhere nearby. The three took off at a run, and in moments they had found the car, the dead courier-_

_And no cure._

“God damn it” Diggle roared.

 

“Without that cure…” Laurel trailed off.

 

“It’s over. They can’t stop Slade without it.” Roy sighed in defeat.

 

“It’s not over till it’s over. Keep watching.” Dinah advised.

 

_"Cool. Hold on." He reached in and honked the horn a few times. He stopped and sighed in relief. "Wait! I can see your feet." He said with a relived smile. "You're standing right outside my car." His smile turned to terror when he saw the masked men round the car._

_On the other end of the call, Felicity paled. "That's not us." She said, and then she heard screaming- both over the phone, and somewhere nearby. The three took off at a run, and in moments they had found the car, the dead courier-_

_And no cure._

Laurel frowned, considering. Diggle also noticed it and wondered if Blood would decide to go against Slade.

 

_The scene changed to the Clock Tower, where Oliver, Diggle and Felicity had taken shelter to come up with another plan._

_"I just got off the phone with Cisco at S.T.A.R. Labs." Felicity started as Oliver looked out of the broken clock face onto the burning city beyond._

_"The cure they sent us was all they had." Diggle continued. "And they used all the Mirakuru that we gave them, so they can't make more."_

_"We can't stop Slade's men without the cure." Oliver said despondently._

_"We'll find another way." Diggle started._

_Oliver cut him off. "There is no other way!" he shouted. He took a moment to control his emotions before continuing. "Diggle, the foundry's been compromised and we need to get Roy out of there." He said._

“That’s right, you’re still there.” Diggle realized as Thea gripped Roy’s arm frantically.

 

“Relax; I apparently make it out alright.” Roy whispered to her but she does not relax her grip.

 

_I'm on it." Dig replied, heading out._

_Oliver turned to Felicity as she watched Diggle leave. "I didn't know, Felicity." He said suddenly. "Five years ago, I was a completely different person. And I had no idea that something like this was even… possible. I couldn't have imagined. When you and Diggle brought me back to Starling City, I made a vow to myself that I would never let anything like the Undertaking happen again."_

_"What's happening now is not your fault." She said tearfully._

_"Yes, it is." He replied. "I have failed this city. Yao Fei. Shado. Tommy. My father, my mother. All that I have ever wanted to do is honor those people." He said tiredly._

_"You honor the dead by fighting." She replied, glaring at him. "And you are not done fighting! Malcolm Merlyn, the Count, the Clock King, the Triad-everyone who is trying to hurt this city, you stopped them." She said, crying as she walked towards him. "And you will stop Slade."_

_"I don't know how." Oliver said._

_"Neither do I." she replied. "But I do know two things. You are not alone. And I believe in you." She reached out and pulled him into a fierce hug. After a moments of indecision, he returned it, though he stared off into space, a plan forming in his mind._

“Finally, something she said that I can agree with.” Tommy said a little surprised.

 

“Agreed.” Diggle nodded.

 

“Hear hear!” Thea nodded smiling slightly.

 

“Don’t get used to it.” Dinah said grimly, thinking of the terrible advice Oliver had been given in the next recording that set this future in motion.

 

_The scene changed to the streets, where Laurel and Sara were waiting for Lance._

_"Where's Dad?" Laurel wondered. "He should be here by now." Absurdly, she was taken back to several school functions that he had picked the two up from, and even then he had been late._

_"We should get to a better vantage point." Sara noted absently._

_"Somebody help!" they looked over at a burning building, hearing a woman screaming. "Please, help! Please!"_

_"Stay here." Sara told Laurel, quickly donning her mask and wig. Laurel, being Laurel, followed soon after._

“And of course you don’t.” Tommy said teasingly and she rolled her eyes, although she had a slight smile on her face.

 

_She ran up to the smoking building as a mother, still dressed in her night clothes, led her son away from the building._

_"Someone help! Please help! Someone help! Please!" she was shouting. "My daughter is still inside, I couldn't get to her!" Suddenly there was an explosion, driving them all back._

_Laurel reached out and grabbed the mother. "Don't, it's too dangerous!"_

_At that moment Lance pulled up. "Laurel!" he yelled, jumping out of the cruiser and running over to his daughter._

_"Dad!" she said, hugging him._

_"Are you hurt?" he asked, looking her over._

_"No, I'm fine. I'm ok." She assured him._

_"My daughter's still inside, I couldn't get to her!" the mother cried. Lance approached the door, but another explosion drove him backwards._

_"Delta Charlie 52 to Central, copy!" he said into his radio. "Delta Charlie 52 to Central, copy! Delta Charlie 52 to Central, please copy me, now!" he cried out. "Delta Charlie 52 to Central—"_

_"Dad." Laurel said, getting his attention. He looked up, and through the smoke walked the Canary, a small girl wrapped in a blanket in her arms. He rushed up the stairs to take the girl and surreptitiously check his youngest daughter for injuries, giving her a small smile she led her down the stairs before rushing over to the mother and handing her child._

_"My baby, my baby!" she cried, holding the coughing little girl tightly. Sara watched the reunion with a satisfaction she had not felt in a long time, but quickly fled out of sight._

_"Oh, my baby." The mother cooed. She looked up to thank the blonde, but she was gone. "Who was that?" she wondered._

_"That's the Canary." Laurel said proudly._

Laurel smiled proudly at this.

 

_The scene changed to the train station, where Malcolm was still trying to convince Thea to let him save her._

_"Thea, please, come with me." He urged._

_"I don't want anything to do with you." Thea said emotionally. "I don't want to even see you!" Suddenly she spied a figure climbing out of the train, and her eyes widened in terror._

_Malcolm noticed. "Stay behind me." He told her quietly. In an instant he had spun and fired, planting an arrow in the soldiers gut. The Mirakuru-enhanced man contemptuously swept the arrow off of his chest and attacked, which Malcolm expertly dodged. The assassin went on the offensive, wielding his bow like a staff and beating him with it. A hard kick to the gut pushed the soldier back, but he rushed forward, spearing Malcolm into a nearby support column. The impact caused him to drop his bow and his quiver to dislodge, sending his arrows clattering to the ground. The soldier pulled him back into a bear hug and squeezed, shaking him like a ragdoll, and Malcolm cried out in pain._

_"You're out of arrows." The soldier snarled as Thea looked on, helpless._

_"You're not!" Malcolm ground out, reaching out and yanking one of the arrows he had shot into him earlier out of his back and jamming into the base of his neck, severing his spinal cord. The soldier collapsed, dead, and Malcolm gasped before passing out. Thea looked on, unsure of what to do now._

“Well, at least he protected her.” Tommy said grudgingly.

 

“IT should have killed him.” Dinah said darkly.

 

“That we can agree on.” Roy snarled as he glared at the screen.

 

_The scene changed to the Clock Tower, where a ringing phone drew Felicity' attention. She picked it up and stared at it in disbelief. "Oliver- this is your phone." She said, meaning his personal phone. She handed it to him, and he saw it was Sebastian Blood calling._

_Oliver stared at the phone for a moment before answering. "What do you want?" he asked shortly._

_"Same thing you do, Oliver." Blood said from Queen Consolidated as he waited for an elevator. "To save this city before it's too late."_

_"It's already too late." Oliver said bitterly._

_"You were right about Slade Wilson." Blood admitted. "I should have listened to you. But I'm here now and I can help you."_

_"Why should I trust you?" Oliver demanded,_

_Blood stepped into the elevator. "Because, Oliver- I have the Mirakuru cure." He revealed as the doors closed. In the clock tower, Oliver looked at Felicity with hope in his eyes._

“Holy shit. I was not expecting hat.” Roy said as he stared wide-eyed.

 

“Blood was a pathetic excuse for a human being, but he did not want to see the city destroyed.” Dinah said.

 

“Which would mean so much if he wasn’t the one responsible for it being at risk of being destroyed!” Thea snarled.

 

“Didn’t say he wasn’t at fault.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_A short time later Diggle returned with Roy and his venom IV. He gently laid him down onto a makeshift table._

_"How much venom do we have to keep him under?" Oliver asked._

_"Two hours, maybe." Dig replied._

_Oliver grabbed his bow. "Let's go.” He said, before stopping in front of Felicity, "Hey." He started. "I need you to stay with Roy."_

_"Ok." She agreed reluctantly. "Oliver, John—" he called out, stopping them. "Um, maybe this is obvious, but are we sure this isn't a trap?"_

_"No." he admitted._

“But we’re out of options.” Diggle said grimly.

_"I'm just saying, if you guys don't come back alive, I'm going to be really pissed." She said. Diggle chuckled in amusement, and Oliver smiled, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder before turning and leaving._

“Okay, what is with all the touching?” Tommy asked.

 

“What do you mean?” Thea asked confused.

 

“Haven’t you noticed ow Oliver keeps uncharacteristically touching Felicity? I mean, it’s like some dark overlord is trying to send some sort of message.” Tommy said a little frightened.1

 

“Tommy, I think you’ve seen too many movies.” Laurel told him.

_The scene changed to City Hall. The Arrow and Diggle walked through the darkened halls, carefully stepping over bodies until they reached Blood's office. Oliver switched his bow to his left hand as he entered, absently noting Kate Spencer's body on the floor before seeing Blood standing by the window._

_"As a young boy, I was plagued by nightmares." Blood began. "Every night, I would wake up in a cold sweat, frightened and alone. It was my father's face that haunted me." He revealed. He turned, holding the leather skull mask in his hands. "And this is how I saw him. The embodiment of desperation and despair. I made this mask to conquer my fears." He told them, desperate for them to understand. "And remind myself why I fight, every day, to give this city's most desperate a chance. All I ever wanted to do was help people, Oliver._

“And yet you really don’t seem to care that much about the people you claim to want to help.” Laurel noted disdainfully.

 

_"Then help me believe." Oliver said. "Where is the cure?"_

_"Slade Wilson will not rest until he honors the promise that he made you." Blood said, walking up to his desk and setting the mask down._

_"I won't be so easy to kill once we level the playing field." Oliver growled._

_"He's not interested in killing you." Blood revealed. "Not until he's taken away everything and everyone you love."_

_"After he murdered my mother, he said one more person had to die." Oliver stated._

_"Whoever you love the most." Blood replied._

“He wants to kill the person Oliver cares about most in the world right in front of him.” Diggle realized.

 

“So, either Laurel or Thea.” Tommy said looking back and forth between the two women.

 

“Considering he kept my picture for all those years, I’m gonna take a shot in the dark and say Slade is coming after me.” Laurel looked over at Dinah.

 

“You’re not wrong.” Dinah sighed.

 

“Yay.” Tommy groaned as Thea looked over at Laurel.

 

_He walked around his desk and reached down. Dig tensed, but then relaxed as he stood back up, the case in his hands. "I hope you can beat him with this." Blood said, walking back around the desk and handing it to Oliver. "For all our sakes." Oliver took the case. "And when this is over, I promise you I will do everything in my power to rebuild Starling City." Blood continued. "And I won't just make it what it was. I will make it better. Like I always planned."_

_Oliver looked at him in disbelief. "You really think," he started, "After everything that's happened, after what you've done, that they'll still let you be mayor?" he asked._

_"Why not? No one knows that I've done anything except try to save this city. And if you tell anyone about my mask, I will tell them about yours." Blood warned._

“Try it, see what happens.” Tommy snarled, glaring at the screen.

 

“Considering what happened to Moira, it wouldn’t have surprised me if Ollie would have risked it just to make sure Blood went to prison for the rest of his life.”  Dinah mused.

 

_"Do what you have to, Sebastian." Oliver growled, before turning and walking out of the office._

_The scene changed to the SCPD. Lance had brought Laurel back to the station for protection before going back out on the streets. "I got to get back to it." He told her, reluctantly moving to leave._

_"Hey." They looked up to see Sara, now in civilian clothes, rushing into the station. "Are you guys ok?" she asked._

_"Yeah." Laurel said, hugging her. "Are you ok?"_

_Before she could reply, two officers walked past them. "You wouldn't believe it- a blonde in a mask ran out of a burning building with a kid in her arms." The first officer was telling the second. "It was the bravest thing I've ever seen. That woman's a hero." She stated. Laurel gave Sara a small smile, and Sara once more felt a tremendous sense of pride. Maybe she wasn't damned after all._

_The scene changed to City Hall. Blood was pouring himself a drink when Isabel walked into his office._

_"You gave it to him, didn't you?" she asked._

Well this doesn’t bode well for Blood.” Laurel noted, a little concerned despite himself.

 

“He got off easy then.” Thea snarled. Thinking death was too good for him.

 

_Blood took a sip of the scotch. "I did what I thought was necessary." He replied. "Don't worry, I'll tell Slade."_

_Instead of replying, Isabel walked over to his desk and hit the autodial on his phone. It rang once, and then Slade answered._

_"Does he still have the cure?" he asked from his desk at Queen Consolidated._

_"No." Isabel replied._

_Blood took a breath. "Slade, you betrayed—" he began, but Slade cut him off._

_"Good-bye, Mr. Blood." He said._

_The sounds of swords unsheathing caused him to turn around- and that was when Isabel shoved both blades through his chest. He gasped in surprise and pain. "I loved this city." He gasped. Isabel sneered at him and shoved him off of her blades back onto his desk, knocking the skull mask to the floor. Isabel turned and walked out, leaving the Mayor dead on the desk._

“You know, I’d feel a lot sorrier for him if he hadn’t helped Slade murder my mother.” Thea said as she stared at the screen stonily.

 

“Me to.” Tommy said as the others absently nodded in agreement.

 

_The scene changed to the clock tower. Felicity opened the case and stared at the multiple glass vials filled with blue liquid._

_"Why does every secret formula have to be a color?" she asked absently. "Whatever happened to good, old-fashioned clear?"_

“Then how would you tell them apart from water?” Tommy asked bewildered.

 

_"All right, so if we inject one of Slade's soldiers with this—" Diggle started._

_"According to S. T.A.R. Labs, it will counteract the effects." Felicity finished._

_"Assuming they got the recipe right." Dig noted._

_Oliver took the case and headed over to Roy. He pulled out a vial and considered it for a moment. "We need to test it." He said._

_"We can't." Felicity responded at once, alarmed. "Treat Roy like some kind of lab rat?"_

_"Felicity—"_

_What if it doesn't work? What if it kills him? What if he wakes up and kills us?" she asked frantically._

“We don’t have the option of dwelling on what ifs. Not now.” Diggle said firmly.

 

“But Roy…” Thea looked at her boyfriend fearfully.

 

“I would rather die than wake up and kill again.” Roy said firmly.

 

_"We need to know." Oliver told her firmly. "One way or the other."_

_Five years ago-_

_On the 'Amazo', Sara and Oliver entered Ivo's lab. Oliver secured the door, and then turned to Sara. "Go lock the other door." He told her._

_"Ok." She replied. She ran across the room to secure the other hatch, and that was when Oliver noticed something in the corner. Walking over, he picked up his bow and quiver. He turned to Sara. "Sara, where does Ivo keep his safe?" he asked._

_"It's, uh, by his books." She replied. Oliver walked over to his desk and spotted the safe. His heart sank when he saw the door of the safe had been forced open already. He opened it and found the safe empty._

“Damn it, Slade already got to it!” Tommy swore as they all groaned in frustration.

 

_"Oliver…" Sara said in alarm. Oliver turned to see two men with guns enter the room from a third doorway, followed closely by Slade._

_"What are you looking for, kid?" he asked, and then held up a syringe filled with blue liquid. "This?" he asked with a smirk._

“This was all a trap. Slade took Sara to get Oliver on The Amazo and then he took the cure, knowing Oliver would go after it.” Diggle realized in horror.

 

“Never let it be said that Slade wasn’t a good strategist.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“Well, this should be good.” Roy said sarcastically.

 

“This is so not good.” Tommy snapped, too worried to note Roy’s sarcastic tone.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to the SCPD. As Lance talked with his daughters, Pike was watching the news with interest. "Detective Lance." He called out finally, drawing Lance and his girls over to him._

_"Yeah? What's going on?" Lance asked. Then he saw the picture on the screen of troops moving over the bridges towards Starling City. "What is it?" he wondered. 'You're watching live footage of an army convoy arriving on the outskirts of the city to restore order.' The reporter was saying. Lance sighed in relief. "Looks like the cavalry's here, finally."_

_"Maybe." Pike said warily._

_Lance looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"_

_Pike gestured at the screen. "Well, they're taking up positions in the bridges and tunnels."_

_"Well, those are the only ways into the city." Quentin noted._

_"Yeah, and the only ways out." Sara pointed out._

_"A buddy of mine in military intelligence once told me the army isn't always the army." Pike said thoughtfully._

 

“Oh god, don’t tell me.” Diggle realized and Dinah nodded.

 

“What?” Tommy asked confused as the other looked at them.

“Remember how I told you John shouldn’t have told Waller about Slade’s army? Well, just watch and you’ll see why.” Dinah told them.

 

_“But it's clearly the military." Laurel stated. "The trucks, the uniforms."_

_"Except the nearest army base is at Monument Point, which is 300 miles from here." Pike pointed out._

_"So how could they mobilize to Starling City so fast?" Sara asked._

_"Ok. So if that isn't the army, who the hell are they?" Lance wondered._

 

_The scene changed to the clock tower. Oliver loaded a syringe with the cure and approached Roy, who had been disconnected from his venom IV. Felicity and Diggle watched on worriedly as Oliver leaned over the boy. "I'm sorry." He brought the needle up to his shoulder to inject him as Felicity closed her eyes…_

_But after a few moments of hesitation, he sighed. "I can't." he said, setting the syringe down on the table._

“Do it.” Roy said and Thea looked at him alarmed and angry.

 

“Are you insane!?” Thea demanded.

 

“In order to beat Slade, they need to know this stuff works. And if the essence of heroism is truly to die so other can live, then I would gladly die if it meant finding out this stuff works.” Roy told her angrily.

 

“Hey, settle down.” Diggle told them.

 

“You’re about to miss the most important part.” Dinah warned them and they quieted as the recording continued.

 

_Suddenly Felicity's phone rang. She fumbled for it, and pulling it out she glanced at the screen. "It's Lance." She said, answering the call. "Detective."_

_"Are you near him?" Lance asked._

_"Yes." She replied._

_"Are you near a TV?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Turn it on." He ordered. Felicity ran over and grabbed her tablet, quickly opening the TV app, and saw the convoy of troops on the screen. 'You're watching live footage of an army convoy arriving on the outskirts of the city to restore order.' The reporter was saying._

_Oliver pulled out his own phone and quickly dialed a number. In the A.R.G.U.S. command center, Amanda Waller pulled out her phone and frowned. "How did you get this number?" she demanded._

_"Amanda. What are you doing?" he demanded in return._

_"I'm not sure what you mean." She hedged coolly._

_"Amanda, the troops taking up position at the city's exits- they're not army, they're A.R.G.U.S." Oliver stated. "Those are your men. So you tell me what you're up to." At her silence, Oliver lost his temper. "Amanda!" he roared._

_Waller sighed. "Slade's followers are a clear and present danger." She stated. "I cannot allow them to escape the city. They need to be contained… by any means necessary."_

_Oliver's heart sank. "You can't." he said._

_"They're a drone en route carrying six GBU/43-B bombs, enough fire power to level the city." She told him._

“Oh my freaking god, are you kidding me?!” Laurel shouted, staring at the screen in a mix of shock and anger.

 

“Amanda Waller has no regard for human life. In many ways, she is no better than the people she hunts. It’s why Lyla eventually left Argus.” Dinah explained and Diggle perked up at this news.

 

_"There are over half a million people in this city." Oliver stated._

_"576,000." She replied. "None of whom deserve to die. But I have to think about the people in every city. You once told me that Mirakuru made a man virtually unstoppable. What could happen to this country, this world, if I don't end this here and now?" she asked._

_"Listen to me. I have the cure." He told her. "I can stop Slade and his men."_

_"I can't take the chance you'll fail, Oliver." Waller said._

_"Amanda, I just need more time." He pleaded._

_"I'm sorry." She replied, looking down at her threat board. "You have until dawn. And then Starling City is a crater."_

“Oh, and she possibly a sociopath.” Dinah said as the time travelers stared at the screen, too stunned and angry to make a sound.

 

_Oliver hung up the phone, grabbed the syringe, and jabbed it into Roy's shoulder. The time for half-measures and doubts was over._

_The scene changed to the train station. Malcolm groaned in pain as he slowly started to climb back to his feet. A short distance away, Thea bent down and picked up the dead cop's gun. As Malcolm stood, he turned to face Thea, who had the gun pointed right at him. "If you're going to use that, you'll want to click the safety off." He advised with a groan._

_Thea did just that. "I'll shoot you." She warned. "I will!"_

_Malcolm nodded. "I can see it in your eyes. My eyes. They're just like mine." He said. "Both of them filled with pain and anger, because those we loved were ripped from us. I lost my name, my wife… Tommy."_

“You didn’t lose me, you killed me,” Tommy sneered, glaring angrily at the screen, “now get the hell away from my sister.”

 

_"Shut up!" she shouted, the gun trembling slightly in her hands._

_"You're all I have left in this world, and you've lost everything, too." Malcolm said. "Thea. But you still have a father. You still have—"_

_Thea fired three times. There was a thud, and then there was blackness._

“Holy shit.” Roy breathed as Thea stared; shocked she would ever do something like that.

 

“Man.” Tommy said, sad for the loss of his sister’s innocence.

 

“This doesn’t make you a bad person Thea,” Laurel said, seeing the look on Thea’s face, “everyone has a breaking point and Malcolm just pushed you to yours.

 

“She’s right. Now, this next recording is the last one you’ll see. So let’s finish this.” Dinah said as she started the last recording.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1: Is it me or does Oliver uncharacteristically touch Felicity, like Guggenheim is trying to send a message even before season three. I mean, do you see Oliver touching the other people in his life the way he touches Felicity? It’s just really weird.


	61. Unthinkable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The viewers see how Oliver beat Slade and the mistake that sealed Oliver's fate. Roy learns of his mistake that cost him his relationship with Thea.

_The final memory set opened in the clock tower. Oliver was lost in through, thinking about the past as Diggle and Felicity watched over Roy._

_"Oliver. Oliver, man, you ok?" Dig called out, drawing his attention back to the here and now._

_Oliver sighed in frustration. "The cure's not working." He said._

Great.” Roy said glumly.

 

“Have you forgotten Arsenal? You know, your future self who displayed no signs of being injected with Mirakuru?” Dinah asked sarcastically and Roy perked up at the reminder.

 

_"We don't know that." Felicity countered quickly. "He still has a lot of Tibetan pit viper venom in his system." She reminded him. Suddenly an alarm sounded on her tablet, and she ran over and grabbed it._

_"What's that?" Oliver asked._

_"Proximity alarm." She said. "I rigged the tower with sensors just in case Slade's goons came here to kill us." She pulled up a thermal imaged that showed over a dozen men rushing up the stairs. "Slade's goons are here to kill us." She told him._

“Good god, can things get any worse?” Thea groaned.

 

“Ah, why’d you have to say that?” Tommy groaned.

 

_"Talk to me, Felicity." Oliver said as he grabbed his bow._

_"They're inside, they're right underneath us." She said frantically. "They're inside, there's too many of them!"_

_A groan caught their attention, and they looked over in surprise to see Roy staggering to his feet. "Where am I?" he asked, shaking the cobwebs loose from his head. Suddenly the trap door burst open and a masked solider popped up. Acting on instinct, Roy ran over and slugged the man in the mask as hard as he could…_

_Then staggered back, shaking his hand in pain._

“Well, I’d say that’s proof that they cure works.” Diggle noted as Roy smiled.

 

“Thank god.” Roy said relieved.

 

“We are still talking about certain suicidal tendencies later.” Thea grumbled.

 

“Wouldn’t expect anything less.” Roy said cheerfully.

 

_The soldier swept his legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground. Oliver ran over and kicked him in the face, sending the solder falling back down the ladder. He shut the door, but another soldier popped up through the hole that Roy had made previously and grabbed Felicity by the ankle. She screamed in panic._

_"Felicity!" Dig shouted in alarm, running over and shooting the man in the head. Oliver ran over to the broken clock face and shot a cable out to the ground. "Down the cable!" he ordered to his team. Roy ran up and grabbed the cable, then slid down to the ground. He was followed by Diggle, who had grabbed the cure._

“Man, that must have hurt.” Diggle and Roy winced; imaging how much their hands must have burned afterwards.

 

“Try having to shoot later.” Dinah said pointedly and Roy groaned.

 

“Why is it always me?” Roy wondered.

 

_Felicity timidly stepped onto the ledge. Another soldier burst through the trap door, so Oliver smashed him in the chest with his bow, jumped up to the ledge, grabbed Felicity by the waist, and used his bow to slide down the cable._

_As they hit the ground, they all looked up to see an A.R.G.U.S. Helicopter swing around the clock tower. The side door opened and a missile was fired, blowing up the clock tower and killing most of the soldiers inside. Lyla Michaels leaned out to survey her work, and Diggle smiled warmly up at his ex-wife._

“Well thank you Lyla.” Tommy said as Diggle smiled.

 

“The first of many times she would save our asses.” Dinah mused.

 

_On the streets, pandemonium reigned as the Mirakuru soldier ran rampant, destroying everything in their path. In the foundry, Team Arrow discovered that destruction had already run through the Lair._

_"Oh, my God!" Felicity cried forlornly, looking at the destroyed computers that still lay sparking on the ground. The lighting rig was half collapsed, and everything that had been made of glass was shattered._

“Damn.” Roy whistled as the time travelers.

 

“Looks like Oliver was right to have me get you.” Diggle muttered and Roy nodded mutely.

 

_"What the hell happened?" Roy wondered, still trying to catch up._

_"Slade's army." Diggle said. He turned to Oliver. "You were right about this place being compromised."_

_Oliver turned to Lyla. "Lyla, your boss is going to bomb the city at dawn." He told her._

_"Yeah, Waller's never seen a problem she didn't think couldn't be solved with a drone strike." Dig said darkly._

_Lyla gave him a look. "Why do you think I'm here?"_

_Dig looked at her in surprise. "You knew Waller was looking to level the city and you came here anyway?" he asked in wonder._

_"You're here." She said simply._

“She cares about you John. It’s what made her a better Director of Argus then Waller, she cared people.” Dinah said and Diggle nodded with a touched, proud smile.

 

_"You need to go back to A.R.G.U.S." Oliver told her. "You need to stop Waller or buy us enough time to stop Slade."_

_"Not without me." Dig stated. He turned to Lyla. "Till death do us part, right?" he asked with a small smile._

_"This time it might." She stated bluntly._

“Not on my watch.” Diggle growled as the news of Lyla’s fate in this timeline flashed through his mind.

 

_"Guys?" Oliver turned to Felicity and Roy. "I need you to scrounge as many weapons as you can find, especially injection arrows. We're going to fill them with the cure—" he looked at Roy with a thankful look. "Which clearly works- and this ends tonight, without killing. There's been enough death already." He said, thinking back to Slade killing his mother._

There was a tense silence as everyone stiffened. Like with Tommy, it was easy to forget that Moira was dead in this timeline. However, they had to remind themselves that this could still be changed.

 

_The scene changed to the Train Station. Thea shot Malcolm twice in the chest, then a third time as he fell to the ground. She stared at the body in shock for a moment, and then dropped the gun. She slowly started walking away, crying, when an impossible voice stopped her in her tracks._

_"Thea." Malcolm staggered towards his daughter, stepping in front of her. He pried one of the flattened bullets from his tunic and held it out for her to see. "It's called Kevlar." He said, letting the bullet drop to the ground._

“Oh good, he’s still alive.” Laurel deadpanned.

 

“”Yay.” Tommy said sarcastically.

 

“What does it take to kill this bastard?” Roy asked angrily.

 

“Oliver using a sword to cut him open.” Dinah said and they all looked at her stunned.

 

“He really did that?” Thea asked stunned.

 

“Like I said, everyone has a breaking point. Like with you, Malcolm pushed Ollie to his.” Dinah said trying not to give anything away yet.

 

_Thea scoffed in defeat. "If you're going to kill me, just… get it over with." She said tiredly._

_"Kill you? Why? Because you shot me?" he asked. "I'm glad you did."_

“As if we needed further proof he’s a psychopath.” Tommy sneered as Thea stared incredulously.

 

_Thea stared at him in disbelief. "You're sick." She proclaimed._

_"Perhaps." He conceded. "How else to explain the fact that not a year ago, your brother held a gun to my face as well."_

_"Tommy?"_

_"He lacked conviction." Malcolm said. "The strength to pull the trigger, but not you, Thea. You are made of iron. You are truly my daughter, and I could not be more proud."_

“So all I had to do was shoot him to make him proud of me. Good to know.” Tommy said bitterly and Laurel placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

 

_"No!" Thea ground out, pushing past him and storming off. Malcolm watched her go with a proud smile._

“Just when I thought he couldn’t get any crazier.” Roy drawled.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD. Lance was handing out the heavy artillery- shotguns and assault rifles- to every patrol officer he could round up. "Remember your training." He was saying. "You be smart, you take clean shots, and you don't miss the—"_

_He trailed off as chatter burst through on the radio._

_'Fall back to Meltzer Avenue.'_

_'We need SWAT at Union Plaza.'_

_'City hall's a crater.'_

_Gunshots could be heard suddenly. 'They're-they're everywhere!'_

_'Fall back, fall back, I'm hit!'_

“Damn.” Diggle winced as they all shifted, realizing just how bad things had gotten during the siege.

 

_Lance nodded at the radio operator, and she switched off the speaker. "Ok, listen, I know you're scared." He started. "You wouldn't be human if you weren't. But tonight, this city, our city," he emphasized, "It's counting on each and every one of you. So you go out there and you be the heroes I know you all to be. Go." He ordered. As the cops filed out of the room, Lance turned to Laure. "Where's your sister?" he asked._

_"I don't know." She said._

_"Detective." The radio operator said, holding out the mic. "I've got one-P-P-1 on the line. Lieutenant Pike in the field, you're the ranking officer."_

_"You should go." Laurel told him. "I'll find Sara."_

_"Listen, I don't want you stepping foot outside this precinct, you hear me?" he said._

_She gave him a small smile. "I won't. I promise."_

“Why do I have a feeling you break that promise?” Tommy asked wearily.

 

“Wasn’t my choice.” Dinah shrugged.

 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Laurel demanded, feeling a pit of dread forming in her stomach.

 

_All right, sweetheart." He kissed her on the cheek, and then moved over to the other officer. "What do we got?" he was saying as she moved out into the hallway. She saw Sara standing there, talking to another woman whose face she couldn't see._

_"My sister can't be a part of this." Sara was saying. "I don't want her getting hurt."_

_"Sara!" she called out, drawing her attention. Sara turned to face her. "What's going on?" she asked._

_"Laurel—"she never finished as a tranq dart hit Laurel in the chest. She had just enough time to pull it out and stare at it before she hit the ground. As her eyes began to close, she saw a pair of boots moving slowly towards her, obstructing the sad look on Sara's face…_

“Nyssa,” Diggle said as he put it together, “Sara went to The League for help.”

 

“It was the only way we could stop Slade’s army. They were the best chance we had of surviving.” Dinah explained.

 

“Ra’s doesn’t exactly strike me as someone who gives help freely.”  Laurel noted worriedly and Dinah smiled sadly.

 

“He doesn’t.” Dinah said but did not explain further.

 

_The scene changed to the Lair, where Roy and Felicity were at a worktable, carefully filling injection arrows with the cure._

_"Well, it seems like I missed a lot." Roy remarked, sealing an arrow and reaching for another._

_Felicity glanced over at him. "Well, what do you remember?" she asked cautiously._

_"Leaving town and heading to Bludhaven." He glanced over at her. "Was I out cold the whole time?" he asked. When she remained silent, he insisted. "Felicity."_

_She glanced over at him. "You were out. The whole time." She lied._

“Something tells me Arsenal found out and didn’t take it well.” Roy noted and Dinah nodded.

 

“He found out a few weeks before Ollie went to fight Ra’s the first time. And no, he didn’t take it well.” Dinah said thinking of Arsenal’s guilt.

 

_"Slade has at least 50 or so of those human weapons." Diggle noted. "We'll need a whole army if we plan on hitting 'em with the cure."_

_"I know." Diggle and Lyla instantly jumped to their feet and drew their guns as Oliver rounded the debris to face the stairs. Standing there was Nyssa, with Sara at her side- and half a dozen masked assassins behind her. "Which is why an army is what I've brought." Nyssa said._

“Say what you will about Nyssa, she knows how to make an entrance.” Dinah said amused as Tommy and Roy snickered.

 

_Gee Sara," Felicity said, walking up to her friend, "you could have called before you invited…5,6,7 assassins down into our top secret lair." She said._

_"What is she doing here?" Oliver demanded._

_Sara moved over to Oliver. "I asked her to come." She said._

_Nyssa, meanwhile moved over to Felicity. "I'm Nyssa, daughter of Ra's al Ghul. Heir to the demon." She said in introduction._

_"Felicity Smoak. MIT class of '09." She replied confidently._

“Felicity is very lucky Nyssa was in a good mood, otherwise she’d be dead for that.” Dinah mused.

 

“And why exactly was she in a good mood?” Laurel asked wearily and Dinah winced.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah told her.

 

_Oliver took Sara by the arm and led her away from the group. "This is where you went?" he demanded. "Nanda Parbat? The League of Assassins? These people are mercenaries, Sara. Whatever they promised you, it comes at a price."_

_Sara broke free and spun to face him, face to face. "You don't have to worry about it, because I've already paid it." She revealed._

_"You agreed to go back." He realized._

“That’s the price?” Laurel asked, shock and grief sticking her like a knife and Dinah nodded.

 

“I thought the whole reason Sara left was because she couldn’t stand the killing anymore. And now she goes back, just like that?” Tommy asked confused.

 

“She really didn’t see any other option to stop Slade. And she was right; there wasn’t one, so she considered it a small price to pay. But Ra’s wasn’t unreasonable; he assigned Sara to the scouting division of the League. She just went on missions that involved reconnaissance and the like.” Dinah explained.

 

“Doesn’t really make it any better.” Laurel grumbled and Dinah sighed.

 

“It doesn’t.” Dinah agreed.

 

_"Look, I'm not going to let Slade Wilson hurt Laurel or my father." She said. "And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep the ones that I love safe, and I hope you're ready to do the same. Especially after what happened." She looked at him sadly. "Ollie, I'm sorry about your mother." She offered._

_Oliver took a breath. "I am willing to do whatever it takes, but that doesn't mean cold-blooded killing is the answer, Sara." He said. "We have the cure now."_

_"To fight the unthinkable, you have to be willing to do the unthinkable." She replied calmly._

_"You may not want my help, Mr. Queen, but there's little question you are in desperate need of it." Nyssa stated._

“She’s not wrong.” Diggle noted.

 

_"First we need to find Slade's base of operations." Sara said._

_"Slade Wilson and Isabel Rochev are using your former office building as their base of operations." Nyssa revealed._

“Well that was fast.” Thea said surprised.

 

“The League had a vast amount of resources. Frankly, The League had more resources than the Queens and Merlyns had money combined.” Dinah admitted and everyone gapped at her.

 

“Wow, that’s a lot.” Thea said weakly.

 

“No kidding.” Roy muttered.

 

_Oliver walked across the lair and grabbed a small box. Then he walked over to Roy, who was still filling injection arrows. "How are you feeling?" he asked._

_"Ready to serve up some payback." Roy replied._

_"Then remember your training." Oliver handed him the box. "Remember everything that you've learned."_

_Roy looked at the box curiously. He opened it to reveal a red mask, similar to Oliver's. He looked up at the Emerald Archer in surprise. "Are-are you for real?" he asked._

“As a heart attack.” Dinah grinned at the look of awe and excitement on Roy’s face.

 

_"Someone-a friend- once told me that if you survive a crucible, you grow the stronger for it." Oliver told him. "This is to remind you of that."_

“Really, Blood and Helena are friends?” Diggle asked incredulously.

 

“Well, how would it have sounded f he said ‘two psychopaths who tried to kill me a few times?’” Dinah pointed out.

 

“That…is a good point.” Tommy conceded.

 

_"What happened to Thea?" Roy asked suddenly. "Is she…Ok?"_

“Yeah, I’m just being stalked by my homicidal, psychotic father.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

_Oliver gave him a strained smile. "She's fine. She was headed out of the city before this started." He told Roy. Then he turned back to Nyssa. "We do this my way." He stated bluntly._

_"The league does not take prisoners." Nyssa argued._

_"It does tonight." He said sternly. As he moved to brief the League, Roy pulled out his phone to call Thea, just to make sure she was okay._

_The scene changed to the train station. Thea was walking briskly down the platform as Malcolm followed her, trying to reason with his daughter._

_"Thea, it's dangerous out there." He tried._

_Thea laughed shortly. "Better than here with my psycho-villain dad, who's happy I tried to kill him." She slowed as she heard her phone ring, and when she pulled it out to see who it was, she stopped dead in her tracks. "Roy?" she said softly as she answered._

_"Yeah, it's- it's me." He replied. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right."_

_"I'm fine." She said, nervously glancing back at Malcolm. "I'm at the train station."_

_"Thea, listen to me. You're not safe there." He said. "Can you please meet me at my place?" he asked._

_"I'll be there." She said as Malcolm slowly came around her. "Soon as I can."_

_"Ok, be safe." Roy said._

_"Who was that?" Malcolm asked after Thea hung up. "Roy?" at her surprised look, he gave her a look of his own. "You're my daughter. There's not much I don't know about you.”_

“Well that’s alarming.” Roy muttered.

 

“And creepy.” Thea said and he nodded absently.

 

_“Interesting how you run back to him after resolving to run away to escape all the lies and half-truths. He's no different, Thea." He told her. "No different from your mother or Oliver. If you don't believe me, then you should go to him." He said._

_"I will." Thea said firmly. "And if you try to follow me, I'll shoot you again." She warned._

_Malcolm smiled proudly as she walked off. "When you need me, I'll be there." He promised._

“Something tells me this won’t turn out well.” Roy squirmed as Thea felt a pit form in her stomach.

 

“Because it won’t.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. One of Slade's men was patrolling the lobby on the executive floor when the elevator dinged. As the door opened, he looked in curiously at two of his comrades lying on the ground, twitching and unconscious._

_Suddenly The Canary dropped down from the roof of the elevator. He used half of her staff to take the man down to one knee, and then jammed a cure arrow into his other leg. The man dropped to the ground, twitching. She looked around, and then hit her communicator. "Elevator bank's clear."_

“Badass man, badass.” Roy smirked.

 

“You said it.” Tommy agreed wholeheartedly with a grin.

 

_In the conference room, Oliver made short work of two more soldiers. "Conference room's clear." He replied. He headed into his office, where Sara joined him from the office lobby. Standing before them was Deathstroke, Isabel, and 7 more soldiers._

_"You must have quite a bit of faith in this cure if you've come alone." He told Oliver._

_"We didn't come alone." Oliver replied._

_Suddenly the windows behind Slade's men shattered as the League of Assassins made their presence known. Nyssa and her men instantly started firing cure arrows at Slade's guard, while Oliver fired at Deathstroke. Each arrow bounced off of his armor uselessly, much to his dismay._

_Isabel drew her swords and attacked Sara, who fended her off easily. Slade, seeing his men dropping at an alarming rate, decided discretion was the better part of valor and dove out of the window. Oliver ran over to see Deathstroke using his sword to slide down a waiting cable that led to an opposite roof._

“Damn it, he got away.” Diggle growled.

 

“Yeah, but he went running. That’s gotta be good for something.” Tommy tried to be optimistically.

 

“In my experience, when a monster runs, they become desperate. And a desperate monster is when it’s at its most dangerous.” Diggle told him and Tommy frowned.

 

_Nyssa joined Sara in fighting Isabel, coming up behind the other woman and hitting her with a shot to the kidneys, followed by a kick to the knee. As Isabel fell to her knees, Nyssa held her in place as Sara raised her staff for the killing blow._

_"Sara, don't!" Oliver shouted, causing her to stop mid-swing. She took a breath and stepped back, lowering her staff._

“That’s a wise move. She may know where Slade went or what his next move will be now that’s trying to regroup.” Diggle mused.

 

“But can they get it out of her?” Laurel wondered and Diggle shrugged.

 

_Isabel looked at Oliver defiantly. "Kill me. Don't kill me. It doesn't matter. I beat you." She said triumphantly. "I took away the one—" she never got to finish as Nyssa, tired of her blathering, broke her neck._

“Yeah, let’s see you come back from that bitch!” Thea cheered, happy to see the psychopath killed.

 

“Yeah, but now they can’t get anything out of her.” Roy pointed out.

 

“Eh, you win some you lose some.” Thea shrugged nonchalantly.

 

_Oliver growled in frustration and drew an arrow on Nyssa, causing the rest of the assassins to draw on him._

_"Your reticence to do what is necessary is why your city burns." She told him coldly before calmly walking to the elevators._

“She’s not entirely wrong,” Dinah mused and the time travelers looked over at her, “I’m not blaming Ollie and I’m not saying that he could have stopped this from happening. But if he hadn’t been so focused on his new ‘no killing’ policy, it might have made all the difference.”

 

_Oliver lowered his bow, letting out a frustrated sigh as Sara walked up to him. "This isn't working." He growled, the double meaning of his statement clear. "I can't get close enough to Slade to hit him with the cure."_

_"So what do we do?" Sara asked._

_Five years ago-_

_On the 'Amazo', Slade grunted in disappointment as the latest man he had injected with the Mirakuru failed to revive. He looked up to his lieutenant. "Another disappointment! Bring me another!" he ordered. The man moved off to open another cell as Oliver and Sara, held in place by two more pirates, watched on, helpless._

_"Come on, Slade, what are you doing?!" Oliver asked._

_"Advancing the cause of science." Slade said, pulling out a new syringe and preparing to inject the latest man his lieutenant brought him._

“Oh please. We all know Slade doesn’t care about science. He’s just killing for the sake of killing.”  Laurel said disgusted.

 

“The Mirakuru brought out the worst in Slade. And the worst part of him was pretty bad.” Dinah said grimly.

 

“He developed a real craving for killing and torture.” Diggle noted.

 

“Sadistic bastard.” Tommy sneered.

 

_"Wait, no, no, wait, I know you blame me for Shado's death!" Oliver cried out, trying to save the man. "I blame myself!"_

_"He should!" Phantom Shado snarled. "It's his fault we aren't together."_

_"You said once that we were brothers." Oliver tried. "And right now, I am begging you, brother to brother, just listen to me!" he begged._

_"Don't listen to him! All his words are lies." Phantom Shado said._

_"I wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for you." Oliver said._

_"I would be alive if it wasn't for him." Phantom Shado replied._

_"Think about Shado!" Oliver cried. "She-she cared for both of us. She wouldn't want this. She wants us off Lian Yu. She'd want all of this to end!"_

_Slade grabbed his head as reality and fantasy blurred together, becoming too much for his damaged psyche._

“No wonder Slade went crazy. I’d go crazy to with that psychopath whispering in my ear.” Diggle mumbled.

 

_"He's right! This needs to end." Phantom Shado agreed. "You need to kill him."_

“Oh shit.” Roy said as Thea whimpered, Tommy’s hands clenched into fists and Laurel instinctively put a hand to her mouth. Diggle just watched, waiting to see what would happen next.

 

_Slade's eyes cleared and his body relaxed as he reached his decision. He put the syringe down on the deck…_

_On board the submarine, Anatoli looked helplessly at the clock. "Two hours now." He sighed, and then walked over to the fire control station. "Prosti menya, moy drug." He said, turning the key. "I'm sorry, Oliver." He hit the firing button._

“He waited a whole extra hour.” Thea said, pleasantly surprised.

 

“Your brother tends to inspire that kind of loyalty.” Dinah said with a smile.

_On the ship, Slade was staring at Phantom Shado as he pulled his mask out from his waistband and put it on. The pirate holding on to Oliver forced him to the deck as Slade pulled out his gun._

_"Do it." Phantom Shado said eagerly. He turned and aimed at Oliver's head._

_"Slade, no!" Sara cried, struggling against the man who held her futilely._

_"Pull the trigger!" Phantom Shado yelled eagerly._

_"Slade!" Oliver cried out-_

_And then the torpedo hit, and the world went to hell._

“Anatoli saved Ollie.” Tommy noted.

 

“Yeah. If he hadn’t fired at that moment, Ollie would have died.” Dinah said and the time travelers made note of this.

 

_Present-_

_Lance came out into the hallway and was startled to see Laurel lying unconscious on the floor. "Laurel!" he cried out, running over to her and gently slapping her awake. "Laurel! Sweetheart, sweetheart!"_

_Laurel groggily returned to wakefulness. "What-what happened?!" she asked, and then suddenly remembered. "Sara!"_

_"She's gone, sweetie." Lance told her._

_"Oh, my God." Laurel said with dread in her voice._

_"You ok?" he asked her._

_"She's with that woman!" Laurel told him frantically. "The woman that took mom!"_

_Suddenly gunshots rang out and men started screaming. Lance jumped to his feet. "Stay right here." He ordered as he ran back into the squad room. Inside he saw another Mirakuru soldier finishing off the last of the cops that had stayed behind. "Stop right there!" he ordered, drawing his gun. "Don't take one more step. One more step!" As the man continued to approach him, Lance opened fire. To his horror, the bullets didn't even phase the man._

_The soldier reached out and grabbed Lance by his hand, then swung him around as hard as he could. Once more Lance went flying, crashing through a desk before falling to the ground, unconscious. He turned back to see a startled Laurel and quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Slade Wilson wants to see you." He growled as he dragged her unwillingly out of the station._

“Well, I guess we know who Slade chose to use against Oliver.” Diggle noted.

 

Laurel had frozen, shock and fear filling her. Tommy had wrapped an arm around her, more to reassure himself that she was alright then anything. Thea groaned and Roy wrapped an arm around, pulling her close, hoping the action would offer her comfort. Dinah winced as memories of how terrified she was flashed through her mind.

 

_The scene changed to A.R.G.U.S. In the command center, a Drone pilot looked back over her shoulder at Amanda Waller. "Drone's locked on target." She reported. "Starling City."_

“Shit.” Tommy said as they all tensed, wondering if they would see their city bombed.

 

“That bitch.” Thea growled.

 

“That’s one word. I prefer monster.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_When Lance woke up and found Laurel was gone, he did the first thing he could think of- he called The Arrow. That's why a short time later he found himself in Queen Consolidated being led to Oliver's old office by Felicity Smoak._

_"Why does this Wilson guy have such a mad-on for the Queens?' he asked her as they exited the elevator._

_"I don't know. Good thing Thea and Oliver got out of town in time." She lied._

“It would’ve been so much easier to tell him then. Would’ve saved us all a lot of trouble.” Dinah mused.

 

_"So they have to go after my family?" he asked crossly. As they entered the office, Lance stopped in his tracks when he saw Nyssa standing next to Sara. He drew his gun angrily. "What's she doing here?" he demanded._

_"She's here to help." Sara said soothingly, stepping in front of him and pushing his gun down gently. "Just trust me, please." She begged._

_Lance let out a long breath, but holstered his gun. "I guess today I'll have to work with anybody who can help get my daughter back."_

_"What?" Sara asked in alarm._

_"One of these masked guys, they took Laurel. I-I couldn't stop them. Believe me, I—" he grunted in pain, rubbing his side that had hit the desk. "I tried."_

_"Oh, we have a new, big problem." Felicity said suddenly, staring at her tablet. "Which, considering our other ones, is really saying something. I hacked a satellite and tasked it for thermographic imaging- all of Slade's men are gathering at the Giordano Tunnel.' She reported._

“He’s challenging Oliver.” Diggle realized.

 

“Yeah, but why?” Thea asked confused.

 

“Just a second.” Dinah told them.

 

_"I thought these guys were trying to destroy the city, not escape it."_

_"A.R.G.U.S. is going to level the city to stop them from getting out." Oliver told the cop. "That's what Slade's planning on. He knows Waller's tactics."_

“Yeah, I guess it helps to have dealt with people like Waller before.” Thea said bitterly.

 

_"Fortunately, with Slade's men attempting to leave via the tunnel, all our targets will be grouped in a single place." Nyssa pointed out._

_"We need to take it. Gather your men." He told her._

_"What about Laurel?" Lance asked as Nyssa moved to call her men._

_"Wilson took her for a reason. I know what it is." Oliver said. "But the city comes first."_

“Are you kidding me?!” Tommy exclaimed angrily as Thea looked likewise.

 

“I told him that the city needed him more than me. That was still true.” Dinah pointed out.

 

“And he probably knew that. He’s right; the city has to come first.” Laurel said firmly.

 

“You and Ollie certainly were made for each other.” Thea said stiffly as Tommy threw his hands up in defeat.

 

“Why are all my friends so self-sacrificing?” Tommy wondered exasperated.

 

“Comes with the territory.” Diggle told him and Tommy groaned.

 

_"This is my daughter." He said helplessly, then turned to Sara. "This is your sister! You can't just leave her like this!" he cried out. "Look, I know you said you were trying another way, and I respect that." Lance told Oliver. "But Slade Wilson? His men? They're monsters. And monsters, they need to be destroyed. You've killed before." Lance reminded him. "Tonight, I suggest you get back in the habit." He suggested before storming back out of the office._

“I really wish he had listened to that advice.” Dinah sighed.

 

“Ollie has always respected dad’s advice. Why does he choose now to ignore it?” Laurel wondered.

 

“Asked and answered.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

_"He's wrong." Felicity told him a moment later._

_"He's right." Oliver countered. "I've lost everything because I'm fighting Slade Wilson with one hand tied behind my back. The man murdered my mother. I have to kill him." He said._

_"You told me you had a choice." She reminded him. "That years ago, you could have cured Slade but you chose to kill him instead. This isn't happening because you're not willing to be a killer; it's happening because you were one." Felicity pointed out._

“Actually, it’s happening because he failed to kill Slade.” Tommy pointed out.

 

_"You're right. That's how this started." He said. "It's how it has to end. The only move that he has left for me is to kill him. I can't cure him, I can't capture him, I can't even out-think him!" he raged._

_"Then don't." Felicity said. "Don't… just make him out-think you." She suggested._

“That’s why he didn’t kill Slade. Because Felicity convinced him to ignore Sara and dad’s advice.” Laurel realized and Dinah nodded.

 

“And look what’s happened as a result. Talia broke Slade out, which made it impossible to stop

Talia because we were divided between the two of them. A lot of people died by Slade’s hand, civilian and heroes alike, and Slade set in motion the events leading to that dark day where Ollie and Sara died and Barry was trapped in the speed force. All because Felicity convinced Ollie saving lives wasn’t as important as having the moral high ground. All of this could have been prevented if Ollie had just ignored her advice. But he didn’t and here we are.” Dinah said, her voice trembling with a bunch of emotions but prominently anger and grief.

 

“And all this because Oliver listened to the advice of someone who had no combat experience over two experienced combat vets.” Diggle noted.

 

“You see why I hate her.” Dinah grumbled and everyone nodded slowly, realizing what Felicity’s bad advice had cost her.

 

_The scene changed to Roy's house. He was watching the news while waiting for Thea to arrive. 'Residents are being urged to stay in their homes amidst unconfirmed rumors that mayor Blood is among the casualties as masked men terrorize the city—" he turned the TV off when he heard the door open. Turning around, he saw Thea standing there uncertainly._

_"I'm sorry." He began. "I'm sorry for everything. I—" he moved forward, but Thea stepped back worriedly. Roy took a breath to compose himself. "No, it's ok." He assured her. "I know-I know that I haven't exactly been myself for the past few months. I was injected with—"_

_"With some drug." She finished. "I know. Sin told me. But are you ok now?" she asked._

_"Yeah, I'm fine. I woke up here." He lied. "I lost a lot of time, but…"_

“And of course you’re lying to me.” Thea grumbled.

 

“Hey, talk to Arsenal.” Roy told her defensively.

 

_"And what about the Arrow? He said he was going to take care of you?" she asked._

_"I don't know anything about the Arrow." Roy lied again. "I'm done with all of that, but I…" he stepped forward and put his hands on her arms gently. “You're the only person that I've ever cared about." He told her truthfully. Thea lunged forward and hugged him. They pulled apart after a moment. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Did something happen to you?"_

_"It doesn't matter." She said after a moment. "Look, let's just- let's just get out of here. Let's start over. We can be whoever we want to without anyone getting in our way. I'm never losing you again." He promised her._

“I really wish that were true.” Dinah sighed sadly, thinking of what could have been for their tragic story.

 

“I take it I found out and it didn’t end well?” Thea guessed and Roy squirmed uncomfortable as Dinah nodded.

 

“You two got back together just before Arsenal took the fall for Ollie with the cops. It’s always been one of Arsenal’s biggest how he screwed it up with Thea.” Dinah explained and Roy winced.

 

“Well, at least I know what not to do this time around.” Roy said dryly and Thea smiled as she kissed him on the cheek.

 

_Then his phone vibrated. He pulled it out to see a text message from Felicity. –We need you.—_

_"Yeah, there's just- there's just one thing I need to take care of before we go, ok?" he told her, guiding her to sit down on the sofa. "So just stay here and get some stuff packed and I'll be right back."_

_"No, Roy, it's dangerous." She argued worriedly._

_"I know." Roy said. "But I have to do this. I wouldn't feel right if I left without trying. Do you trust me?" he asked._

_Thea sighed and nodded. "Yes." She said after a moment._

“But I think I get why you do.” Thea said and Roy nodded.

 

“Growing up…I never felt worth something. And even with you…it’s not the same. Knowing what I know now, how much your brother has faith in me, how he wouldn’t kill me even when I was brainwashed by a psychopath hell-bent on vengeance…it gives me a sense of satisfaction and purpose I never felt before.” Roy confessed.

 

“I get that.” Thea said as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

 

_"Then when I get back, we're getting out of here forever. I love you." He told her, leaning in and kissing her gently. Quickly he rose and headed out the door, back into the chaos as Thea waited, alone._

“That’s gonna come back to bite me, I just know it.” Roy mused.

 

“You’re learning.” Dinah noted.

 

_The scene changed to the former Queen Manor. "Oliver." Felicity started as he led her into the darkened house. "What are we doing here? The whole city's falling apart." She pointed out._

_"I know." He said, and then let out a long breath. "You need to stay here." He told her._

_"What?!" she exclaimed. "Why? You can't just ask me to—"_

_"I'm not asking." Oliver said firmly. "I will come and get you when this is all over." He turned to leave._

_"No!" she argued._

_"Felicity—"_

_"No!" she said again. "Not unless you tell me why."_

_He turned back to her and sighed. "Because I need you to be safe." He said._

_"Well, I don't want to be safe. I want to be with you." She replied. "And the others, unsafe!"_

_"I can't let that happen." Oliver said, shaking his head._

_"Oliver. You're not making any sense." Felicity replied._

_"Slade took Laurel because he wants to kill the woman I love." Oliver pointed out._

_"I know, so?"_

_"So he took the wrong woman."_

_"Oh." She said in surprise._

_"I love you." Oliver said softly._

“…what?” Thea asked confused.

 

“I’m so confused.” Tommy confessed.

 

“For once I share the sentiment.” Laurel said, too bewildered to be jealous.

 

“This must be part of Oliver’s plan to stop Slade. AM I right?” Diggle asked as he glanced over at Dinah, who nodded.

 

“You’re right.” Dinah confirmed.

 

_After a moment, he smiled down at her. "Do you understand?"_

_"Yes." She replied softly._

_Oliver smiled softly at her, and then turned and headed back out into the night, leaving Felicity alone in the darkened house._

_The scene changed to A.R.G.U.S. as Diggle and Lyla made their way stealthy towards the building's side entrance. "Johnny." Lyla said suddenly as they reached the door._

_"Yeah?"_

_She paused, and then shook her head. "Never mind." She said._

_"Hey, Lyla." Dig said, putting a hand on her arm. "I love you. You know that, right?" he asked._

_She smiled softly at him. "I do, actually. But it's good to hear it."_

“You should tell her more often. You never said it as much as she wanted and she always missed never telling you that she wished you’d expressed how you felt about her more.” Dinah said and Diggle nodded absently.

_She swiped her card in the door, unlocking it, and the two made their way into the building._

_In the control room, Waller was watching as the drone approached Starling City. "Time to impact?" she asked._

_"Drone is 52 minutes out from target." The pilot replied._

“Oh boy.” Tommy muttered as they all tensed, waiting to see what would happen next.

 

_"Get me Sergeant Gomez at the Giordano Tunnel." Waller ordered._

_The tech tried to raise them, but was unsuccessful. She shook her head. "Uh… Easy Company's not responding, ma'am."_

_Waller came around her table to the tech's station. "I need a visual." She said urgently._

_"They're in a tunnel, ma'am, I can't get a picture." The tech replied._

_"What the hell is going on in that tunnel?" she growled._

_The scene changed to the tunnel, where Slade's men were standing over the body of the A.R.G.U.S. soldiers as the tech voice carried on their radios. 'Sergeant Gomez, come in! Sergeant Gomez!' Hearing approaching footsteps, they turned to see who was next._

She sent Argus soldiers up against Mirakuru soldiers. What exactly did she think was gonna happen?” Roy asked incredulously.

 

“I can’t even begin to try and understand Amanda Waller’s thinking, it just gives me a headache. So don’t even try.” Dinah advised.

 

_Back down the tunnel, The Arrow led a small army consisting of The Canary, Roy, Nyssa, and 7 highly skilled assassins. "No kill shots." He ordered. "Let the cure do its work." The soldiers began running at them. "Ready?" they got closer. "Ready?!" Closer still. "Ready, fire!" he called out just before the soldiers reached them. As one, every archer opened fire, taking out the first wave in moments. The vigilantes rushed in, firing arrows or just stabbing the soldiers with the arrows, taking them out. Nyssa stood off to the side, rapidly firing her cure arrows and gaining an impressive tally. Even Roy was firing arrows, and now that his mind wasn't clouded by the Mirakuru, he found he was a pretty decent shot._

“Wow, you can shoot pretty good without the Mirakuru messing you up.” Tommy said surprised.

 

“This was just in the beginning stages of his archery training. He got a lot better over the next five months.” Dinah said and Roy smirked.

 

_The scene changed to A.R.G.U.S. Lyla and Diggle walked into the cell block that contained Task Force X and encountered the lone night guard. "Agent Michaels, this area's restricted to all unauthorized—" he never got to finish as Diggle rushed him and grabbed him in a sleeper, putting him out in seconds. He yanked the keys off of his belt and ran to a familiar door, unlocking it before whistling at Lyla and throwing her the keys._

_"What the hell is this?" Floyd Lawton asked as he exited his now-open cell. "Early parole?"_

_"Waller's looking to bomb Starling City." Diggle told him as Lyla started letting other prisoners out. "We need your help to stop her."_

“I must really be desperate if I have to ask Lawton for help.” Diggle noted.

 

“Desperate timed call for desperate measures.” Dinah said pointedly.

 

_"As much as I'd love to show the Wall what we think of her, there's just that little matter of tick, tick, boom! Ok? We've got all that miniature bombs in our spines." Lawton reminded him._

_"You have to trust me." Diggle said, handing him his wrist gun. "And Lawton, no dropping bodies." He warned._

_"Yeah, sure, take the fun out of it." Lawton replied sourly._

“Fun.” Diggle scoffed disgusted.

 

_He headed to a door at the far end of the corridor, but Lawton stopped him._

_"Ah! Uh-uh." He said, shaking his head. "No. Not her. Trust me."_

_He glanced through the window to see a pale blonde woman staring at him expectantly. "Come on, chocolate puddin'. Let me out." She pleaded. "I wanna play. I wanna play!"_

_"Let's move!" Diggle ordered._

_"Hey, let me out!" the woman called out as the new Suicide Squad moved to take on The Wall._

“Smart move John, very smart move.” Dinah told him.

 

“So now are you gonna tell us why?” Thea asked.

 

“Trust me Speedy, you don’t want to.” Dinah shuttered as she thought of Harley.

 

_The scene changed to the tunnel where the battle was in full swing. While some of the soldiers went down when hit with the cure, others continued to fight under their own, limited strength. Roy was using everything he had been taught, fighting back better and harder than he had ever fought and taking down soldier after soldier with well-placed arrows. It was here, too, that Sara was excelling, wielding her staff as she had been trained to do in Nanda Parbat and taking the weakened soldiers down one by one. But one super-powered solider slipped through their defensive line and attacked Sara, grabbing her by the hair and yanking her head back. Nyssa intervened, shooting the soldier with a sure arrow that sent him twitching to the ground. Sara looked up to thank her girlfriend, then cried out in alarm as another solder came at her from behind._

_"Nyssa!" she yelled, warning her. Nyssa ducked and managed to block the first attack, but before a second could come a cure arrow was shoved into the man's neck. As he collapsed, Nyssa looked at surprise at Quentin Lance. He gave her a quick nod of acknowledgement before heading back into the fray._

“Never thought I’d see the day.” Laurel muttered surprised.

 

“After he got to know her, dad actually liked Nyssa a lot. The only one who had any issues with Nyssa was mom, but we lost touch about a year before dad died. She didn’t even come to his funeral.” Dinah told her and Laurel scoffed.

 

“Surprise surprise.” Laurel said bitterly.

 

_Five years ago-_

_As the 'Amazo' exploded around them, Oliver managed to shove one of the pirates away into the rising water. He then dove at his quiver and grabbed an arrow, then turned and stabbed the guard holding Sara in the gut. He grabbed Sara and pushed her behind a crate as the pirate briefly opened fire on the pair. Seeing the ship as lost, the pirate scrambled to his feet and waded out of the door, trying to get to safety._

_"Get off the ship!" Oliver yelled at her._

_"Not without you!" she replied._

“Here’s a thought: Both of you get off the ship and run as fast as you possibly can from Slade.” Tommy said worriedly.

 

“They wouldn’t be them if they ran from a fight.” Dinah said in exasperation and fondness.

_Oliver spied something floating on the surface of the water- the Mirakuru. Slade spotted it as well, and they both dived for it. Oliver reached it first and grabbed it, standing to face the man he once called his brother._

_"Give it to me! Give me the Mirakuru!" Slade yelled, crazed. Oliver shook his head and threw it into the corner of the room, where a small fire was blazing._

“As happy as I am that it’s gone, probably not a good idea to burn it in front of the crazed super strong, healing guy who wants to kill you.” Tommy pointed out.

 

“Well, there were no good options at that point.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"No!" Slade cried, enraged as the Mirakuru burned. Slade dove at Oliver, who still clutched an arrow in his hand. Oliver blocked the first two hits, but a swift kick to the gut sent him flying back into the cell doors._

_"Ollie!" Sara cried, running towards him. Slade grabbed her, then threw her across the room._

_"Sara!" Oliver cried as Sara, her hand outstretched to Oliver, was swept through the doorway by the rushing water, just as she had two years ago._

Laurel shuttered, closing her eyes as the image of her sister being sucked into the water once more became forever seared into her memory. Tommy took her hand, hoping to offer her comfort.

 

“So that’s how Sara ended up back on Lian Yu.” Thea mused.

 

“Yeah, exactly where Nyssa found her.” Dinah nodded.

 

“Probably not the best way to start a relationship.” Tommy joked and succeeded in getting a smile and slight laugh out of Laurel.

 

_Present-_

_The scene changed to Roy's house. Thea was busy pulling clothes out of drawer and throwing them into a bag, waiting for him to return. She was stuffing more clothes into the bag when her foot accidently kicked something under the bed. Curious, she leaned over and pulled out a package wrapped in green cloth. Laying it on the bed, she opened the cloth and stared down at the contents in surprised fury- a quiver full of green-feathered arrows and a red bow._

_He had said, lying to her face._

“And there goes the relationship.” Tommy said as Roy winced while Thea avoided looking at him.

 

“Yeah.” Thea said sadly.

 

_The scene changed to A.R.G.U.S. Waller stared at the video screen impassively as the drone approached the city. "Prep the drone to fire." She ordered._

_The tech looked back at her in surprise. "Weapons hot was set for oh-six hundred." She reminded her boss._

_"Prep the drone to fire!" Waller snarled angrily. Suddenly gunshots could be heard down the hall. Waller ducked down behind the table, opening a hidden compartment and withdrawing two guns as a pair of agents rushed out into the hall and were immediately incapacitated._

_Moments later Deadshot, Diggle and Lyla burst into the room, their weapons trained on the people inside just as Waller popped back up, her guns aimed right back at them. "Down, now!" Lawton ordered. "Everybody get down, down, down!"_

_"Waller, call that drone off!" Diggle ordered._

_Waller ignored him and focused on her second in command. "This is treason, Agent Michaels." She noted. "Treason that risks hundreds of thousands of lives. Have you thought about that? Have you thought about how you're going to explain that to your son?" she asked, stunning both Lyla and Diggle for different reasons. "Or is it your daughter? Did doctors specify, or did you want to keep it a surprise?" she looked over at Dig. "Congratulations, Mr. Diggle, you're going to be a father."_

“That bitch. She’s hoping this will throw you off your game!” Tommy said angrily and Diggle could only nodded, stunned at this news.

 

“Congratulations John, it’s a boy.” Dinah said with a smile.

 

_The scene changed to the tunnel. The Arrow jumped on top of a cab to survey the scene around him, and noted in satisfaction that Slade's army had been defeated. As the Assassins finished cleaning up, a call came through on his comms. "Go!" he said, activating it._

_"You've been busy, kid." Slade said on the other end._

“How the hell did Slade get a line to the comms unit?” Laurel asked alarmed.

 

“Just wait.” Dinah said calmly.

 

_"It's over, Slade! Your army is broken." Oliver told the crazed man._

_"And I pity them. But once again, you miss the point. I have the one you love." He revealed. "You're going to meet me where I say. Otherwise, I'm going to kill her."_

_"No, you do what you have to." Oliver shot back. "I'm done playing your games!"_

_"You're done when I say you're done!" Slade roared. "I was surprised. I thought you had a thing for stronger women, but now that I've met her I can see the appeal. She is quite lovely," he drew his sword and moved towards where his last soldier was bringing her in. "Your Felicity." He said, standing before the terrified woman as Oliver listened on, helpless._

He has Felicity. This just keeps getting sores.” Tommy groaned.

 

“Not necessary,” Diggle noted and they all looked over at him, “We already know that Oliver’s ‘confession’ was part of Oliver’s plan to stop Slade. Slade has Felicity because Oliver wants her there.”

 

“But why would Ollie want Slade to have Felicity? It doesn’t make any sense.” Thea said confused.

 

“I’m not sure yet, but I’m sure we’ll find out.” Diggle said as the recording continued.

 

_A short time later, as the drone flew ever closer to Starling City, Oliver entered the old oil processing plant. He moved cautiously through the industrial space, looking around corners and through gaps on the pipes for his prey._

_"Twitch, and I will open your throat." Slade's voice called out, echoing through the space and causing Oliver to draw an arrow. "My first words to you. Do you remember? I do. I remember the exact moment. My blade against your neck. Just like my blade is against the neck of your beloved." He growled as Oliver drew closer. "If only I'd killed you then, everything would be different." He drew back the arrow as he rounded a bend, and found Slade standing there with his sword at Felicity's neck. "Drop the bow, kid. Do it." He ordered. Oliver paused, staring at Felicity. Then, slowly, he lowered his bow to the ground. As Felicity cried silently, the last soldier dragged Laurel, kicking and struggling, into the room and stood next to Slade._

_"Yes." Slade cooed. "Countless nights dreaming of taking from you all that you took from me."_

“Pretty sure he never terrorized you, killed your mother, and went after your friends and family you bastard.” Tommy sneered.

 

“Does Slade strike you as a sane person?” Dinah asked sarcastically.

 

" _By killing the woman I love?" Oliver asked._

_"Yes."_

_"Like you love Shado."_

_"Yes." Slade replied quietly._

_"You see her." Oliver realized. "Don't you?"_

_"Well, what does she look like in your madness, Slade?" he asked harshly. Slade moved the sword away from Felicity's neck and pushed her to her knees as he stared off to a point behind Oliver, staring at the woman he loved. "What does she say to you? I remember her being beautiful." Oliver continued. "Young. Kind. She would be horrified by what you've done in her name." he spat._

_"What I have done?" he stared at Oliver now. "What I have done is what you lack the courage to do!" he yelled. "To fight for her!" he placed the blade at the base of Felicity's neck. "So… when her body lies at your feet, her blood wet against your skin, then you will know how I feel!"_

“Oh boy. Here we go.” Tommy muttered as they all tensed, wondering how this would turn out.

 

_Oliver looked down at Felicity, then back up at Slade. "I already know how you feel." He told him. "I know what it's like to hate. To want revenge." He stared at Slade confidently. "And now I know how it feels to see my enemy so distracted, he doesn't see the real danger is right in front of him."_

_Enraged, Slade pulled Felicity back to her feet to deliver the killing blow. As he did, she reached into her coat pocket and withdrew the injector head from one of his arrows- an injector filled with the cure. She glanced behind herself, and then quickly stabbed the needle over her shoulder and into his neck, running away from him as he cried out in surprised pain. Slade feel to one knee as the cure took effect…_

_The memory set flashed through several previous memories- Slade planting cameras at the Queen Mansion during his tour, then watching the feeds later. Oliver, standing in the deserted house, looking around the lounge one last time when he spotted one of the micro cameras on the fireplace mantel. Oliver and Felicity, standing in the darkened foyer. 'Do you understand?' he had asked as, he surreptitiously slipped the injector head into Felicity's hand._

_'Yes.' She had replied as Slade had watched from the refinery._

“That’s…ingenious,” Diggle breathed, “Oliver turned Felicity’s greatest weakness-her lack of training and posing seemingly no threat-into the backbone of his plan to stop Slade.”

 

“He always was an evil genius. But this is taking it to another level! Alright!” Tommy cheered.

 

_Back in the present, Slade was still on his knees when he looked back to the soldier holding Laurel. "Kill her!" he ordered. Before he could, he was hit in the back with a cure dart, courtesy of The Canary and a tranq gun. Laurel finished the job by wheeling on the weakened man and pummeling him._

“He learned never to underestimate me again.” Dinah smirked as Laurel smiled smugly.

 

“How’s that for girl power?” Thea cheered.

 

_"Get them out of here!" Oliver ordered, and Sara led the other two women out as he grabbed his bow._

_Five years ago-_

_"Poor Sara." Slade said as Oliver got back to his feet. "How many times you going to watch her die?"_

“Bastard.” Laurel said angrily, glaring at the screen.

 

_Enraged, Oliver and Slade charged one another—_

_Present-_

_Oliver attacked Slade, now finally on even footing. He used his bow to block Slade's sword, forcing him backward and kicking him through a glass door onto the roof's catwalk. Slade scrambled back to his feet as Oliver stepped out and attacked, swinging his sword. Oliver ducked and blocked, but now he was forced back. A kick to the gut sent him to one knee, and he lifted his bow to block the descending sword, pushing it away…_

_Past-_

_On the 'Amazo', Oliver attacked, throwing wild, powerful punches. But the Mirakuru made Slade invulnerable to such an attack. He hit back, sending Oliver to the water logged deck._

_"You can't kill me." Slade growled. Oliver threw a punch at Slade's head, which he gleefully took. Slade returned the favor by kicking Oliver in the leg, and as he fell grabbed him by the throat with one hand. He lifted him a foot into the air, and Oliver scrambled, his fingers tugging at Slade's mask and pulling it off…_

_Present-_

_"The Mirakuru isn't what made me hate you!" Slade yelled, blocking a punch and grasping Oliver by the throat with one hand._

“No, but it’s sure what turned you into a homicidal maniac.” Tommy mumbled.

 

“Can’t argue with that.” Diggle nodded.

 

_He started choking Oliver, looking up as he saw the drone fly by overhead. "The end is near." He told a groaning Oliver. "But maybe I'll be merciful enough to let you live and see your city burn!" he roared._

“Even without the Mirakuru, he’s still completely insane.” Diggle noted.

 

“He’d spent too many years with it in his system; it drove whatever sanity in him out.” Dinah said sadly, thinking of the good man Slade had once been and seeing the tragedy of it all.

 

_Past-_

_Oliver struggled mightily against the iron-clad grip of Slade. He punched him in the face, but it didn't make him let go. Next he started pounding on Slade's arm, desperate for air. Slade roared and slugged him hard in the jaw, sending him crashing face first into the water. As Oliver pulled himself up, he found himself staring right at the floating mask of Deathstroke._

_Past-_

_Oliver broke free of Slade's grip and continued the assault, blocking his sword but taking a reverse crescent kick in the kidneys. He spun around, blocking another sword strike, and kicked him hard in the gut, sending him tumbling back…_

_Present-_

_Slade stalked over to Oliver and kicked him hard in the ribs, sending him flying across the room…_

_Oliver and Slade both lay on the roof, exhausted and hurting, "We both know there's only one way that this can end." Slade said with a groan. "To beat me, kid, you're going to have to kill me." He said. Both men staggered back to their feet. "But in the moment of my death, you'll prove one thing- that you are a murderer." He said with glee. Both men charged on another once more…_

“He would’ve proved that he was a soldier, taking out a psychopath hell bent on destroying his home. The only murderer would be you.” Diggle said, glaring at the screen.

 

“Well said man.” Tommy nodded vigorously.

 

_Past-_

_…when a secondary explosion rocked the cell block. Oliver was thrown off of his feet as tons of debris fell from the ceiling-_

_Right onto Slade, pinning him to the deck._

_Oliver looked up and, to his amazement, saw the cure syringe floating right in front of him, along with his quiver. He grabbed both the cure and an arrow, then rose and turned to face his defeated foe._

_"What are you going to do, kid?" Slade demanded. "Stick me with the cure? It doesn't matter. I'll keep my promise!" he shouted. "I'll take away everything and everyone you love! Sara was only the first!" Oliver listened, the rage building. "She was only the first! Your sister, Laurel, your mother!" He heard enough. Oliver threw down the cure and lunged forward, driving the arrow deep into Slade's left eye. He staggered back as Slade's head fell back, seemingly dead. He observed his fallen friend sadly, and then suddenly there was another explosion. He was blown back into the water and knocked out as the 'Amazo' finally broke her spine, partially sinking into the shallow bay._

“What did he get out of that? I mean, Slade had to have known he was finished, whatever he decided.” Tommy asked confused.

 

“He took some sick pleasure in what he saw as tainting Ollie’s soul.” Dinah explained.

 

“You know, it probably would’ve been a good idea for Oliver to cure Slade, then kill him.” Roy mused.

 

“That’s a good point.” Dinah mused, thinking on it.

 

_Present-_

_Oliver kicked Slade off the roof, and then followed him down to the ground. Slade staggered to his feet, his sword at the ready as Oliver moved in. Exhausted, he took a wild swing with his bow, that Slade dodged. Slade, exhausted as well, hit Oliver with a wild haymaker, then another, staggering Oliver backwards. He then lunged at Oliver, his sword aimed at his heart, but Oliver blocked the sword, swinging away, and then drawing and firing a pair of bolo arrows, tying Slade to the cement column._

_Oliver staggered, wounded and exhausted. "You can kill me, or not." Slade said tiredly. "Either way, I win."_

_The scene changed to A.R.G.U.S. Confident despite the guns trained on her, Waller moved to order the missile strike when Oliver's voice came over the comms._

_"Amanda, it's over." Oliver said to her surprise. "Slade's down, his army's been taken out. Call back the drones." He ordered. "Amanda, it's over!" he roared when she didn't respond._

_In A.R.G.U.S. , Waller slowly disarmed herself, then hit the button to abort the strike. Over in Starling City, the drone suddenly banked as it moved to return to base._

_As the refinery, Slade sighed in defeat. "So what now, kid?" he asked._

“Now he locks you up, you break out, and cause a whole bunch of trouble before you two kill each other. All over a woman who was never even yours.” Dinah said bitterly.

 

“It’s sad when you think about it. All this…because of the actions of one crazy doctor.” Diggle sighed.

 

“Ivo had no idea the damage he was doing when he killed Shado.” Dinah sighed.

 

_The scene changed to the harbor later that night, as the League of Assassins prepared to leave the city. As they loaded their gear onto the small vessel 'Nordic Pearl', Sara smiled and walked towards her father and Laurel, who had come to say goodbye._

_"It's time." She told them._

_"Why-why are they making you do this?" Lance asked unhappily. He looked over at Nyssa and yelled out, "Why are you making her do this, huh? Why?" She looked back at him, bemused._

_"Dad, she's not making me do anything." Sara told him. "I chose this."_

_Lance sighed. "What am I going to tell your mother?" he asked._

_Sara smiled, content. "Tell her that for the first time in my life, I'm deciding my own fate." She said. "She'll understand that."_

“‘Deciding my own fate?’ she was forced to give herself up to the League to save the city!” Laurel shouted angrily.

 

“She was just trying to make us feel better about the situation. Didn’t help much, but points for effort.” Dinah shrugged.

 

_"Yeah." He said quietly, hugging her. "I love you, sweetheart." He whispered._

_"I love you, too, Dad." She said as they parted._

_"I know the power of a father's love," Nyssa said, coming to stand beside Sara. "And I would die before I let anything happen to your daughter." She promised._

_Lance gave her a strained smile. "Well, here's hoping." He said, moving off to let Laurel say goodbye as the two assassins chuckled._

_"So, where you're going, will you be able to email or call?" Laurel asked._

_"I'll see you again." Sara promised._

_"I know." Laurel said. "If there's anything that I've learned this year, it's that you always find your way home. And we'll always be here waiting." She hugged her tightly. "I love you."_

_"I love you." Sara replied. "Oliver needs you." She told Laurel. As she pulled away, she took off her leather jacket. "And, hey… I think that this would look good on you." She said, holding out the jacket for Laurel to put on. She gleefully slipped into the jacket and smiled at her father, who gave her a look that screamed 'Are you serious?'. She turned back to Sara with a smile. "It fits." She said._

“Foreshadowing there.” Thea teased and Dinah and Laurel rolled their eyes, although both had a slight smile on their lips.

 

_Lance came back over and grabbed his youngest daughter in a hug._

_"Bye, Dad." Sara said._

_"Bye, sweetheart." He replied. She pulled away and, giving one last smile to her family, turned and joined Nyssa as she entered the ship. She paused one last time to smile at them before entering the vessel._

_"About that jacket…" Lance said, kissing Laurel on the top of her head. "Don't get any ideas."_

“Too late.” Laurel said jokingly and everyone snickered.

 

_Laurel laughed as the two started walking back down the dock towards his car. "I could really use a meeting." She said after a moment._

_"Yeah, probably a good idea for the both of us." Lance said. He rubbed his side in discomfort. "Listen, I got to pick up a little Pepto on the way, though, 'cause I'm feeling kind of weird."_

_Laurel chuckled. "Dad, she'll be ok."_

_"Yeah, I know she'll be ok, but ok what is what bothers me." He said. Suddenly he staggered, gripping his side._

“Dad?” Laurel said worriedly as the time travelers all stared, wondering what was happening to Quentin.

 

_"Dad?" Laurel asked in alarm. Suddenly he coughed up blood before falling to the ground, clutching his chest. "Dad! Oh, my God. Dad!" she said, repeating it over and over in panic._

_"I can't get my breath! I can't—" he gasped out. She ripped open his shirt, and that's she saw the ugly red mark from where he had done through the desk._

_"Dad, stay with me! Daddy, daddy, stay with me!" she cried out, fumbling for her phone. Quickly she dialed 911. "Hello?! I need an ambulance. My father's with SCPD." She paused as the operator spoke. "Yes, now!" she shouted, then looked down at her dad "Daddy, stay with me!"_

“Relax, he turned out alright.” Dinah assured the worried Laurel as Tommy put an arm around her.

 

“Really?” Laurel asked hopefully and Dinah nodded.

 

“He was in a coma for the longest eight weeks of my life, woke up, and got promoted to Captain for his efforts. Although his heart was very weak from his ordeal. He had to be on some medication for the rest of his life.” Dinah explained and Laurel relaxed.

 

“Better than the alternative.” Laurel said relieved.

 

_The scene changed to Roy's house. He burst in, eager to grab his girl and get the hell out of the city. "Thea." He called out. When there was no answer, he moved further into the house. "Thea!" he called out, then stopped cold. On his bed, among a pile of clothes and bags, was his spare bow and arrows. On top of that lay a note that he picked up hesitantly._

_'Roy… I'm sorry.' Thea wrote. 'I made a mistake. I thought I could still be with you. I thought I could still be Thea Queen. But Thea Queen was trusting. And I don't trust you. Or anyone. Not anymore.' Across town under the Berlanti Bridge, Thea walked up to a waiting limo. The driver got out and opened the door for her. 'Thea Queen was also weak. And no matter what it takes, I will be strong.' Thea climbed into the limo, and the driver closed the door. She was silent as she gathered her thoughts, finally looking up into the smirking face of Malcolm Merlyn. Back at his house, Roy finished reading the letter as silent tears streamed down his face. 'Don't try to find me. You won't. Even I don't know where I'm going. I only know one thing- I am never coming back.' Devastated, Roy reached into the pocket of his hoody and withdrew his mask. He stared at it, the only thing he truly had left._

“Told you it would come back to bite me.” Roy sighed as the time travelers stared, stunned.

 

“And it drove me right to my psychotic father.” Thea muttered, disgusted.

 

“Thanks kid.” Tommy said, glaring at Roy.

 

_It was several days later when Slade Wilson finally awoke with a gasp. The first thing he realized was that he was in drab prisoner clothing; the second was that he was in a cell. "Where am I?" he gasped out. Slowly he pulled himself to a sitting position, and saw that, seated on the other side of the bars, was Oliver Queen._

_"As far away from the world as I could get you." Oliver replied. "Where you can't hurt anyone ever again."_

“Keep telling yourself that. You do it enough; you might actually start to believe it.” Laurel grumbled.

 

_"That's your weakness, kid." Slade said, stiffly rising to his feet. "You don't have the guts to kill me."_

_"No. I have the strength to let you live." Oliver argued._

“Call it what you want, strength, weakness, it only ended up causing more trouble than it’s worth.” Dinah grumbled.

 

_"Oh, you're a killer." Slade said. "I know, I created you. You've killed plenty." He said, pacing his new home._

_"Yes, I have." Oliver agreed. "You helped turn me into a killer when I needed to be one. And I'm alive today because of you. I made it home because of you. And I got to see my family again." He was silent for a moment. "But over the past year, I've needed to be more… and I faltered." He admitted. "But then I stopped you. Without killing." He rose and moved to the cell. "You helped me become a hero, Slade. Thank you." He said sincerely._

“While most of that is Ollie trying to convince himself, that last part is true. Slade did play a large part in shaping who Ollie became those five years. A large part of the man Ollie became when he returned was molded by Slade.” Dinah mused.

 

“Well, at least he did something right.” Thea grumbled.

 

_"You think I won't get out of here?" Slade growled, shaking the bars as Oliver walked to the door. He opened it to reveal the seal of A.R.G.U.S. "You think I won't kill those you care for?" he demanded._

_"No, I don't." Oliver said, glancing at Slade one more time. "Because you're in purgatory." He walked out and closed the door._

“Not the first time Ollie would lie to himself and it would come back to haunt him.” Dinah mused as she glanced over at Thea.

 

_I keep my promises, kid." Slade yelled. "I keep my promises! I keep my promises." Oliver let him yell as he climbed the ladder outside the door, opening the hatch and stepping out onto the top of the concrete bunker that had been built on Lian Yu. He let the hatch close with a resounding thud, and then climbed down to join Felicity and Diggle on the beach._

_"Last time I didn't notice; it's actually kind of beautiful here." Felicity noted as the three walked down the beach towards where the seaplane was moored. "Don't get me wrong, I'm counting down the seconds until we shove off Minefield Island."_

_"So you think that'll be enough to hold him, A.R.G.U.S.' Super Max?" Diggle asked._

“No.” Everyone said in sync.

 

_"Him, and anyone else we send here." Oliver replied. "This battle may be over, but there will be others. Starting with getting my family's company back."_

“Did he get it back?” Thea asked hopefully.

 

“He tried. It didn’t work out so well.” Dinah said and Thea sighed, dismayed.

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you how we lower class live.” Roy joked and Thea hit him in the shoulder while laughing.

 

_"That's not going to be easy, since you're poor now." Felicity noted. "You're going to have to get a job. If Slade doesn't scare you, that's got to." She added with a chuckle._

_"Do you know anyone hiring ex-billionaires with superior archery skills?" he joked. The three stopped to look out over the water._

_Noticing the tension, Diggle spoke first. "Hey, why don't I, uh, give you two a second?" he offered, heading for the plane._

_"Well, you did it." Felicity said after a moment._

_"I had help." Oliver pointed out._

_"Yeah. That's really smart. How you out-foxed him." She said awkwardly. She chuckled. "Talk about unthinkable. You and me, I mean." Felicity smiled nervously. "When you told me you loved me, you had me fooled. For a second, I…" she gulped. "Maybe you might have meant it. What you said. You really sold it."_

_Oliver smiled softly at her. "We both did." He said. They stared at each other, content for the moment._

“This Thea, is the moment where he deluded himself into thinking that he was in love with her.” Dinah clarified and Thea scowled.

 

“Yay.” Thea said sarcastically.

 

“Don’t worry; it won’t happen in our time.” Tommy promised.

 

_"Let's go home." She said finally._

_They walked down the beach towards Diggle. "Dig, what was the news about you and Lyla?" Oliver asked._

_"It can wait." Dig said, rising form the log he was sitting on._

_"I'm flying." Oliver called._

_"Be my guest." Dig said with a smile._

_"I got one more question!" Felicity called out._

_Oliver turned to her with a patient smile. "Wouldn't be you if you didn't."_

_"If you spent five years on this island, when did you learn how to fly a plane?" she asked._

_Five years ago-_

_Olive awoke slowly, disoriented from his ordeal. The first thing he noticed was that he was lying on an actual bed. The second thing he noticed as his vision began to clear was that he was in some sort of hotel room. He started and rolled of the side of the bed, landing unsteadily on his feet. He regained his balance just as two Asian men walked into the room. Reflexively he grabbed the first thing he could find to throw a them- an ashtray- but then one tossed him a shirt._

_"Gun ngo lei." He said in Mandarin. Then, to make sure he got the point, he unbuttoned his jacket and pulled it aside to reveal the Beretta in the shoulder holster. Oliver sighed and donned the shirt. He was led out of the room and to the street, where a young African American woman was waiting._

_"My name is Amanda Waller, Mr. Queen. We have a lot to discuss." She said as the two men led him to the waiting car. He climbed in and looked out the window at the city before him- 2 years later, he had finally arrived at his original destination. "Welcome to Hong Kong." Waller said._

“And that’s the end.” Dinah said as the recording ended.

 

“I believe you promised to fill in the blanks.” Diggle said as they all looked at her pointedly.

 

“I’ll fill you all in tomorrow. But it’s been a long day for all of us, so I promise I will you all in tomorrow before I send you back to your own time.” Dinah promised.

 

“We’ll hold you to that.” Roy said with a leveled stare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there is one more chapter to this and then we are done. Wow, never actually thought we’d get here. Before anyone asks, yes, there will be a sequel.


	62. The return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being told of their terrible future, the time travelers return to their own time as Dinah sets in motion a plan to better her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we are, the finale chapter. Never thought I’d actually get here. I would just like to thank everyone who has supported me in this journey of this story. Keep an eye out for the sequel.

Watchtower  
Next morning

In the lowest level of The Watchtower, Barry stood across from the capsule that held Arsenal’s frozen form. He had been there for a while, just thinking. 

“Hey,” Barry looked back as Kara entered the room, “I woke up and you weren’t there.”

“Sorry. Couldn’t sleep,” Barry said as he turned back to Arsenal’s frozen form, “When he went under, was he…okay?”

“He made the decision. He was very brave; he talked to Roy for a bit before he went under. He seemed…not happy, but content with his decision.” Kara noted.

“I wish I could’ve been here.” Barry sighed.

“You couldn’t have done anything to change Roy’s mind,” Kara assured him as she grabbed his hand, “so…do you have it?”

“Yeah.” Barry nodded.

“You know…once you do this, there’s a change we’ll never meet.” Kara said hesitantly and Barry flashed a slight smile.

“I don’t believe that,” Barry said as he caressed one side of her face with his free hand, “I believe, if something’s meant to happen, it will happen. And I believe we were meant to meet. We were meant to fall in love, to build a life together. If it’s meant to happen, it will happen.” 

Beaming at him, Kara leaned in and kissed him.

Roy held Thea as she slept, thinking about everything he had seen and experienced when the door opened. Roy looked up to see Diggle standing in the doorway, frozen in surprise. 

“We didn’t sleep together; she just didn’t wanna be alone last night.” Roy quickly explained and Diggle nodded in understanding.

“I get that.” Diggle said as Thea stirred.

“What?” Thea blinked as she sat up and saw Diggle.

“Dinah wants to meet us all in the conference room so we can have that talk.” Diggle explained and Thea sat up, wide awake now.

“Let me comb my hair and I’ll be there.” Thea promised.

About ten minutes later, the three walked into the conference room. Dinah, Tommy, and Laurel were already there, waiting for them, once they had taken their seats, Dinah spoke.

“I know you have a lot of questions.” Dinah began.

“You said you’d fill in the blanks.” Roy said pointedly.

“So start filling.” Tommy demanded and Dinah nodded.

“Alright, where to start?” Dinah mused and was silent for a moment before continuing. “As you know, Thea took off with Merlyn; she wanted him to teach her how to be strong. He put her though some rigorous training. His training actually proved to be a positive influence on Thea. But that’s where the positive influence stops.”

“What do you mean?” Thea asked fearfully. And Dinah sighed.

“I guess it starts about five months after The Siege. Dad used his new authority as Captain to disband the Anti-Vigilante Task Force. Ollie went out on a date with Felicity which got interrupted because a criminal put a tracer on Ollie as The Arrow, which he didn’t know because he was too busy thinking about Felicity. He pushed her away. At the time Sara came back to search for Merlyn, as Ra’s wanted to confirm that Moira was telling the truth.”

Dinah paused, thinking of how best to say this before looking t Thea.

“Thea, I want you to know it was absolutely not your fault. None of this was your fault.” Dinah said and Thea tensed.

“What wasn’t her fault?” Laurel demanded and Dinah sighed.

“There’s a drug, made from a plant, they call it Vitura. It makes the user extremely susceptible to suggestion and afterward, leaves the user with no memory of what happened while under its affects. Merlyn used it on Thea and had her kill Sara.” Dinah put it all out there.

“What? No, I saw Sara die. I couldn’t…” Thea began to hyperventilate.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay,” Roy took Thea into his arms, trying to calm her, “it wasn’t your fault.”

“I killed her!” Thea shouted.

“No you didn’t,” Laurel said, her shock giving way to rage and grief, “Merlyn did.”

“Because I went with him!” Thea shouted.

“Because Merlyn took advantage of you when you were in a vulnerable state of mind. What happened to Sara was not your fault. It could have happened to anyone.” Dinah said firmly.

“Why did he choose me then?” Thea asked brokenly.

“Because he recorded it,” Dinah said and they all looked at her stunned, “he threatened to go to Ra’s with it.”

“But if Ollie explained about Malcolm-” Tommy began.

“He would still kill her. She fired the arrows,” Dinah said and Thea flinched, “Malcolm forced Ollie to tell Ra’s that he killed Sara, challenging Ra’s to a trial by combat. And you know how that ended.”

“I don’t understand, what does Merlyn gain from all this?” Diggle asked confused.

“If Ollie killed R a’s, then all Ra’s blood debts would die with him. Including Merlyn’s. The League would no longer have reason to hunt him.” Dinah said and it all became clear.

“So he used me to get himself out of his problem that he created.” Thea growled angrily.

“Yes. And that was just the start.” Dinah sighed.

“What happened next?” Laurel asked wearily.

“Well, after Sara died, I was overwhelmed with pain and anger. I told Ollie to train me, he refused. So I sought out a trainer, Ted Grant. Also used to be a Vigilante, although he stuck to The Glades. I’m sure you heard of Wild Cat Roy,” Dinah said and Roy’s eyes lit up in recognition, “He started training me but stopped after a…incident revolving around an old associate of his. When Ollie was presumed dead after he went to fight Ra’s, Felicity left, John was considering leaving, and I knew I had to do something. So I put on Sara’s old costume. After some resistance from John and Arsenal, I was welcomed and Felicity came back before we learned the truth about Rebecca Merlyn’s murder.”

“What Truth?” Tommy demanded as he leaned forward and the others looked confused as Dinah tried to think best how to phrase this.”

“Before he left to find the League, your father thought he had found and killed the man who killed your mother Tommy. He was wrong,” Dinah said carefully and Tommy leaned back in his chair, shock written across his face, “the man who killed her is called Daniel Brickwell, although he also answers to Brick. He is a crime lord; your mother was his first kill as his initiation into a gang.”

“Why, why would he kill her?” Tommy asked brokenly.

“Because she begged for her life.” Dinah said carefully.

“Because she begged for her life,” Tommy said in a deathly calm, “I grew up without a mother; my dad became a psychopath, and hundreds of people died. BECAUSE MY MOTHER BEGGED FOR HER LIFE?!”

“I know you’re angry Tommy, you have every right to be. But now you have what you need to bring him to justice,” Dinah said and he looked at her curiously, “Brick’s M.O., he used the same gun to kill your mom. It’s how we found out.”

“I can probably cross reference it when we get back.” Laurel said and Tommy nodded gratefully.

“With Ollie gone, Brick led the gangs in an attempt to take over The Glades. He almost succeeded until Ollie came back. Brick spent the rest of his life in a jail cell,” Dinah said and Tommy gave a dark smile, satisfied, “Ollie realized that he couldn’t beat Ra’s, he needed League training. He needed someone taught by Ra’s.”

“Oh my god, don’t say it.” Diggle groaned, realizing where this was headed.

“I can’t. Ollie had no other choice but to ask Merlyn to train him to kill Ra’s.” Dinah explained.

“Great.” Tommy said sarcastically.

“Yay.” Roy drawled.

“And I’m sure that went over well.” Thea said sarcastically.

“About as well as you’d expect. John and Arsenal mostly kept their feelings to themselves, but Felicity was very vocal about her dislike of the situation.” Dinah explained.

“And that surprises us…because?” Roy drawled and got a few snickers for his efforts.

“Ollie’s return marked a change in the team, not just me joining it. I suppose dealing with Brick had granted us a little arrogance, some self-righteousness. We no longer respected Ollie’s authority; Felicity in particular undermined it at every opportunity. Looking back, I’m surprised we even followed his orders at all,” Dinah winced, “anyway, Thea found out about her role in Sara’s death and then told me. In my anger, I couldn’t see the big picture, so I convinced her to sell out Malcolm to the League. Not realizing that the blood debt meant I was also signing Thea’s as well, which forced Ollie and John to go rescue Malcolm.”

“So wait, Me and Oliver went, by ourselves, to rescue a man from the world’s most dangerous army?” Diggle asked stunned.

“When you put it like that, it sounds really bad, but yeah.” Dinah said.

“Did Oliver take any special medication at this time?” Diggle asked and got some laughs.

“No but this was around the time he was convinced he loved Felicity, so clearly he didn’t make the best decisions back then,” Dinah mused before moving on, “you know most of what happened after that. Ra’s offered Ollie his title, Ollie refused, and so Ra’s tried to force him. What you don’t know is that dad was so angry at Ollie because I didn’t tell him about Sara for months.”

“What, why?” Laurel asked shocked and Dinah sighed.

“I told you he had a weak heart for the rest of his life. I was scared that if I told him, he would have a heart attack and die. It seems pretty pathetic now but…I told you most of this stuff by now. Ra’s told dad Ollie’s identity, Arsenal took the fall and faked his own death. But…that night, Ra’s stabbed Thea, almost killed her.” Dinah explained.

“What?” Tommy demanded as Roy gripped Thea’s hand tightly as she paled.

“There are special waters in Nanda Parbat, The Lazarus Pits. Like from The Bible. Ra’s offered to use them on Thea bring her back if Ollie accepted his offer. He did, he became AL-Sah-Him, The Arrow in Arabic. Little did any of us know, this was part of Ollie’s plan.” Dinah explained.

“What plan?” Diggle asked suspiciously.

“Malcolm told Ollie about the prophecy and about the virus. He knew if Ollie accepted Ra’s offer, Starling City was marked for death. The League has a method of reprograming new recruits. The plan was for Ollie to appear to be brainwashed so he could dismantle the League from within. But he ran out of time and had to bring us all in. It was a tough fight, but Ollie managed to kill Ra’s and my friend Ray managed to cure the virus before it could touch anyone in the city. Then Ollie chose to retire and left Star City with Felicity.”   
Dinah explained.

“So…let me get this straight,” Tommy began after a moment, “our sister was stabbed, nearly died, her boyfriend left town so he could keep Oliver out of prison…and he leaves with some hot piece of ass?” 

“That just…it doesn’t seem like something Ollie would do.” Laurel said greatly surprised as Thea looked hurt.

“What you have to understand is that when he was in a relationship with Felicity, she was a very controlling and manipulative person, even when they weren’t together. At times, it was like he was a completely different person then the one I knew. It wasn’t a reflection on how he cared about you, it was a reflection on the toxic influence Felicity had on him,” Dinah waited to be sure they all understood before continuing, “a few weeks after they left, Hive showed up with their foot soldiers, the media called The Ghosts. We couldn’t handle them, so we reached out to Ollie. He and Felicity came back to helped but ended up staying when Ollie found out Damien Darhk was the leader of Hive. Ra’s had told Ollie everything about Darhk, so he knew the kind of situation we were in. during this time, Thea began experiencing…side effects of the pit.” Dinah explained.

“What kind of side effects?” Thea asked tersely.

“Bloodlust. You would start to go out of control in the field, nearly killing people a few times,” Thea paled as Roy squeezed her hand comfortingly, “it was during this time that I learned about what had happened in Nada Parbat with Thea, so Thea and I dug up Sara’s grave and begged Malcolm to use it on her.”

“Malcolm?” Laurel repeated.

“Oh yeah, guess I forgot to mention that Ollie made Malcolm Ra’s as part of the agreement to help stop Ra’s.” Dinah mused.

“Has he lost his mind?” Diggle stared incredulously.

“Once again, he didn’t exactly make good decisions during this time. Where were we?” Dinah mused before picking up where she had left off. “Anyway, Malcolm agreed, not really thinking it would work. It did but she became back…wrong. The put restored her body, but not her soul. Luckily, Ollie made a friend during his five years, John Constantine, who was sort of an expert on this sort of stuff. With his help, we were able to restore Sara’s soul. But didn’t stick around long, she suffered from the bloodlust, just like Thea. But she decided to deal with it on her own, so she left. Before she did, we found out that Ray had been shrunk down to the size of a tater tot-”

“I’m sorry, what?”” Diggle asked as they all stared at her incredulously.

“He was a genius inventor who was messing around with his suit he built when it malfunctioned, shrinking him down. He ended up captured by Darhk and we had to go rescue him. It was during this time that Ollie saw Felicity for what she really was and dumped her,” Dinah paused as Tommy, Roy, and Thea cheered loudly before a smiling Laurel told them to knock it off, “not long after, we found out about Andy and got him out of Hive, although we locked him in cage. He eventually gained John’s trust by saving Lyla, although we alter realized it was an attempt to cement his place as Darhk’s spy and get close to the new Director of Argus.”

“And I fell for it, hook line and sinker.” Diggle growled.

“You’ve seen how we all have blind spots for our family. Not just you.” Laurel reminded him and he nodded after a moment.

“Any way, Thea’s refusal to kill meant that the pit was killing her,” Dinah said Thea paled as everyone looked at her concerned, “Nyssa came to Ollie with an elixir, a cure for the side effects. On the condition that Ollie killed Malcolm. Ollie found a way to get the elixir without killing Malcolm by making Nyssa the new Ra’s but she disbanded the League.”

“Nyssa disbanded the League?” Thea asked shocked and Dinah smiled.

“She wasn’t her father, she wasn’t a bad person, she’d just done what she had learned. Ra’s exiled her when he made his offer to Ollie; we became friends during that time. Anyway, letting Malcolm live was Ollie’s ultimate mistake, as Malcolm allied himself with Darhk and told him about Willian in an attempt to get revenge on Ollie.” Dinah explained.

“He did what?!” Tommy exclaimed angrily as Thea growled and Laurel scowled. 

“You heard me. Darhk had William kidnapped to blackmail Ollie and well I told you how that ended. We got him back with help for our friend Vixen and we managed to get Darhk tossed in jail. You know how this ends.” Dinah said carefully glancing at Thea.

“Yeah, Andy stabs us in the back and Thea ended up dead.” Diggle said bitterly and Thea winced.

“Yeah, but what I didn’t tell you was that Ollie finally did it. He finally killed Malcolm, Thea’s death put him over the edge,” Dinah said and they looked shocked, “Darhk also got his hands on what he had been looking for all year: Rubicon.”

“What’s Rubicon?” Laurel asked.

“A fail safe, it was designed by the government to stop a hacker from launching the nukes of any country, including our own. But Darhk corrupted it so it triggered them instead.” Dinah explained and they all gapped at her.

“Are you serious?” Diggle demanded and Dinah nodded.

“Yeah. You killed Andy,” Dinah said and Diggle started, “he pushed all the right buttons and you killed him. we all have our breaking point, threatening your family was yours.”

“I-I killed my brother,” Diggle said in shock, “what on earth does that make me?”

“It makes you human,” Dinah said gently, “the world isn’t black and white John, sometimes good people are put in difficult situations, they don’t always make the best decisions. It doesn’t make you a bad person John, just human like the rest of us.”

“Okay,” Diggle sighed, trying to process this, “what happened then?”

“With help from Felicity and a friend of ours, Curtis Holt, we were able to override Rubicon. And I believe you guys know the rest. Talia brainwashed Arsenal into Prometheus, set him loose on Ollie and the city, we found out and, with a tough battle, we managed to save Arsenal and send Talia running. Although she went running to Lain Yu, where she broke out Slade. And the rest is, as they say, history.” Dinah finished as the door opened up.

“Hey,” everyone looked up to see Barry standing in the doorway, “am I interrupting?”

“No, you’re right on time. John, Barry has something for you.” Dinah said as Diggle raised an eyebrow.

Barry dug something out of his pocket and set it on the table. Barry gentle slid it over to Diggle and they realized it was a flash drive.

“What’s on this?” Diggle asked as he picked it up, looking at it curiously.

“A video message,” Barry said and they all looked at him, “there will come a point in time where you and Oliver will visit Central City after I get my powers. When you do, before you leave, give that to me. It has everything I need to know to do my part in making sure this terrible future never happens.”

“I will. And I’ll guard this with my life.” Diggle promised and Barry smiled.

“I know you will. It was good to see you Dig, one last time.” Barry told him genuinely. 

Later, the group entered the room the time travelers had arrived in to see a crowd waiting for them. It was the League, plus Cisco and an African-American man they didn’t recognize.

“Hey,” Kal held out a hand to them all, “I thank you all for your service. Good luck, I know the task before you is long and difficult.”

“Thank you.” Diggle said politely as Cisco stepped up to them.

“Hey, you probably don’t recognize me-”

“You’re Cisco.” Thea said.

“Right, you saw me in the recordings,” Cisco mused, “anyway, in case we don’t meet…I just want to say that it was an honor to know you guys. Well, most of you.” Cisco said with an apologetic look towards Tommy.

“It’s cool, maybe we’ll meet each other when I go home. I think you and I’ll get along great.” Tommy said and Cisco smiled.

“I always said that!” Cisco exclaimed.

“Hate to interrupt the budding bromance, but we need to get our friends back to their own time.” Kara said as she walked over.

“Right right sorry. It was nice to see you all again. And you!” Cisco hugged the startled Roy. “It was nice to see you before you became all dark and brooding! Don’t turn into that!”

“Um, okay.” Roy said awkwardly as Cisco let him go.

“It’s time.” Nyssa told them.

“Thank you all,” Dinah said as the time travelers stepped up onto the platform they had arrived on, “I know this wasn’t easy for you. In fact, I know it was downright hard at points. But you needed to know. Make sure this future never happens. I beg of you.”

At Dinah’s nod, Batman activated the machine. There was a flash of light and, after some moments, the five time travelers vanished from feet up until they were gone. Everyone waited a few moments to see if something would happen. It didn’t.

“So, looks like we’re not blinking out of existence.” Wally noted.

“Then we move forward.” Dinah ordered.

“What do you want us to do?” Barry asked and Dinah smiled as she looked over at him.

“You Barry are going to give the people of the world their hope back.” Dinah told him and he looked confused.

Central City  
Afternoon

“This is Captain Joe West, requesting immediate backup!” Joe shouted into his radio as he hid behind his car as bullets hit the side of the door.

Suddenly, there was a breeze of wind and it stopped. Joe peaked out and saw the gangbangers who had been shooting at him were tied to wall with rope Chuckling in amusement, Joe looked around, waiting for it.

A news camera crew who had been filming it from a safe distance, saw something. Ordered the helicopter to get closer, they did and saw something no one had seen in four years: The Flash, dressed in his red-suited glory, stood on top of the building Joe had been parked in front of. Barry smiled at the camera before speaking.

“I know I have been gone for a very long time,” Barry said making sure his words were loud enough to be heard from the camera, “it could not be helped, I have no excuse. I know you have had to endure a lot of dark times since I’ve been gone but you did! You went through a crucible; a friend told me once that when you do that, you come out stronger for it! We have all gone through a crucible these last four years, time will tell if that made us stronger. But just know that I will never leave you at the mercy of the corrupt, of the wicked, ever again. Because we are united against them, we are strong. We are all heroes in our own right and we will never give into to those who wish to destroy everything we hold dear!”

**Author's Note:**

> In case anyone is confused, the seating order, from right to left is Tommy, Thea, Laurel, Roy, and Diggle.
> 
> By the end of chapter two, Roy and Tommy switch places.
> 
> So, what do you think? Please leave any thoughts or comments you may have in a review, feedback is greatly appreciated.


End file.
